Coping with stress

If you are stressed, you may:

• feel overwhelmed
• have racing thoughts or difficulty concentrating
• be irritable
• feel constantly worried, anxious or scared
• feel a lack of self-confidence
• have trouble sleeping or feel tired all the time
• avoid things or people you are having problems with
• be eating more or less than usual
• drink or smoke more than usual

Our Keeping Well team can help support you with any emotions or feelings. We can offer a free, confidential chat - get in touch by calling 01908 724 227 or email at keepingwell.blmk@nhs.net

Use the list below to see how many signs you notice in yourself

• Energy - You feel like you have less energy than before. No matter what you do, you don't find things get better.
• Sleep - Struggling to fall asleep, or stay asleep. Feeling like you never feel refreshed when you wake up.
• Eating - Your appetite has diminished, you are losing weight. Or you are eating to feel better, putting on weight.
• Dress - You can't be bothered to dress properly and don't care to look at yourself in the mirror.
• Irritation - You find yourself getting angered easily. You can be snappy and frustrated, more than usual.
• Down - You feel sad, with a strange hollow feeling. You might be tearful at times without knowing why.
• Anxious - You are more nervous about doing things than usual. You find yourself avoiding anything slightly stressful.
• Negative - You find yourself having negative and critical thoughts about yourself. You are also not as hopeful as before.
• Talking - You don't feel like talking to others, and at times avoid people at work or at home.

If you notice some of these in yourself, please take the time to have a conversation with someone.

Now use the list below to see how many signs you notice in others

• Energy - They are not managing workload as before. Perhaps sighing frequenetly, appearing to be overwhelmed.
• Sleep - They look like they have just woken up, yawning frequently. They look exhausted even in the morning.
• Eating - They have lost or put on weight. This is coupled with another item on the list.
• Dress - They are looking far more casual than usual. They wear the same clothes several days in a row.
• Irritation - They appear to be getting frustrated easily, complaining more than usual and argumentative with patients and colleagues.
• Down - They look sad; are more tearful than usual and avoid discussions.
• Anxious - Your colleague seems to be avoiding things. They don't take on new challenges and even avoid answering phone calls.
• Negative - They are derogatory about things, dismissing ideas and changes; they were not like this before.
• Talking - They don't talk to you as much. They give you short answers. They just don't seem themselves.

If you notice these in a colleague, please take time and ask them how they're doing.

If you’re living with high levels of stress, you’re putting your entire well-being at risk. It may seem like there’s nothing you can do about stress, but you have a lot more control than you might think. Here are some tips to help you get started: 

Identify the sources of stress in your life

While it’s easy to identify major stressors such as changing jobs, moving, or going through a divorce, pinpointing the sources of chronic stress can be more complicated. It’s all too easy to overlook how your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors contribute to your everyday stress levels.

Ask yourself:

• Do you explain away stress as temporary (“I just have a million things going on right now”) even though you can’t remember the last time you took a breather?
• Do you define stress as an integral part of your work or home life (“Things are always crazy around here”) or as a part of your personality (“I have a lot of nervous energy, that’s all”)?
• Do you blame your stress on other people or outside events, or view it as entirely normal and unexceptional?

Create a stress diary: You could write down when you feel stressed, include what happens just before or after you feel stressed. It could also help you to identify things which can make you unwell. These things are known as ‘triggers.’ Identifying your triggers can help you to have more control over your stress levels.

Practice the 4 A’s of stress management

When handling such predictable stressors, you can either change the situation or change your reaction. When deciding which option to choose in any given scenario, it’s helpful to think of the four A’s: avoid, alter, adapt, or accept.

Get moving

When you’re stressed, the last thing you probably feel like doing is getting up and exercising. But physical activity is a huge stress reliever - even very small activities can add up over the course of a day. The first step is to get yourself up and moving. Visit our physical health page to help you get started.

