Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW) has commenced today in the UK, running from the 14th – 20th of May, 2018. This year’s focus is on the stressors that we deal with in our daily lives and how we are coping with this stress from day to day.
The first question is: What is stress?
Stress is defined as the body’s natural survival response used as a strategy by the body to help keep us safe.
As mental health awareness increases, it’s becoming more and more clear how much daily stress is affecting the average person’s mental health. Given the modern, high-stress society we live in today, it’s no wonder that more people than ever are dealing with the effects that constant stress can have on their mental well-being as well as on their quality of life.
The Mental Health First Aid (MFHA) foundation of England reports that 41% of those between the ages of 18 and 29 whom were surveyed reported workplace stress. Of all of those surveyed, 7% said that they have ended up hospitalized for mental health-related issues due to work and 50% or more missed time at work because of the level of stress work has caused them. Moreover, only 4 out of 10 people surveyed felt that their companies and jobs care about them as an individual person.
This proves that many people in the workforce today feel that they are just another number working for a company to make a paycheck to help pay the bills. For many workers, their jobs are a great source of stress in their lives and for some, it’s a source of stress that they cannot handle effectively.
While many of those surveyed stated that work was, by far, the biggest source of stress in their lives, other leading causes of stress included finding a work/life balance, finding affordable housing, finances, debt, strained family relationships, marital issues, and caregiving for someone who needs a lot of daily support.
Stress Management Classes Are Now Offered:
The good news is that there are now stress management classes offered all throughout the UK by agencies such as the Mental Health First Aid (MFHA) foundation of England that will help you learn how to deal with stress in your life. You can locate and sign up for classes near you here. Moreover, if you need to talk to someone urgently, please visit the MIND for better mental health’s website and click the yellow button at the top of the page that says “I need urgent help” to be connected to speak with someone immediately. The link to that page is found here.
Together, partnering with great organizations like the Mental Health First Aid (MFHA) foundation of England or the MIND for better mental health’s website, we can come together to help overcome the stigmatisms of mental health and help everyone handle the stress in their daily lives in much healthier ways.
There Are Also Apps To Help #AddressYourStress:
There are a variety of apps that will help you #AddressYourStress and one of these in particular is developed by Wellspace. Wellspace provides a bespoke app and portal that help employees manage stress in the workplace, with an easy-to-use interface and different settings that help meet the needs of a wide variety of users.
The Wellspace app tracks a variety of different markers of health including physical activity, nutrition, sleep, and relaxation. All of these different factors have a direct impact on your mental health and mental well-being. Wellspace seeks to #AddressYourStress and helps you seek to improve all aspects of your life to help make you healthier and happier, and therefore able to better deal with stress that affects your mental well-being in the long-term.
The Wellspace model also encourages increased communication between employees and line managers regarding both their physical and mental health.
Remember, never hesitate to reach out, whether it’s during our mental health week (14th – 20th of May), or any other time. Remember that you matter and that you are worth seeking the help you need to handle stress and live your life to its fullest.
For more information on the Wellspace offering and how it can support positive mental health in the workplace, please visit www.yourwellspace.com or contact Jake Adams at jake@yourwellspace.com.
