In honour of Mental Health Awareness Week 2018′s theme of stress, here are a few quick symptoms and possible ways to lower our stress levels in today’s hectic society.
Symptoms of stress could include:
Struggling to sleep (or sleeping more often)
Change in appetite (eating more or less than usual)
Feeling trapped or panicked
Feeling impatient, angry, overburdened
IBS or other illness flare-ups (headaches, sickness, etc.)
Symptoms of anxiety or depression
Procrastination (alternatively, constantly being on the go and not stopping)
I’m not a professional nor qualified, but in my experience (and those of others I’ve spoken to) these are some helpful tips that could ease your stress:
Plan - taking time to organise all the tasks you need to do could be timesaving and help cure that panicked ‘where do I start?’ feeling. Timetable your tasks to allow enough time on each activity, this should avoid us over-analysing and wasting unnecessary time tweaking the end product. It will also help you get things done in the order they need to be complete, so you always reach deadlines.
Pause - don’t be afraid to pause for breath. Whether you’ve been working all morning or feeling a little lost, take time to ground yourself and put things back in perspective.
Seek help - it may be that there are some tasks that you specifically don’t need to do. Perhaps a peer or colleague could do it, or you could both work on it. Be mindful not to add to other people’s stress by overloading them with your tasks - communication is key. Share the workload.
Talk - be it to a friend, partner, family member, colleague or stranger. Discussing how you feel or the cause behind your stress can be helpful. Sometimes it is ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’. There are numerous helplines you can call/chat with as well (UK helplines, US helplines, Australian helplines, online chat. For other countries; search engines can usually provide web pages with contact info).
Relax - do something you enjoy to help you unwind. Practise a hobby, listen to music, cook yourself a meal or order in, have a bath, meditate, or even go to sleep. Physical activity can also help. Here are some other resources that you could find beneficial.
Just remember that you’re allowed to feel like this, there are a lot of pressures and demands of us at current and there are going to be times that you’re overwhelmed. But you can get through it! There is always someone that wants to help (myself included) so please don’t experience this alone!
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