How to deal with stress

Dealing with Stress

‘Under Pressure’, even Queen and David Bowie feel it; ‘These are the days, when it rains it pours’. Stress affects almost all of us as at some point in our lives!
Are you stressed?
Stress can be caused by all sorts of things, from the predictable: work/relationships/moving house scenarios, to the more unusual: my cake won’t rise/I can’t find my favourite underwear/there isn’t anymore cheese in the fridge.It affects us all in different ways and to different extents. Maybe you feel a little tired, or a bit down, or you might be one of the unlucky ones that experience nosebleeds and vomiting due to stress.
Autumn blues
Autumn and its somber offerings of cold wet weather and man flu is in full swing so it is the prime time to experience those down days. Getting out of bed feels like a cruel necessity inflicted by an unforgiving overlord (your boss), and you send spiteful looks at them accordingly as you pour over the neverending stream of paperwork.
Stress statistics
How to help: take a moment, and look around you. Does your work colleague look a little down in the mouth? Is your friend prone to crying? Is your partner more snappy than usual? There may be alternative reasons for these symptoms, but surveys have suggested around 45 million working days are lost every year through stress and anxiety related conditions, with about 12 million adults seeking doctors help with mental illnesses each year, most of which are stress related.
Motivational or hindrance?
Sometimes stress can motivate us, making us start the essay we've been putting off, or ask the girl out on the tube we've seen looking at us intermittently for the last 3 weeks. But often, it is not motivational, it is unpleasant.
So why not make your aim for November to be identifying which colleagues are looking a little worse for wear, and bake a cake for your co-worker, or give them a hug (if they are willing), organise a surprise meal for your partner, offer to babysit for your friend.
RAOK
Or if you are feeling super sociable, how about an RAOK- a Random Act of Kindness. Tell a stranger you love what they are wearing, or randomly give someone a bunch of flowers. Then, when you end up feeling a little stressed yourself, some kind person may return the favour and your faith in humanity will be restored.
Relax!
If you suffer from stress yourself, try having a nap (work permitting), making more time for hobbies like drawing, painting, baking, whatever it is that makes you stop and slow down. Sing along to the radio at full volume, be silly, daydream! In the words of the late journalist Sydney J Harris: “The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it”. Make time to deal with stress this year.



For mild cases of stress, we recommend cups of tea and drawing on stuff (if allowed):