


Support Others

Stress and Poor Mental Health
Sadly chronic stress can cause a range of physical and mental ill-health and we continue to see a rise in the number of people affected. Whether this is a 'real' increase, or people feeling more comfortable to talk about and report it, isn't clear. It is maybe a combination.
The likely effects also seem to be determined by how you think about stress and your job. If you believe you are in a high stress job and that stress is not good for you then there may be as high as a 43% chance of earlier than expected death.
These were the findings of an eight year study of over 30,000 people by Keller, Litzelman, Wisk, et al. University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
However, in the same study, those who believed they were in a high stress job, but thought stress was natural or the pressure they faced that helped them do their job better, had no increased risk. In fact these people were shown to have the lowest risk. So working in a high stress environment is a positive risk factor, providing you have positive beliefs about stress.
Harvard University carried out research into the impact of preparing people for managing stressful events. When facing high pressure, the flight, fight, freeze response kicks in, leading to changes that include a faster heart beat, hormone release, sweat and an inflammation or thickening of the arteries.
Yet when people were taught how to prepare for these situations and steps they could take to manage them, they saw no change in their arteries or long-term risk. This led to their findings that being able to effectively deal with stress also reduces the health risks associated with it.
Using the techniques we covered in managing stress will have an impact on improving your health and wellbeing. In some cases people are unable to take the learning and improve their situation and need further help.
Recognising Symptoms
If you are suffering regularly from any of the symptoms below, or you recognise these in others, then you or they may need to seek professional help and support.
This includes:
- Finding it hard to sleep
- Changing eating habits
- Smoking or drinking more
- Avoiding colleagues, friends and family
- Overreacting to problems
Or physical symptoms, including:
- Tiredness
- Indigestion and nausea
- Headaches
- Changes in bowel habits
- Aching or painful muscles, back or neck pain; and/or palpitations
Or if you emotionally:
- Become more irritable or angry
- Have greater mood swings
- Are becoming more anxious
- Feel numb
- Feel disappointed with yourself
- Are more tearful or aggressive
- Feel less motivated or committed
- Feel drained and listless
Or, if mentally you:
- Become more indecisive
- Find it hard to concentrate
- Suffer loss of memory
- Feel more confused than usual
- Have feelings of inadequacy or low self-esteem
While all the above are indicators of those who are experiencing stress, they may also be indicative of other conditions. Remember stress can affect different people in different ways. What causes stress in one person may not affect another at all.
You need to be mindful that things that don’t cause you to be stressed could have significant impact on others. It’s about getting to know yourself, family members, team members, students and others, their tolerance levels and behaviours.
If there are significant issues across a larger group of people within your MAT, school or department, you may see regular instances of:
- Disputes and disaffection within the team
- Increases in staff turnover
- Increases in complaints and grievances
- Increased sickness and absence
- Poor team performance; and
- Increases in parent dissatisfaction or complaints
If you have any concerns about yourself or others then do seek advice. You can talk to your line manager, Head, Principal, HR or a trusted friend. Look to see if your MAT or school gives access to confidential counselling services (many do), talk to your union or visit your GP. If you are concerned about a colleague, you can speak to them or their line manager.
This is no longer a 'taboo' subject and it is suggested that it affects at least 1 in 4 people and it can be improved with the right support.
As a MAT and in your schools we know you will have taken action to address concerns in this area, including such things as training and appointing mental first aiders, providing an Employee Assistance Programme and access to counselling within the school.
Helping line managers and staff better understand the symptoms that they or others might experience and to take appropriate steps will add to this, if it is something you have not already done.
The Resilience Handbook the you can download below can be shared and covers much of what is on this page and additional information that staff may find helpful.
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Click here to return to our video page 'Welbee can help you systematically improve staff wellbeing to achieve those goals'.
It's OK if you are still not sure and would like more information first - just email support@welbee.co.uk and we will share the features and benefits of Welbee and how these help deliver the evidence proven benefits of higher staff retention, lower staff absences, better financial performance and further raise student outcomes. All starting with DfE Staff Wellbeing Charter recognised measurement.