Feeling Stressed - Angus Health and Social Care Partnership

Stress is a normal part of life that is experienced by everyone. However, if stress is affecting your daily life, mood, sleep and relationships it is time to get help. Stress can affect all parts of your life and may cause you to change your routines and avoid doing what you usually do. This is a vicious circle and can cause your stress to get worse. We can get stressed for a number of reasons such as relationships, study demands, life changes, divorce, retirement, long term health conditions, housing, money, work, technology, social media and juggling many roles or tasks at the same time. What one person finds stressful may not be a problem for another.

Stress affects your body. You may notice that you experience headaches, nausea or indigestion, chest pain, light headed and are more susceptible to cold/flu symptoms. You may notice that you are tense, more tired/exhausted, have increased blood pressure and skin breakouts. You may also have interrupted sleep, poor concentration and are easily distracted.

Stress affects you emotionally and you may experience feelings of fear, anxiety, sadness, anger or frustration. When you are stressed you may behave differently. You may notice you are busy non-stop, irritable, moody, feeling helpless and putting off tasks you would normally find easy.

You may feel like you are not coping, feel out of control and overwhelmed. Some people may consume more alcohol or take drugs. It may affect how you interact with others such as close family and friends.

74% of people have at some point felt so stressed that they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.

TEN TIPS TO RECOVERY

1. Identify your Stressors

Figuring out what is causing stress in your life is helpful. It can help you to see if there are things within your control that you can manage better. If you can identify what the stressors are, you can then try to remove them from your life or at least reduce them.

Some things are outwith your ability to change or control so focus on making changes that may make a difference such as:

– How you handle things
– Doing things differently from usual
– Taking time out
– Thinking in a different way

For example, if you are suffering from stress caused by demands at work, but you can’t change jobs. Try to control some aspects of your job. This could be building in a short lunch break each day, considering your working hours or the appointments in your diary so that you are not undertaking the most difficult tasks at a time of the day that you feel less well, or you could try going to bed early so you have more energy to cope with demands. Please see our sleep resources. You could speak to your Manager to see if they can help. It is helpful if your Manager knows you are struggling as they can then be aware of your workload and pressures, and signpost you to support available in the workplace.

2. Problem Solving

You may find it overwhelming if you have lots of problems that you can’t get on top of. This will impact on your stress levels. Often we end up worrying or ruminating over problems without being able to find a way to resolve them. Ruminating means thinking over and over about something, usually negatively.

It can help to have a structured way of working through a problem. Decide on which problem you want to address and consider the techniques below. Once you have resolved one problem you will have the confidence to carry on making changes. Please do not pick your most difficult problem to deal with first.

Some techniques which can be useful are:

– Clarifying the problem, brainstorming possible solutions, then choosing one solution to put into action after listing the pros and cons of the different solutions you have thought of.
– Writing the problem down and then setting out small, specific steps to start making changes. Starting to overcome one of the problems might help you to feel better.
– Remembering to accept that you can’t do things perfectly no matter how hard you try.
– Limiting your responsibilities, its ok to say no.

3. Eat Well

Eat a healthy diet. Food can affect your stress levels.

Changing bad habits can be difficult so take this a step at a time. Try to reduce unhealthy foods such as crisps, fizzy juice and takeaways, and increase how much fresh food you eat. Start by trying to cook one fresh meal per day. This can improve your mood and health. If you eat regularly your blood sugar will remain stable and this will have a positive impact on your mood and your stress levels.

If you are struggling to eat, try to tempt yourself to eat by cooking at least one fresh meal per day and increasing the number of healthy snacks you eat such as nuts, fruit, yoghurt, cheese, toast or cereal.

For more help on healthy eating to improve your mental health and wellbeing please look at our healthy eating resources.

4. Be Active

Try to do some physical activity. Exercise 20 minutes every day. Make exercise a part of your life. Fatigue can make taking the first step towards exercising more difficult. Take it one step at a time and feel proud when you achieve your daily exercise goal. You will find that you start to have more energy as you move around more.

There are many opportunities for exercise every day such as walking to work, using the stairs instead of the lift, going out to get your shopping rather than using a delivery service, and using your car or public transport less.

You can use free gym equipment in local parks, couch to 5k apps, online fitness videos, or spend time playing in a park with a frisbee or football or walking your dog or a neighbours dog.
Please see more information about the benefits of exercise and how to increase your activity one step at a time.

5. Sleep Well

Get the right amount of sleep. The NHS advises that adults should get between 6 and 9 hours of sleep per night. A lack of sleep or too much sleep can cause your stress to feel worse and make it more difficult to think clearly and problem solve.

Poor sleep can make you feel very tired and lack of energy can make it harder to cope with your thoughts. Please look at these resources for better sleep.

6. Relax your Muscles

When you are stressed your muscles get tense and this can cause physical problems such as back ache, sore eyes, a head ache or tiredness.

You can loosen your muscles on your own. Think about your body and try to identify which areas become tense when you feel stressed. Relaxation exercises may help you to identify where you are most tense. Please see our relax resources.

One you have identified where you are most tense you should set aside a few minutes frequently throughout the day to relax your body. This may be a few shoulder stretches, standing up and touching your toes or clenching and unclenching muscles. You can do relaxation exercises without anyone around you being aware of this.

Other ways to relax your muscles are by enjoying a massage, pampering yourself, or taking a hot bath or shower.

