The top stress tips keep on coming this month…today we are giving you information on the warning signs of stress from Scottish stress and wellbeing professionals at Resolve.
“Lots of different situations in our lives can cause us to feel stress.
A bit of stress can be a good thing, getting the adrenalin pumping and helping us to perform to the best of our ability. However, sometimes we can start to become overwhelmed and stress can have a negative impact on how we think, feel and behave.
When this happens we can start to notice symptoms such as:
- Sleep problems
- Pain and tension in our back, neck and shoulder muscles
- Irritability or mood swings
- Increased worry or anxiety
- Headaches
- Upset stomach
- Chest pains or breathlessness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Changes in appetite
If you’re noticing a few of these symptoms then stress may be a problem for you. When you’re stressed, life can feel a lot harder, and your work, social life and relationships may suffer. However, the good news is that there are some simple things you can do to help manage your stress:
Make sure you keep doing the things that you enjoy. Often when we’re stressed we withdraw from other people. This tends to make the stress worse. Keep up your hobbies, and make time for friends and family.
Make time to relax. This could include formal relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises, or a hot bath, massage, yoga or tai chi. Different things work for different people – the important thing is to build time for relaxation into your daily routine.
Think about your sleep pattern. Try to go to bed and get up at roughly the same time
every day. Think about your environment – is your bedroom a calm, comfortable space?
Try to identify exactly what your stressors are and think about ways you could manage them better. Are there small changes you can make – such as to your daily routine, or to your time management, or the way you communicate with others?
Try to eat a healthy, balanced diet. And watch your alcohol and caffeine intake.
Take regular exercise. This helps with your mood, can give you more energy, aids sleep, and can help to reduce stress.
Be aware of your thinking. When we’re stressed, we tend to think about ourselves, the situation we’re in and the future in quite a negative way. Ask yourself whether you’re doing this, and whether there are alternative ways you could think about things.
At resolve, our focus is on wellbeing. If stress is a problem for you, you may benefit from some support to learn which strategies best fit your situation. Guided self-help is an approach which has been shown to be helpful for people experiencing stress and is based on cognitive-behavioural principles.
Margaret Yeaman – resolve Wellbeing Consultant
[email protected] – Tel:0131 718 6003
More about resolve – resolve supports wellbeing by providing personalised solutions
for dealing with life’s challenges both at home and in the workplace through guided self-help and counselling. For further information please visit our website www.resolvescotland.org.uk
resolve is funded by the Scottish Government’s Enterprise Growth Fund and is part of Health in Mind, a “not for profit” charitable organisation which has been providing wellbeing and counselling service in and around Edinburgh for over 30 years on behalf of the NHS, local authorities and the Scottish Government. Charity number: SC004128.