April is Stress Awareness Month and the Public Health Agency (PHA) is taking the opportunity to highlight the signs and symptoms of stress, what we can do to tackle stress in our lives, and where to get information and support.
Stress is the feeling of being unable to cope as a result of too much mental or emotional pressure. It can affect our physical health as well as our mental health and wellbeing. Common signs of stress can include sleeping problems, sweating, loss of appetite and difficulty concentrating. You may feel anxious, irritable, experience racing thoughts, worry constantly or go over things in your head.
Fiona Teague, Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing lead at the PHA said: “Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, each of us has experienced stress and anxiety for various reasons, this negativity is being further compounded by the pressures people are experiencing with the cost of living crisis. These external factors can put pressure on our home and work lives, and our relationships with friends and families.
“Sometimes when stress is severe or prolonged, it can lead to burnout, with extreme emotional and physical exhaustion. People have different ways of reacting to stress. We may lose our temper more easily, drink more or act unreasonably. People sometimes experience headaches, muscle tension or pain, or dizziness and fatigue. Stress causes a surge of hormones in our bodies. These stress hormones are released to enable use to deal with pressures or threats – the so-called ‘fight or flight’ response.”
The PHA aims to use Stress Awareness Month to raise awareness of the wide range of information support and advice available to help cope with growing stress. Many of these free resources are available on the Minding Your Head website and on the COVIDWellbeing NI Hub site.
One of the enduring and most effective models to help deal with stress and wellbeing recommended for people of all ages and lifestyles is to ‘Take the 5 Steps to Wellbeing’ – connect, be active, take notice, keep learning and give.
‘Take 5’ encourages people to take simple actions and make deliberate choices to help look after themselves to build resilience around their mental and emotional wellbeing. There are many examples of how to adapt the 5 Steps to our everyday lives. The following are examples how to Take 5 to help tackle stress:
Connect – meet with friends and family, and take the time during Stress Awareness Month to talk about how you are feeling and listen to others. Aim be more aware of friends and family and how they are feeling – are they showing signs they are stressed?
Give – people tend to cope with stress differently, so sharing personal experiences of coping might also help you and someone else deal with stress better.
Be active – exercising helps to minimise the impact of stress on the body and mind. It helps to improve sleep, balance hormones, increase endorphins and fosters relaxation. Even if it’s a gentle walk in the park, a cycle, gardening or even housework, it can count as physical activity.
Keep learning – explore the self-help toolkits and learn new skills to help you cope better with stress available on the Minding Your Head website.
Take notice – stop, pause and take a moment to be still and look around you, focus on your breathing. Also consider reducing your time watching the news and browsing social media. Try to become aware of what triggers tend to cause stress and anxiety and think about reducing these stress triggers. Look at the ways that stress begins and then aim to resolve those with coping strategies.
Useful resources and links:
For various resources and self-help tools, including Take 5 Steps to Wellbeing and the Steps to Deal with Stress booklet, which provides tips and practical advice on coping with stress, recognising stress, learning from bad experiences and how to take action and much more is available at www.mindingyourhead.info
