The Brain’s Alarm System and Everyday Stress
Stress is often thought of as the enemy, but the truth is some stress can be a good thing. Stress can motivate us, increase our energy and keep us focused. It can help us meet challenges, at work and at home, helping us reach our goals and ultimately making us smarter, happier and healthier. Too little stress can lead to boredom and depression.
Too much stress however can take its toll on our wellbeing, causing anxiety and more long-term chronic health conditions. The body has a finite capacity for maintaining high levels of stress. When we reach that point, this is when there is a sudden ‘fall off the cliff’ or ‘nosedive’ into territory of burnout. There are levels of stress that are manageable but it’s important we know what to look out for when it’s all becoming too much.
How stress can manifest
In 2022/23, it was estimated that 875,000 workers were suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety, resulting in 17.1 million working days lost per year; a figure that continues to grow. Signs of stress can manifest in different ways. It might show in physical or psychological symptoms such as faster heart rate, increased breathing rate, sweaty palms or feeling on edge and unable to relax. These symptoms generally come from the body’s release of adrenaline. This allows us to develop and maintain focus on a goal and motivates us to carry on and increases our release of energy stores to maximise our potential during an acute period of stress. This is known as our ‘fight or flight’ reaction.
Sometimes this stress is good for us, motivating us to achieve great things. At times it can spur us forward and keep us excited, especially at work if involved in a big project or something that is going to make a big impact.
A heightened state of stress, however, experienced over a long period of time can lead to a chemical reset in the body. When this happens, as well as generating adrenaline, the body starts producing higher levels of cortisol which eventually lead to more sustained problems.
Recognising the symptoms
The physical signs of stress might be intense fatigue, hair loss or headaches. An individual’s cognitive instincts are also impacted causing memory problems, poor concentration, muddled thinking as well as difficulty making decisions. Experiencing prolonged periods of stress can cause individuals to eat more or sleep less, self-neglect or turn to alcohol or drugs to cope. These factors can have a huge emotional impact too and can eventually lead to a loss in confidence, anxiety, depression, and periods of feeling overwhelmed.
Reaching burnout
This level of chronic stress can lead to ‘burnout’. This is when the individual no longer has the capacity to care or engage and often leads to reduced efficiency in the workplace. Burnout doesn’t happen suddenly and is often a gradual change in a person. Its imperative that managers and colleagues are trained to spot and be alert to the signs of stress so they can offer help and assistance to those who need it, or direct them to someone who can and where they can get support.
Managing stress
Stress doesn’t normally come from the workplace in isolation; it’s likely to be a combination of work stress and pressure along with external factors too. Social expectations put a lot of pressure on all of us and it can be difficult to keep up at times.
Organisations have an important role to play in supporting individuals who are at risk of stress. This might be promoting work-life balance through things like flexible working hours, remote work options, take up on annual leave, volunteering days. Fostering a positive work environment, creating a supportive and inclusive workplace that encourages open communication and collating regular feedback so that colleagues feel valued and respected is also key.
Providing wellbeing programmes to colleagues and taking measures to support the physical and mental health of their workforce pays dividends. Active engagement in Mental Health awareness training, offering of counselling services, Employee Assistance programmes, should include measures that help support employees. This might mean offering them someone impartial to talk to about they feel. This person can help the employee put measures and tools in place to help better manage the stress.
There is no one size fits all approach but getting employees information on how to better manage the stress through exercise, sleep, nutrition and other factors will really help. It also helps the employee feel more supported in the workplace which in turn leads to greater loyalty and productivity. Employees who feel better will ultimately deliver greater results for the business.