Stress Awareness Month: How to manage your mental wellbeing

April is Stress Awareness Month, so Park’s saving experts are highlighting the importance of mental health and how to manage stress and anxiety.

Date:

3 April, 2023

Stress Awareness Month 2023

Everyone experiences stress at some point in our lives. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 74% of people feel so stressed they have been overwhelmed or unable to cope. Stats also show that 37% of adults who reported feeling stressed also felt lonely as a result. Whatever the cause of our stress –  work problems, issues at home or a general feeling of burnout; understanding stress management is key to improving our mental wellbeing.

Every year since 1992, Stress Awareness Month has raised awareness of causes of stress and how to better manage it. It’s  goal is to encourage us to be open about our mental health, to take away the stigma. Working together to talk about stress and how it affects us is crucial, so Park HQ has created a resource bank at the end of this article filled with links to various charities and organisations that share stress management techniques. 

Stress 101

The World Health Organization describes stress as: ‘a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation’. It’s a natural human response, prompted by challenges and threats we face in our daily lives. It’s important to remember that feeling stress is not a weakness or failure, it is our mind and body reacting to increased pressure – and with the right techniques and support, we can all manage the stress we feel better.  

We all know how it feels to be stressed. While it is completely normal for us all, what differentiates us is the way in which we respond to stress. Everyone has a unique approach to managing and improving their mental wellbeing, so we all need to find out what best suits us as an individual. One thing might work for one person, but it doesn’t do anything for us. 

Recognising stress is a key factor, especially given it can affect our bodies in different ways. Mental health charity Mind lists the following as signs and symptoms of stress: 

  • Changes in emotions, feeling anxious, irritable or angry 
  • The sense of being overburdened or overwhelmed 
  • Being unable to turn our thoughts off 
  • The inability to enjoy ourselves 
  • Depressed thoughts, uninterested in life 
  • Feeling like we’ve lost our sense of humour 
  • The feeling of dread 
  • Tension and loneliness 
  • Existing mental health problems getting worse 

How stress affects our physical health

Mind has also explored how stress affects our bodies on a physical level. These include: 

  • Difficulty breathing 
  • Panic attacks 
  • Blurry vision 
  • Trouble sleeping, causing fatigue 
  • Muscle aches and pains 
  • Headaches 
  • Chest pains and low blood pressure 
  • Ailments like indigestion, heartburn, constipation and diarrhoea  
  • Feeling sick, dizzy and/or fainting 
  • Losing on weight, as well as putting it on 
  • Develop skin conditions like rashes 
  • Profuse sweating 
  • Changes to our menstrual cycles 
  • Existing physical health problems getting worse 

If we don’t manage our stress, all these things can cause long-term health issues. The physical side-effects of stress can also worsen, making us feel a lot worse. 

It’s easy to say we need to manage our stress better, but how exactly do we do it?  Step one is figuring out the root cause of why we’re stressed. It’s also worth noting that while turning to smoking and drinking sometimes seems like it will lower our stress levels, in fact it has no positive effect and can make the physical symptoms worse. We can take control of our mental wellbeing in different ways. Management of stress is about supporting our emotional strength. The first step is acknowledging exactly what’s bothering us. Being surrounded by a solid group of people who can be honest with us and support us as we open is a really good way to face our challenges as is maintaining a positive outlook. Something as simple as writing down the things we’re grateful for in our lives can also help us see things more positively.

For this year’s Stress Awareness Month, Park HQ will be putting together weekly articles on ways to manage stress. You can also read our previous blogs about ways to improve our mental wellbeing here and here. So, stay tuned... 

Resource bank

Here are links to various resources offering stress management tips.