Stress can be a good thing it can keep us going, motivated and able to perform. Yet in an economy that is struggling where words like redundancy and budget cuts are mentioned, the results fear, anxiety and uncertainty can lead to unreasonable amounts of stress that can make us ill. The focus must be, therefore, in finding ways to help cope with and where possible reduce that stress.
HSE describes stress as “The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other demands placed on them” There can be many symptoms such as heart palpitations, headaches, an increase or decrease in eating habits and many, many others. Many people find that they smoke or drink or even turn to drugs to make the stress go away even for a short while. So we can see that good stress management is critical to your overall mental and physical health
Here are some practical ways that you can address your stress
Make your manager or supervisor aware of your stress. Stress is recognised as a health and Safety risk. Like any risk organisations have to assess that risk and minimise or eliminate it. There is a legal requirement and if not carried out would be viewed unfavourably in employment tribunals and in personal injury claims. It does not guarantee a change in the organisation but it does make sure that the organisation acknowledges its responsibilities for your stress. Your union or staff representative may be able to help you with this. Of course this can seem daunting so there are things you can do for yourself.
First and perhaps key is taking care of yourself, that means trying to eat well (healthly and regularly) and get a reasonable sleep. Often stress is associated with insomnia but there are ways to tackle that read here In addition to these it is worth seeing your doctor who will be able to access a range or resources including medication, counselling and other therapies. You may want to look at what you do outside of your stress, how do you relax, where is your sanctuary from this stress and perhaps if it does not exist you need to create it.
Perhaps with a friend or a counsellor try to take a step back from the stress, as you look at the problems there will be parts that you have no control over but there will be parts however small that you do have control over. Perhaps you have flexi-time or can go for a walk at lunch, perhaps you can take holidays, and perhaps you can re-order the tasks that you do. Perhaps all you can change is how you think about your job, but there will be things you can change. Some of them may make the difference to make the job more bearable.
When feeling completely powerless many find the airlock technique useful. In it you put the stressful environment inside a mental airlock. Before you go into work you mentally prepare yourself. “I am about to enter this stressful environment, and however terrible it might be I know that in 8 hours I will be walking out and back into my own life.” When you come out you go through the airlock again “That was stressful, I disliked … but …. was okay, but now I can leave it there till its time to go back in. Locking it off in this way is not the best plan long term but will let you stand back and will create a safe space while you decide what to change.
There is no doubt that too much stress is unhelpful and can make us ill, yet by taking some control you can begin to push back the danger and begin to wrest some control of your life back. So get some help today to help yourself.