Stress Awareness Month

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April since 1992, to increase awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic.

Stress is a common part of life, but often it can lead to us feeling upset, burnt out or overloaded. In the fast-paced world that we live in, juggling many different responsibilities, it’s easy to put ourselves second and forget to look after our mind and bodies properly, which can then lead to feeling the effects of being stressed.

Recent research has identified that 65% of people in the UK have felt more stressed since the COVID-19 restrictions began In March 2020, with the three main feelings being disconnection, uncertainty and a worrying loss of control.

Just over a year since the first restrictions took place, we are now in stage two of easing restrictions, with pub beer gardens, gyms, non-essential shops and hairdressers allowed to reopen since Monday 12^th of April. It is hoped that this will allow people to gain some normality back into their lives.

However, after such a challenging year, it will be difficult for most to ease back into ‘normal’ life. One of the difficulties with stress is that people experience it in many different ways, some of which are invisible.

In aid of Stress Awareness Month – the Stress Management Society is hosting a 30 day challenge. This challenge includes picking one action each for your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing to carry out each day. It takes 30 days to turn actions into habits, which is why they propose a 30-day challenge. To put it simply – going to the gym could seem like a chore now, but in 30 days it could be an enjoyable habit!

Take a look at The Stress Management Society’s stress guide here: https://www.stress.org.uk/home-2/stress-guides/

What else could we all be doing to help us feel less stressed?

1. Exercise – Make the most of the gyms re-opening and the nice weather.
2. Sleep – Ensure you are getting enough sleep each night.
3. Reduce your caffeine intake – Caffeine is proven to increase anxiety, so make sure you are not exceeding your caffeine threshold.
4. Learn to say no – Take control of the parts of your life which are causing you stress, saying “no” is one way to reduce the amount of pressure you feel.
5. Laugh – Laughing is proven to relieve tension and stress, leaving you feeling more relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

Here at Mane, we support all of our employee’s and take mental health extremely seriously. We believe Stress Awareness Month is a great campaign that will hopefully inform more and more people about stress and provide them with the right information on how to handle it.