How to manage the stress in your life
RPS provides some helpful tips to managing stress as part of their wellbeing coaching workshops - supporting good mental health
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The awareness day is part of the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) initiative to raise awareness of mental health matters around the world, assemble efforts in support of mental health, and reduce harmful misconceptions and stigma.
The official theme set by the World Federation for Mental Health iterates the importance of good health and strong welfare for employees in every organisation: “It is time to prioritise mental health in the workplace“.
With the day offering an opportunity for everyone to unite across the globe to educate and raise awareness of mental health matters, RPS has utilised the day by ensuring that their staff have the help and support they need. RPS promotes open conversations about mental health and offers a series of resources, support and advice to all employees.
Our Wellbeing Steering Group is also one of these resources, set up to support individuals with their mental health and ensure that employees have someone to talk to. Our Wellbeing Champions support this cause by volunteering to always be available to offer advice and help to any RPS employee who may be in need.
Mental health is a person's emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Mental health is the way we think and feel and our ability to deal with the ups and downs of life.
It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.1 Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood and it can go through ups and downs.
When the demands placed on a person exceed their resources and coping abilities, their mental health could be impacted. For example, if someone is working long hours, caring for a relative, or experiencing economic hardship, they may experience poor mental health.
We all have times when we feel down, stressed or frightened. Most of the time those feelings pass, but sometimes they develop into a mental health problem like anxiety or depression, which can impact our daily lives. For some people, mental health problems can be complex and require further support and treatment.
Everyone has the right to a safe and healthy environment at work. We can all take steps to improve our own mental health and ensure that we are happy at work.
Here are some tips to help you manage your mental health.
Be active and spend time in nature:
Regular movement can boost your self-esteem and can help you concentrate, sleep, and generally feel better. But going out and getting some fresh air can make a huge impact just by itself.
Eat healthy:
What we eat can affect how we feel, both instantly and in the long term. A diet that is good for your physical health is also good for your mental health.
Take a break:
A change of scene or a change of pace is good for your mental health. It could be a five-minute pause from what you are doing, music during a commute, a weekend exploring somewhere new or doing something you’ve always wanted to do.
Do something you enjoy:
What do you love doing? What activities can you lose yourself in? Enjoying yourself can help reduce stress and doing an activity you enjoy boosts your self-esteem. Regardless of whether you are good at it or not, the important thing is finding a way to express yourself and focusing on something you love.
Focus on the present:
Often, focusing on the past and future can cause conflict within yourself. Paying attention to the present moment can help bring you back to earth. It's been shown that focusing on the present can help people become more aware of their thoughts and feelings. This means that instead of being overwhelmed by your emotions, it may become easier to manage them.
This is sometimes called mindfulness. You can use techniques such as meditation or breathing exercises to help with this. These pages from Mind on mindfulness offer some exercises you could try.
Make a self-care kit:
Mind recommends putting together a series of items that give you comfort and help you be calm. This is called a “self-care kit” and is filled with items such as your favourite book, pictures or photos, a stress ball or fidget toy or a comforting blanket or slippers.
You can also create a digital self-care kit on your phone using saved photos, music, videos, messages or sayings that you find helpful. You can even include notes to remind yourself how to manage difficult situations.
Care for others:
Often the best way to feel better is to help someone else feel better. Caring for others is often an important part of keeping up relationships with people close to you and connecting with them as well. Working life provides opportunities to be there for colleagues – either as a team-mate or as a line manager, in training, offering support or simply helping out with a task.
Talk about how you feel:
Talking about your feelings can help you express what problems you have and provide some relief, even if it’s just about your day or what may seem like a small problem. It can also help you find people who have had similar experiences and can offer advice to cope.
Ask for help:
We all are sometimes overwhelmed by how we feel or when things don’t go to plan. Seeking help is often the first step towards getting and staying well, reach out to friends, family or colleagues for support.
Talking about mental health can seem frightening. We’ve all had conversations with people about bereavements, breakups and other life events. They’re not always easy, but they often mean a lot to a person having a tough time and it can make a huge impact on their health.
It all starts with a simple conversation.
Always ensure that you treat their words with the respect that you would want someone else to treat yours.