Managing Stress in Challenging Times
Think about the last time you were experiencing stress. What were you doing? How long did it last? What did you do to recognize and manage it?
Although everyone has different answers based on their own unique experiences, there are three common ways stress can affect us: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Stress can also have an incredible financial impact on the workplace and overall economy; did you know that on average, stress-related absences from the workplace costs Canada $3.5 billion each year?
If we understand what stress is, how it’s caused, and how to properly deal with it, we not only improve our overall health and well-being, but we can strengthen our workplaces as well. Stress can be defined as a state that occurs when individuals are:
- Faced with events perceived as endangering their psychological or physical well-being;
- Uncertain of their ability to deal with challenging or threatening events, or
- Reacting to an environmental event that is interpreted as threatening.
Simply put, stress is any outside force or event that has an effect on our body or mind. We can experience it on numerous levels: psychologically, physically, behaviourally, and socially.
Some common physical symptoms of stress include:
- Pounding heart
- Sweaty palms
- Headaches
- Sleep problems
- Fatigue
- Chronic pain
Psychological stress can include:
- Depression
- Guilt
- Inability to think clearly
- Difficulty remembering details
It’s important to know that stress can be easily managed. With the right stress management techniques, you can learn to cope with everyday stressors in your life in a healthy manner.
To learn more about how our counselling services can help with stress management, please contact your Account Manager. To learn how your organization can enroll in our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or Student Assistance Program (SAP), please contact us today.