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jo.oxley@optimahealthservices.co.uk
Life Coaching and Counsellingfor Stress and Burnout
Having the skills, knowledge and mindset to effectively manage stress and burnout is imperative in surviving today's hyper fast and competitive business environment.
What is Stress?
Stress is our body’s response to pressures or fear about a situation or life event (real or imagined). Burnout happens after continuous exposure to stress over a sustained period of time.
Each person will have a differing response to situations, depending on a mixture of factors. Unexpected changes or experiencing something new are common triggers for stress. However, any situation that compromises your feeling of safety or control or threatens your feeling of self can cause stress and burnout. Work plays a large part in our lives and how we view ourselves so it is of no surprise that this arena poses a prevalent contributor to burnout.
Managing Stress
If we can increase self-belief in ability to cope with uncertainty and to be more resilient to fear, have more boundaries and increase self-respect, these factors are the antidote to stress.
When we experience stress, our body is programmed to produce stress hormones that trigger a ‘flight or fight’ response. This response helps us to respond quickly to dangerous situations.
Sometimes, this response can be beneficial and appropriate, for example it can give us the motivation to face situations that can be nerve-wracking or intense, like running a marathon, or public speaking to a large audience. If the stressful situation is short-lived our bodies can quickly return to a resting state without any negative effects on our health. Many people are able to deal with a certain level of stress without any lasting effects.
What causes Stress
- There are many contributing factors that can lead to stress.
- The death of a loved one
- Divorce/separation
- Losing a job
- Unexpected money problems
- moving to a bigger house,
- gaining a job promotion or
- going on holiday can be sources of stress.
When we experience stress, our body is programmed to produce stress hormones that trigger a ‘flight or fight’ response. This response helps us to respond quickly to dangerous situations.
Sometimes, this response can be beneficial and appropriate, for example it can give us the motivation to face situations that can be nerve-wracking or intense, like running a marathon, or public speaking to a large audience. If the stressful situation is short-lived our bodies can quickly return to a resting state without any negative effects on our health. Many people are able to deal with a certain level of stress without any lasting effects.
However, if stress becomes excessive and if our stress response is activated repeatedly, or it persists over time, the result can cause us to feel permanently in a state of ‘fight or flight’. Rather than helping us push through, this pressure can make us feel overwhelmed or unable to cope and this can impact on both physical and mental health.
What to look out for - signs of stress?
Behavioural changes
When you are stressed you may behave differently. For example, you may become withdrawn, indecisive or inflexible. You may not be able to sleep properly. You may be irritable or tearful. There may be a change in your sexual habits. Some people may resort to smoking, consuming more alcohol, or taking drugs. Stress can make you feel angrier or more aggressive than normal. Stress may also affect the way we interact with our close family and friends.
Emotional changes
When you are stressed you may experience many different feelings, including anxiety, fear, anger, sadness, or frustration. These feelings can sometimes feed on each other and produce physical symptoms, making you feel even worse. For some people, stressful life events can contribute to symptoms of depression.
Work-related stress can also have negative impacts on mental health. Work-related stress accounts for an average of 23.9 days of work lost for every person affected. Having a Mental Health First Aider
at work can help to spot the early signs of stress and offer strategies to prevent more serious consequences.
Bodily changes
When stressed, some people start to experience headaches, nausea and indigestion. You may breathe more quickly, perspire more, have palpitations or suffer from various aches and pains. You will quickly return to normal without any negative effects if what is stressing you is short-lived, and many people are able to deal with a certain level of stress without any lasting adverse effects.
If you experience stress repeatedly over a prolonged period, you may notice your sleep and memory are affected, you’re eating habits may change, or you may feel less inclined to exercise.
Some suggestions for Self-Help against Stress
- If you have a MHFA at work approach them for help
- Talking to a friend or close colleague at work about your feelings can help you manage your stress.
- Try and identify what is causing you to feel stressed - Noticing any physical and emotional symptoms you are experiencing and the pressures you are faced with. Look out for physical warning signs such as tense muscles, feeling over-tired, and experiencing headaches or migraines. Try to identify the underlying causes. Write down any possible reasons for your stress – can you counter them with practical solutions. Take control by taking small steps towards the things you can control/improve.
- Set realistic expectations and prioritise essential commitments. If you feel overwhelmed, ask people to help with the tasks you have to do and say no to things that you cannot take on.
- Revise your Boundaries - Are you taking on too much? Are there things you are doing which could be handed over to someone else? Can you do things in a more leisurely way? You may need to prioritise things you are trying to achieve and reorganise your life so that you are not trying to do everything at once. Learn how to say no!
- Identify supportive relationships - Finding family or close friends who can offer help and can support you in managing stress. Joining a club, enrolling on a course, or volunteering can all be good ways of expanding your social networks and encourage you to do something different. Equally, activities like volunteering can change your perspective and helping others can have a beneficial impact on your mood.
- Physical Health - A healthy diet can affect our mood. Feelings of well being can be protected by ensuring our diet provides adequate amounts of nutrients including essential vitamins and minerals, as well as water.
- Reconsider smoking and drinking - Smoking and drinking may seem to reduce stress, but in fact they can exacerbate stress. Alcohol and caffeine can increase feelings of anxiety.
- Exercise - Physical exercise produces endorphins which help to improve mood and mitigate the effects of stress. Even a little bit of physical activity can make a difference, for example, walking for 15-20 minutes three times a week is a great start.
- Self-Care - One of the ways you can reduce stress is by balancing working with time to relax and do positive things for yourself.
- Be Mindful - Mindfulness meditation can be practised anywhere at any time. Research has suggested it can be helpful for managing and reducing the effect of stress, anxiety, and other related problems in some people.
- Good sleep hygiene - Difficulty sleeping is common when you’re feeling stressed. You can try to reduce the amount of caffeine you consume and avoid too much screen time before bed. Writing down your to do list for the next day can be useful in helping you prioritise but also put the plans aside before bed.
- Be kind to yourself - Try to keep things in perspective and don't be too hard on yourself. Look for things in your life that are positive and write down things that make you feel grateful.