Stress and How to Handle It
Stress and Fatigue
The Health and Safety in Employment Act
1992( amended in 2003) now covers stress
and fatigue as potential work hazards and
sources of harm and that certain
behaviours may create a hazard.
So stress or fatigue can be the result of a
hazard in the workplace or
Stress may cause hazards in the
workplace
Why do we get stressed?
Let me tell you a little story, picture this scene.
• A caveman is sitting in his cave minding his own business when he
hears a loud roar. His brain reads this as a sabre-toothed tiger and
puts out a red alert to all parts of his body to prepare for fight or
flight. He’ll have to take on the sabre-toothed tiger or run for his life.
He looks around, sees a club grabs it and belts the tiger on the
head. He feels much much better.
• You would too if you could belt the people in your life who are
causing you stress! but unfortunately you would face jail, so this is
not an option.
What is stress
•
•
•
When your brain perceives that your life is under threat it sends messages
to all parts of the body to prepare for action. It is an automatic reaction to
challenge that helps to save your life by giving a powerful boost to your
breathing , blood pressure and heart rate to pump three or four times more
blood to the muscles than normal. Your liver releases sugar into your
bloodstream and the blood vessels in your larger muscles expand to get
energy and oxygen to where they are needed. Your muscles tense,
digestion stops and all your senses are heightened. The main reason your
body makes this transformation is due to the release of the hormones of
stress namely Cortisone and Adrenaline.
Nowadays we may not encounter many sabre-toothed tigers, but our bodies
have been programmed to react to circumstances such as running late for
work, family or work problems in the same way as they would respond to a
life–threatening event. You may not think you are getting worked up, but
your brain may be treating it as though your life were on the line.
Instead of working it off by belting the tiger, we allow it to eat away at our
insides – and that is what causes the problem.
Stressors - what are they?
Basically there are two types of stressors:
External and Internal
External stressors can be:
•
To much noise
•
Too much mess
•
Too much work
•
Too much responsibilities
•
Unhappy relationships
•
Changes
•
A disorganised workplace
•
Too much stimulation
•
Not enough stimulation
Internal Stressors can be:
•
Our physical health
•
Our mental state
•
Our Self-talk
Self - talk
Lets take a moment to think about self-talk. Its something we all do most of the
time and is a big factor in the world of Stress.
We spend much of our day talking to ourselves. We are in constant dialogue
with our brains, commenting on how we feel about things, perhaps even the
odd rude remark that, fortunately no-one hears.
Self-talk helps us make sense of our world and helps to get our thinking
straight. Sadly we often give ourselves the wrong messages, like “I should
have…” or “I ought to have….” and “I have to…” or “I must…”
We tend to set unrealistic standards of perfection for ourselves – how many of
us are perfect?
More on this later…….
So is stress bad for us?
Do You Recognise Any of These
Symptoms in yourself? In others?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Headaches
Insomnia
Tiredness
Palpitations
Heavy Sweating
Tight or painful muscles and or joints
Constipation (hard to notice in others!)
Indigestion and or stomach upsets
Skin rashes and or itches
High blood pressure
Frequent nervous tics, muscle spasm or
twitching eyelids
Tearfulness for no apparent reason
Frequent colds or flu
What can we do about Stress ?
Now we know what it is and what causes it,
What can we do about it?
•
It is important to understand that as human animals we cannot, indeed
should not, eradicate stress from our lives completely. It is one of the primal
driving forces in our lives. However, as with all things too much stress or an
uncontrolled stress level can be a negative and even dangerous thing for
us.
So what can you do?
•
Well firstly the operative word here is you. I will offer you stress
management techniques some of which will help you, but only if you
experiment, find out what works for you, and apply the chosen technique in
the future
Stress Management Techniques
Different techniques work for
different people depending on
their personalities and their
circumstances. Indeed
different techniques will work
for the same person at
different times depending on
their need at the time.
So be open minded, and
remember what may not work
for you now may do in the
future.
“Don’t sweat the small stuff”
Worries (or stressors) have a way of building up, leaving you with a general
sense of anxiety and discomfort. Here are some simple ways to tackle
worries on a day-to-day basis to help lessen the tension and allow you to
get on with your life.
• Question it! - is it really your problem?
• Talk it out! – share your problems with someone you trust.
• Write it down! – putting it on paper will help you get things into perspective.
• Distance it! – imagine a few days, months, years from now. How much will
it matter then?
• Exaggerate it! – picture the worst that could really happen. How likely is it?
• Attack it! – take the first step to solving the problem.
Remember, worrying in itself serves no purpose what so ever. Do something
with your worries rather than allowing them to intrude on your day-to-day
living
Pace Yourself!
•
Most of us have times during the day when we feel sluggish or have
difficulty concentrating. Work out when your low productivity hour is and
schedule easier tasks during this time.
•
When you get to work in the morning set your priorities before any work
gets underway. Be sure to systematically draw a line through them as they
are achieved, it reminds you of your achievement and provides positive
feedback to you.
•
If you know you are to have a short factual meeting, remain standing. This
stops other people getting too comfortable and settling in for a long spell.
Remember your time is precious.
Exercise and Nutrition
Good stress management has often been associated with exercise and eating
the correct food. But is there really a link?
• Exercise:
Exercise can help you feel good and calm you down. It improves your basic
fitness and therefore helps you cope with everyday demands as well as the
odd crisis. It acts as a distraction and gives you a break from your worries. It
is also a healthy outlet when frustrations build. Yes there’s a link!
• Nutrition:
If stress is a problem for you try to cut down on coffee, caffeine is a stimulant
and causes a similar physical response to that produced by the Hormones
of Stress.
• Some people believe that the feeling of being stressed is caused by a lack
of vitamin B in the blood. There is no evidence to support this. Eating
regular meals and a balanced diet is the best nutritional advice. Yes there’s
a link!
Behavioural Stress Relievers
• Get into the habit of taking a deep breath each time you look at your
watch.
• Try to slow down when you eat, talk, drink or drive.
• Get up a little earlier to give you more time in the mornings.
• Get yourself a pleasant sounding alarm clock.
• Self Talk
Remember this is what we do to help us make sense of our world, but
beware! The “I musts” and the “I should haves” are out. Make such
comments kinder and more helpful and realistic for you.
Some General Things to Remember
•
Our reactions to stressors are influenced by many things – our personality,
hereditary factors, our finances, previous personal experiences, our health,
the state of our personal relationships.
•
Remember that your capacity to cope with stress varies under differing
circumstances and at different stages in your life.
•
Remember that health professionals are in the business of world peace. If
you are not at peace with yourself how can you help the rest of us
What Next?
Well that’s up to you, you could:
• Walk away from here and say what a total waste of time that was! Then
nothing would change for you, and if you are deliriously happy all the time
then that’s fine. If your not then nothing will change for you.
• Adopt one or more of the techniques mentioned today, work at them and
improve the quality of your life.
• Develop your own stress management plan.
• Seek some assistance in developing your own stress management
programme.
• Take a course in meditation or Yoga
• Take on some further reading, I would be happy to recommend some useful
books.
Acknowledgements
• I would like to
acknowledge the
following:
• The Mental Health
Foundation of New
Zealand
• Patricia Cameron-Hill
Ba.App.Sc
• Shayne Yates MBBS
THE END
• I hope you have found this
presentation enjoyable and
informative.
• Some of what you have heard
is no more than common
sense, but sometimes in the
rush of life we need someone
to remind us of these things.
• Be positive be happy.
• Thank you for your
attention and
participation.
A teaching tool by T D Projects
In a nutshell series