Maintain balance with a healthy lifestyle

In addition to regular exercise, there are other healthy lifestyle choices that can increase your resistance to stress.

• Eat a healthy diet and reduce caffeine and sugar: visit our eating well page you can visit for tips on making healthy snacks and recipes.
• Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs: if you're struggling with substance use and want to quit smoking, click here for some advice from our team.
• Get enough sleep: to manage better sleep we have some mindfulness and meditation resources that could help.

Manage your time better

Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused.

• Don’t over commit yourself - avoid scheduling things back-to-back or trying to fit too much into one day
• Prioritise tasks - make a list of tasks you have to do, and tackle them in order of importance
• Break projects into small steps - focus on one manageable step at a time, rather than taking on everything at once
• Delegate responsibility - You don’t have to do it all yourself, If other people can take care of the task, why not let them? 

Manage your finances

Money can cause many different issues such as poverty, debt and relationship problems. Making a budget sheet could help. This will help you work out what you can afford to pay. Visit our financial wellbeing page.

Resilience is critical in the workplace as employees can better manage work-related stress, deal with adversity, and overcome challenges with an open mind. Resilient employees also tend to perform better and are shown to have greater job satisfaction.

• Look after yourself: when you take care of your mind and body, you are better able to cope effectively with challenges in your life. Improve your physical wellbeing by focusing on eating healthily, staying hydrated, exercising and getting plenty of sleep.
• Balance: this can be challenging in today’s working world, however having a good work-life balance can help to reduce stress and prevent burnout.
• Develop a strong network: having a good relationship with your colleagues at work builds trust and allows you to communicate freely about potential issues. It may also help you to see things from a new perspective and discover solutions.
• See adversity as an opportunity: reflect on your experiences, both good and bad, and see them as a learning experience which will help you to grow and develop.
• Give yourself a break: time away from your normal routine can help you to feel refreshed, even if it is for a short period. Try to get a change of scenery by going for a walk or going for a coffee.
• Maintain perspective: the way in which we think plays a significant role in how resilient we are when faced with obstacles. Although some situations may seem overwhelming in the moment, it may not make that much of an impact in the long-term. Try to avoid catastrophising these situations, and take a more realistic and balanced approach. 

Visit our building resilience page for more free resources to access.

More resources to help you at work

• Guidance on prevention and management of stress at work - guidance to support colleagues experiencing stress.
• Stress and impact in the workplace - a webinar from the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Partnership Group which looks at work-related stress.
• Supporting on NHS people experiencing stress - information to help support people experiencing stress.
• Talking toolkit aims to reduce work stress - a toolkit specifically for NHS providers.
• Mental health in the workplace - tools and resources for you to help improve mental health in the workplace.
• Health and wellbeing conversations - a resource which aims to help managers have confident and effective conversations to support their staff.

Source: www.nhsemployers.org

• Stress - an NHS self help guide: In this self-help guidebook it provides information on what stress is, the signs of stress, causes of stress, how we can manage stress in our body, how we can manage our stressful thoughts, how we can manage our stressed behaviour, what to do if stress is work related. An easy read version is also available.
• Just Ask a Question (JAAQ) website: Get answers on mental health from world leading experts and those with lived experience on the JAAQ website, over 50,000 questions on over 60 health and wellness topics. 
• Stress and Worry leaflet: This booklet aims to help you understand and manage stress and worry better, so that you have the tools to help yourself.
• Common stress myth busters: 10 stress busters from the NHS. 
• From distress to de-stress in the workplace​​​​​​​: Stress Management Society has a section on stress at work, ways to help you personally with stress, and practical advice.​​​​​​​
• Address your stress​​​​​​​: Watch this webinar about low mood and burnout.

We recognise that our healthcare colleagues in North West London are from a variety of culturally-diverse backgrounds, with many cultures having unique and specific information on mental health disorders. 

We have linked some free trauma psychoeducation resources translated into a number of languages for our colleagues.