Improving Your Stress Resilience

Introduction Pressure can be beneficial. It helps us to achieve by giving us a sense of purpose. But sometimes the demands of our jobs can overwhelm us and actually make us less productive – making the situation even worse. In order to get back on top of our work we need to develop stress resilience. That’s the capacity to recognise when we are under too much pressure, and to take action to manage the situation. This session offers insights into how you respond to pressure, and how to cultivate the resilience to deal with it.

Aims and Outcomes To understand what causes stress and how it can impact on you To help you to recognise and manage stress To help you to develop the resilience to cope with stress in a healthy way

The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) definition of work related stress is: "The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work" What is Stress? Stress is the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure. Pressure turns into stress when you feel unable to cope.

Why Stress is Bad for You The body responds to physical, mental and emotional pressure by releasing hormones that increase blood pressure, speed heart rate, and raise blood sugar levels. These changes are intended to help you to escape a perceived threat. However, if they are not released and stay in your bloodstream, they can start to make you feel mentally and physically unwell Research has shown that people who experience intense and long-term stress can suffer a wide range of physical ill health symptoms including digestive problems, fertility problems, and a weakened immune system People who experience chronic stress are also more prone to viral infections such as the flu or common cold and to have headaches, sleep problems, depression, and anxiety

Work Related Stress in Education Within the education sector 40% of all work related illness is due to stress Together with health and social care professionals (in particular nurses) and caring public services, teaching and education reported the highest rates of total work related stress Work pressure, lack of managerial support and work-related violence and bullying are cited as the main causes of work related stress

Causes of Stress at Work The HSE has developed a stress indicator tool to identify the six key causes of work related stress:stress indicator tool Demands – workload, work patterns, work environment Control - how much say you have in the way you do your work? Support – do you receive the encouragement, sponsorship and resources you need to do your job properly? Relationships – how effective are your relationships with your manager and colleagues? Role – do you understand your role within the organisation and are your levels of authority and responsibility appropriate for the job you are being asked to do? Change - how are changes affecting your job communicated and managed?

Stress can affect how you think, feel and behave. The following 3 slides look at the physical, emotional and behavioural signs of stress in more detail Not all symptoms need to be present in cases of stress and it is important to remember, when looking at other people’s symptoms that on their own they cannot ‘diagnose’ stress. However, a number of symptoms together can be taken as an indicator that someone is experiencing stress If you are concerned that someone you know is under stress, signposts to help are available at the end of this presentation Symptoms of Stress

Physical Signs of Stress The following physical symptoms may all be signs that someone is under stress High blood pressure Fatigue Digestive disorders Sweating Insomnia Headache Bloodshot eyes Chest pains

Emotional Signs of Stress Stress may lead to the following emotional signs Anxiety attacks Loss of sense of humour Aggression Poor concentration Loss of confidence Depression Apathy Being tearful

Behavioural Signs of Stress Behaviour may change as a reaction to stress with the following signs becoming apparent to those who know you Increased risk taking behaviour such as drug abuse or excessive drinkingdrug abuseexcessive drinking Chain smoking Over eating Loss of appetite Poor timekeeping Indecisiveness and forgetfulness Obsessive or erratic behaviour Slouched posture Dishevelled clothing

There are many things you can do to manage stress effectively and to improve your resilience to stress, such as: Learning how to relaxhow to relax Taking regular exerciseregular exercise Adopting good time management techniquesgood time management techniques Learning a controlled breathing techniquecontrolled breathing technique Learning mindfulness for mental wellbeingmindfulness for mental wellbeing Learning how to get a good night’s sleephow to get a good night’s sleep Managing the Symptoms of Stress

Improving Your Wellbeing and Stress Resilience Improving your wellbeing will help to improve your stress resilience. The ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ will help you do this.5 Ways to Wellbeing Connect - positive relationships are critical for promoting wellbeing Be active - regular physical activity reduces depression and anxiety Take notice - being aware of what is taking place in the present directly enhances your wellbeing. Savouring ‘the moment’ can help to reaffirm your life priorities Keep learning – adult learning in particular, is strongly associated with higher levels of wellbeing and resilience to stress Give – people who help others are more likely to rate themselves as happy

Stress Management Tools The University has a range of policies and tools which could help you cope with stress – whether it’s work related or home related Flexible Working Policy Prevention of Harassment Policy Disability Policy Equality and Diversity Policy Stress Policy Staff Development Programme Performance Management Procedure PDR process

Further Help & Advice Students The Hub The ARC University Counselling Service for Students Your GP Wellbeing App Personal/Residence Tutor Staff Wellbeing at Aston Stress Procedure University Counselling Service University Counselling Service for Staff HR Advisers HR Advisers will help you to work through the causes of your stress and talk about actions you can take to alleviate it Your GP Wellbeing App External Sources of help Relationships Addiction Bereavement Debt