Did you know that this week is International Stress Awareness Week and this Wednesday it is National Stress Awareness Day here in the UK? We assist many of our clients with issues relating to stress, which can easily morph into anxiety and depression.
Stress can often appear as physical and mental symptoms. Our top five tips for dealing with stress are to:
- Exercise.
- Watch your nutrition.
- Sleep.
- Adopt a positive mindset.
- Talk to others, especially if work is a factor.
In 2019/2020, 828,000 workers reported that they suffer from work-related stress and that figure will undoubtedly have risen substantially since then due to the pandemic. Work-related stress is a large cause of under performance at work and of sickness absence. In the largest ever stress survey undertaken, 74% of people said that stress has made them feel overwhelmed and unable to cope.
An employee should notify their employer if they think they are suffering from work-related stress. From this, an employer should identify an action plan to include the solutions identified to try to help the employee and provide them with ongoing support. An employer is not expected to know when an employee is stressed if there are no signs to the contrary but the employer should take reasonable steps to address it once they have reasonably been made aware of it (either through being told or because sufficient signs are there).
Keep an eye out for the case studies from some of our clients that we will be posting on this subject later on this week.
For more guidance in this area, have a look at the helpful mental health support guidance available at: Mental Health UK