My Toolbox

Stress Management

Perhaps the first thing to say is that, unlike pressure, stress is never good for you and never a positive thing. Stress creates unhealthy biological reactions, and prolonged stress can lead to both physical and mental health breakdowns. Whether you currently believe that you work well under stress or are already uncomfortable with the level of stress you are currently under, it is essential that you do something about it.

Symptoms Check List

The most important thing to know is that all these symptoms can all be overcome, no matter what you are dealing with in life. What will your life be like when you become YOU again?

What is Stress?

Stress in itself is not an illness. It is a response or reaction to excessive or prolonged pressure and challenges that can cause stress-related mental or physical ill health. Modern phenomenon, 'being stressed' is the result of one body system overworking. 'Being stressed' is simply the result of one system (the stress response) doing too much and the other system (natural relaxation) not being used enough. Lazurus defines stress as 'a condition or feeling experienced when a person percieves that the demands placed on them exceed the resources the individual has available'

Our body's stress response works like a car alarm. It is designed to keep us safe by alerting us to the presence of danger in our immediate environment. Instead of using a noise, our internal alarm system lets us know that something is wrong by creating changes in our neurochemistry. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) pumps extra cortisol and adrenaline into our heart, and extra blood and oxygen to our arms and legs for the 'fight or flight' reaction that allows us to challenge or escape danger.

We can't live without it because it would be impractical and dangerous - like walking through the jungle without any fear signal in the presence of predatory animals. However, if the alarm goes off too often or too easily, not only do we stop paying attention to it, but it begins to have a negative impact on our health and our lives. It should be balanced by the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which helps you to 'rest and digest' - your blood pressure drops and the food in your system begins to digest.

This 'natural relaxation' is soft, calm feeling you get in your muscles when you have finished a heavy work out or vigorous movement. You feel a natural high caused by the release of endorphins, the body's natural opiates. It would be virtually impossible to function if that's how you felt all the time, so both systems work together.

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Facts about Stress that YOU need to know

Up to 5 million people in the UK feel “very” or “extremely” stressed by their work; and work-related stress costs British society about £3.7 billion every year. - From Carol Hymovitz article in WSJ Career Journal.

Stress and chronic ill health in the workplace costs £100bn
- Dame Carole Black, ISMA Conference

In 2009/2010 an estimated 9.8 million working days were lost through work-related stress. On average each person suffering from work-related stress took an estimated 22.6 days off - from HSE

The New England Journal of Medicine went so far as to declare that "managing the long-term effects of the physiological responses to stress is critical to survival."Stress may contribute to 85 percent of all medical problems.

How do I overcome stress?

Stress is supposed to be a natural response to threat but is an increasing cause of illness. Often you don't need to change the external circumstances, such as your relationship or job, in order to control your stress. As you learn to change your perception and interpretation of a stressful event, the intensity and duration of the response will change with it. Then you can change any outside circumstances from being in a mindset of relaxed, calm alertness.

In a nutshell, you do not have to put up with feeling stressed. There are amazing ways in which you can overcome stress. I have many different tools for disabling stress and changing your relationship with stress for life. Some of these work very very quickly. Together we turn mountains back into mole hills and grow you a bigger foot to stamp on them. Stop stress from claiming one more day of your life, do something about it NOW : contact me

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Q&A

My stress is nothing to do with work, can you still help?

Absolutely, I have worked with people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, facing divorce, even people who have no idea why they are stressed and they have all been able to face up to their challenges with a fresh apporoach and feeling stress-free. I help people to grow bigger than their challenges and get the brain off its adrenal stress high.

As an employer do I really need to do anything about stress in the workplace?

Yes, taking effective action to manage it, and where possible prevent it, is a legal requirement NOT an option.

Are you an employer, what are you doing about stress in the workplace?

Very few companies are clear about the impact and cost stress has on the workplace. Commonly help is only offered when someone is already in trouble, this makes recovery much harder and can be totally avoided. A workplace that supports a coaching culture is a great place to work. The coach becomes a trusted friend that can help support staff through their transformations in life and increase personal performance. All my work is about increasing self-direction. Employees that take responsibilty for everything they create are priceless to any organisation. They also have happier lives outside of work, which again makes a huge difference to how someone shows up at work. Would you like your company to have engaged, happy, staff?

To contact me about Stress Management please email me today becki@beckihoulston.com

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