You Don't Have to Be Stressed ? By Stress Management Expert ...

Charlie Damonsing is a stress management expert who works with both individuals and organisations to reduce stress, improve well-being, increase motivation and raise productivity levels.

In this article, Charlie explores the difference between healthy and excessive levels of stress, how to recognise the early warning signs of stress and ways to build mental, emotional and physical resilience.

You Don?t Have to Be Stressed ? By Stress Management Expert Charlie Damonsing of Ipswich, Suffolk, East Anglia

There is no doubt that for many of us, life at the moment is stressful. Lack of jobs and job security, a faltering economy, increasing family responsibilities such as looking after older parents and children staying at home longer, etc. There are any number of factors that can cause stress in our lives.

I was recently talking to a senior manager in a large local firm, who juggles work and three school age children. She told me ?I always have a headache, I have never slept well and I drink half a bottle of wine every night. I thought that was normal!? This got me thinking. Are we getting so used to being stressed, that a constant headache and bad sleep is now considered normal?

Healthy ? or excessive stress?

A certain amount of stress is good for us, it gets us up in the morning, creates focus, motivation and activity. However, for each of us there is a point at which more stress is no longer helpful to us and in fact can become harmful. This is the point that we all have to become aware of for ourselves.

What I call ?low level? and persistent stress can be just as dangerous, as one-off stressful events such as losing your job, moving house, getting divorced etc. By low level, I mean the frustrating daily commute to work, the drama of getting the family out of the door every morning, the extra demands at work as we are all being asked to do more with less resources, the financial worries at the end of each month. The accumulation of all these factors can cause harmful stress.

Now, our bodies are very clever. When things aren?t right, our bodies will tell us. However, from what the senior manager told me, some of us are not listening. A headache, not sleeping well and drinking too much are all signs that something is not right, and it is up to us to notice this in ourselves and do something about it.

Noticing the early warning signs?

Stress can have physical, mental, emotional and behavioural symptoms. Physical factors include a change in sleep patterns, our eating habits or energy levels as well as common illnesses such as colds, headaches or back ache. Mental and emotional signs may include increasing sadness, anxiety or feeling afraid. Behavioural signs of stress are most commonly anger, irritability and mood swings. The point here is that we all have an early warning system in operation, so that we can spot when we are getting stressed, and we need to take notice.

For some it is a badge of honour to be stressed. I trained as an accountant in a big firm in London, and certainly in the 1990s if you weren?t stressed you weren?t working hard enough. It was normal to never have enough time, always be rushing about, having too much to do and working long hours.

We now know that this behaviour leads to burnout and serious illness. Excessive levels of stress are not sustainable over a period of time. I know that there are adrenaline junkies who thrive on pressure, deadlines and high demands. However, they too need to make sure that there is balance in their lives, because it is impossible to maintain that level of stress without doing some damage.

Reducing stress by building resilience

I have spent a lot of time recently in businesses talking about building resilience. This is all about making sure you are building up your physical and mental health so that you have reserves to call on when the inevitable stresses come along.

I remember being puzzled by this many years ago, at the height of my own stress. If I was stressed because I had a very demanding job, then why would what I ate and the amount of exercise I did make a difference? I just couldn?t see the connection. I now know that being physically and mentally fit enables me to deal with my demanding job because my body and mind have everything they need to work effectively.

So building resilience is about doing all the good stuff around lifestyle, to improve your overall health and wellbeing. This includes exercising, eating well and getting enough sleep.

You can also improve your mental and emotional fitness; take steps to boost your confidence and self esteem, make sure your relationships are working for you, change any negative thinking habits and do things you enjoy regularly. Taking time to have fun is time very well spent, and will be helping to build your resilience.

The Mind Sanctuary?s directory of experts can help you build your mental, emotional and physical fitness. Find activities and therapies which appeal to you and start learning how to manage your stress.

This article was written by Charlie Damonsing of CLAssociates. If you require support in dealing with stress, then please contact me for a no obligation chat to find out more about how I work and how I can help you. Call me on 0771 559 6487 or e-mail charlie@classociates.org.uk

To access a free e-course ?7 Steps to Sort Out Your Stress? please visit www.everythingstresscourse.co.uk. You will receive a series of e-mails packed full of information, questions and techniques on how to deal with stress.

For further information about Charlie?s work with individuals and organisations, please refer to the following links below.

- For individuals: Everything Stress

Website: www.everythingstressblog.co.uk

- For organisations: CL Associates

Website: www.classociates.org.uk

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Source: http://themindsanctuary.com/stress-management-mental-emotional-physical-resilience-ipswich-suffolk-east-anglia/

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