We all respond differently to pressure or demands that we find difficult to cope with, or situations that we don’t have much control over.
When we say we are stressed, feeling stressed or that a situation is stressful, this might be because we are finding it difficult to cope with the pressure or demands placed on us. There might one thing causing us to feel stressed, or a build-up of smaller things, which might be happening in our personal and/or professional life.
We can feel stressed in times of uncertainty; when we do not have much, or any, control over a situation; feel overwhelmed by our responsibilities; or are under lots of pressure.
Signs of stress
We will all feel differently when stressed and it can affect us both physically and emotionally. You might:
Feel |
Develop |
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Feeling stressed can affect the way we behave and might cause us to:
- be tearful and cry
- constantly worry
- be restless
- eat too much or too little
- find it hard to concentrate or make decision
- smoke or drink alcohol more than usual
Standards of conduct, performance and ethics
You must take responsibility for assessing whether changes to your physical and/or mental health will detrimentally impact your ability to practise safely and effectively. If you are unsure about your ability to do so, ask an appropriate health and care professional to make an assessment on your behalf. (6.3)
You must adjust your practice if your physical and/or mental health will detrimentally impact your ability to practise safely and effectively. These adjustments must promote safe and effective practice. Where it is not possible to make these adjustments within your scope of practice, you must stop practising. (6.4)
Managing stress
Building resilience can help us cope better, as well as developing our skills for managing external pressures. Mind provides some helpful tips:
Take time, on your own or with others, to reflect on events and feelings that could be contributing to your stress, explore whether these are:
Regularly occurring issues that causes worry
One-off events
Ongoing stress events
Reflect also on what you are copying with.
Try to address some of the causes, including seeking support and help from others.
Accepting that there are some things that we probably can’t do anything about will help us to focus our time and energy on those things that we can change.
For more information, visit Mind, How to manage stress
Don’t be too hard on yourself
We all have a bad day and need to keep things in perspective.
The NHS provides us with 10 stress busters, which include:
- Take control – the act of taking control is empowering
- Connect with people – talking things through with friends or family, or having some time out and laughs with them
- Have some ‘me time’ – take a little time out to do the things you enjoy
- Try to be positive – look for the positives and at the end of each day try to identify three things that went well
The most unhelpful thing you can do is turn to something unhealthy to help you cope, such as smoking or drinking alcohol.
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting on us all and the usual tools and advice for managing mental health may feel unrealistic at the moment.
If you need help or support, please tell someone
