Stress affects one in five workers here in the UK and is also the biggest
cause of sickness among the working population.
With such high numbers of people suffering with stress-related illnesses
it seems more important than ever to adopt techniques to deal with it.
Well, I'm joined here today by Dr Sneh, a medical director at Bupa.
Dr Sneh, thank you very much indeed
for joining us today.
But before we dive into mechanisms for dealing with stress
I'd like to discuss what stress actually is. How would you actually define stress?
It's a very wide definition for many people.
But basically, it is when the pressure that is on you is too great for
you to cope with, and that is when stress happens and that's very different
levels
for different people.
What are the symptoms of stress?
Stress can manifest itself both mentally, as well as physically.
On the mental side, it can be small things like an inability to concentrate
or feeling worried about things all the time.
But it can become much more serious.
With depression and mood swings and other behavioral problems.
In the physical side, you're more susceptible to coughs and colds.
You can feel nausea and dizziness.
Sometimes you can get panic attacks and chest pains.
Because stress
releases stress hormones, such as
cortisol
and when that runs around the body it can actually cause a physical change
in your health.
How does that relate to the workplace?
The workplace is one of the most common causes of stress.
One in five people will be affected by stress in the workplace,
and over 100 million days are lost in the UK because of stress.
So, you'd notice that you're stressed at work if you're doing a few things.
Constantly rushing to get things done.
Missing your breaks or missing meal times.
Not spending enough time with your family at home.
Taking work home, thinking about work outside the work environment.
Things like that tend to warn you
that you're getting stressed at work.
How should you do deal with it because
if you go to your boss and say
I'm stressed that will be seen as a sign of weakness won't it?
Yes. I think that's a valid point and people feel that.
The culture is changing
and definitely with employment law as it is in the UK,
your boss has a duty of care towards your well-being and if you are
stressed you should be able to work with your employer to deal with the problems
that are causing it.
There are things you can do yourself.
1. Make sure you're in a comfortable work environment - so the right desk
setting or whichever environment you work in.
2. Share problems with colleagues because they are often experiencing the same thing.
3. Make sure you work regular hours.
Try not to
keep in the office or keep at work too late.
and 4) Make sure you're spending enough time with your family. Because friends
and family and time outside work
will really affect
how well you work and how stressed you are at work.
What about stress outside the workplace - how should I deal with that?
That is difficult. In the family environment if there is stress.
There are often very emotional things that are causing it.
It sounds trite for a doctor to tell you
how to deal with your emotional problems,
but there are some simple steps that you can take.
1. Ensure you're having as much good sleep as you can and that's about
making the bedroom environment as comfortable and as quiet as possible.
2. is about avoiding the absolute no no's. Which is excessive alcohol
or excessive caffeine.
3. Exercise. It is medically proven that regular exercise - three to five times a week
will reduce your stress levels and that's a chemical
thing not just a mental thing.
And then it's dealing with the problems that are underlying it.
That may require a bit of outside help.
Where can people find out more about stress and how to deal with it?
Well, understanding how much stress you're under
is sometimes difficult to do.
If you go to Bupa's online stress assessment test.
It takes about 10 minutes to do.
But what it does is ask you some key questions about your behavior patterns
and it will tell you really what your stress level is.
Then, once you know that - you can go into mechanisms to help cope with it.
So again, on Bupa's website, Bupa.co.uk/stress
You'll find a whole hub of information
ranging from what to do in the workplace
to deep breathing techniques for relaxation to help with stress.
So, the Bupa website has a whole repertoire of information
to help deal with it.
Dr Sneh, thank you very much.
Thank you.