Stress - the unknown consequences

Stress can be defined as the degree to which you feel overwhelmed or unable to cope as a result of pressures that are un-manageable.

The current Covid environment, has only excaberated the stress from day to day living (working from home, job uncertainty, finances, relationships, etc).

Managing stress becomes very important, failure to manage it properly can often be devastating with violence, self harming, dependency of alcohol or in some extreme cases suicide.

Signs of stress and how to deal with it:-

• Anxious, Irritable, low self esteem

• Over a long period of time stress can lead to mental, physical and emotional exhaustion or burn out

• Sleep deprivation from stress can lead to depression, increased blood pressure, confusion and headaches

• Other well known effects of stress are heart disease, cancers, obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal(IBS), asthma, alzheimer's and an impaired immune system.

Ways to deal with it:-

• Talk to someone - a trusted friend or colleague, to let them know you are struggling.

• Exercise or simply getting outside for a change of scenery.

• Try changing your work routine, break up your tasks into smaller manageable objectives.

• Nutrition / Diet - remember to eat well less sugars and more water. (The body when stressed / lacking sleep, tends to crave caffeine and sugar to keep us running).

• Avoid/cut down on alcohol, if possible

• Electronic downtime - disengage yourself

• Protect your weekends, if work is stressful try leaving it for Monday to Friday.

• Positive thoughts - tough as if it may seem, try to look for the positives throughout the day.

• Quote - "Its impossible to recover your yesterday's, but you can win your tomorrows".

Summary:

Daily stress comes in many forms and is difficult to manage, often beyond your control. What can help is a change in your current approach to your daily life, starting with small steps to realise and overcome the issues, this may help you regain some balance and normality.

Brett's view - Stress manifests itself in many forms but I find just getting outside can be a great distraction for those inside.

David's view - Having worked in stressful and emotional environments, whereby I was being overwhelmed with work and relationship issues, I wished I had chatted more with a close friend about my issues, even though the city environment at the time didn't allow for this.