7. Learn Calming Techniques

These techniques can help you to train your mind and body to become more relaxed. Stopping and taking a few deep breaths can take the pressure off of you right away. You will be surprised at how much better you feel when you have practiced calming yourself.

Try using a calming technique every day when you have a free 10 minutes with no distractions and you will feel the benefit throughout the day. You can try this technique at any time of day and may find it is helpful before bed to help you sleep.

There are apps which provide ‘guided relaxation’ and are widely used. These apps can be found in our relax resources.

Try these 5 steps of Deep breathing:

1. Sit in a comfortable position with your hands on your lap and your feet on the floor. Or you can lie down.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Imagine yourself in a relaxing place. It can be a beach, forest or anywhere that gives you a peaceful feeling.
4. Slowly take deep breaths in and out.
5. Do this for 5 to 10 minutes at a time.

8. Talk about your Problems

If things are bothering you, talking about it can lower your stress levels. You do not have to solve every problem on your own. Think about whether there is a friend, family member or work colleague you can confide in and ask for help. Talking though problems can help you to clarify your own thoughts and beliefs, and whether you need to make changes.

You can also talk to yourself. This is called self-talk and we all do it. For self-talk to help reduce stress it needs to be positive not negative. So listen closely to what you are thinking or saying when stressed. If you are giving yourself a negative message, change it to a positive one. For example, don’t tell yourself ‘I can’t do it this’. Instead tell yourself ‘I’m doing the best I can’. This takes lots of practice to do. Keep practicing and you will get better.

9. Take a Break

Trying to find time for yourself may seem difficult but it is worth it as it can make you feel a lot better. Try to set aside time (20 to 30 minutes a day) to try to do something that makes you feels good, and it will help to relieve your stress. Do something you enjoy, such as read a book or magazine, watch your favourite TV show, listen to music, do something creative (draw, paint), complete a puzzle, or pat your dog.

10. Avoid Stimulants, Alcohol, and Drugs

Avoid caffeine, nicotine, fizzy drinks, and chocolate. Stimulants can increase your heart rate and make your stress feel worse. Stimulants can trigger an anxiety attack. Reducing your reliance on coffee or cigarettes can reduce your symptoms.

Do not use alcohol to manage your stress levels. Alcohol is a depressant and will affect your mood and your overall wellbeing.

The use of cannabis increases your risk of developing mental illness and can increase your anxiety.

Steps for Stress
Provides informaiotn on practical steps to recognise and deal with stress. These include lifestyle tips, coping strategies, relaxation techniques and useful contacts.

Get Self Help
A useful resources full of tips to manage stress better.

NHS Inform
Breathing and relaxation exercises for stress.

Mental Health Foundation
Article on stress

Men’s Health Forum
A 24/7 stress support for men by text, chat and email.

Anxiety UK
A charity providing support if you have been diagnosed with an anxiety condition.
Tel: 03444 775 774 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5:30pm)

Anxiety Alliance
Provide advice and support for people suffering from anxiety, their carers, family and friends. Anxiety Alliance can provide advise about withdrawing from tranquillisers and anti-depressants.
Tel: 0845 296 7877 (Every day, 10am to 10pm)

Living Life
A free telephone service available to anyone over the age of 16 who is suffering from low mood, mild to moderate depression and/or anxiety.
Tel: 0800 328 9655 (Monday to Friday, 1pm to 9pm)

Combat Stress, The Veterans’ Mental Health Charity
Provide clinical treatment and welfare support to Veterans who suffer from psychological wounds. Helpline for Veterans, Service personnel, and their families.
Tel: 0800 138 1619

£5.99 per Month

My Possible Self: The Mental Health App

Learn how to manage fear, anxiety, and stress and tackle unhelpful thinking.

Free

Virtual Hope Box

Distraction games, inspiring quotes, coping activity cards, activity planning and interactive relaxation exercises.

£30

Be Mindful

An online course to help reduce stress and anxiety using mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

Free

Student Health App

Reduce your worries, feel more confident and get the health information you need as a student.

£0.99

Beat Panic

Overcome panic attacks and anxiety wherever you happen to be.

Free

Mindshift CBT

Anxiety management. Record the situaitons that make you anxious and design your own plan. Rate your anxiety and check your physical symptoms. Thinking exercises, relaxation tools and general coping strategies.

Free

Big White Wall

Get round-the-clock support from therapists to help you cope with stress and anxiety.

Free

eQuoo

The eQuoo app uses adventure games designed by psychologists to help you increase your emotional fitness and teach you new psychological skills.

Managing Anxiety for Dummies. Davey, Cavanagh et al.

Anxiety Rebalance: All the Answers You Need To overcome Anxiety and Depression. Vernon.

Anxiety Free: How To Trust Yourself and feel Calm. Owen.

Anxiety and Depression: Sheldon Mindfulness. Rezek.

Everything begins With Asking For Help: An Honest guide To Depression and Anxiety. Braddock.

Overcoming Health Anxiety: A Self help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioural techniques. Veale/Wilson.

Mindfulness: A Practical guide To Finding Peace in a Frantic World. Williams/Penman.

These books are available to borrow from your local ANGUSalive library either online or as a hard copy from the library. Alternatively, you can buy these books in bookshops if you would prefer to have your own copy.

Please also look at our resources for General Mental Health and Wellbeing.