Stress awareness month

What is stress?

Stress can be described as our body and minds reaction to pressure, tension and strain that arises when we feel overwhelmed or struggling to cope. When we are stressed, our body releases a hormone called adrenaline (often called the “fight or flight” hormone), which usually gives us a boost or motivates us to act quickly. Its natural and ok to feel stressed sometimes but prolonged periods of stress can have very harmful effects on our health. Therefore it is important to recognize when we are feeling stressed and adopt ways to cope when faced with it. This way you can get back to taking care of what matters to you.

Men don’t like to worry the people they love when stressed about something and would prefer to try and deal with the issues themselves by themselves. This can only make matters worse.

Physical signs of stress:

Headaches, chest pain, panic attack, heavy breathing, pounding heart, muscle aches, feeling dizzy, sweating a lot.

Mental signs of stress:

Trouble sleeping, drinking more/doing drugs to shake the feeling, increased smoking, anxiety, quick to anger.

For men the most common issues that cause stress arise from social issues such as:

Relationship issues

Relationships can be tough, whether its with a partner, family member or friends, its totally normal to feel the pressure sometimes, remember you are not alone. For more info on how to manage this visit Support Available | Calm your mind

 Debt/money worries

“Its ok to feel the pressure of financial responsibilities from everyday bills to unexpected costs, as things spiral you may start to feel alone and out of control. The best thing is to tackle this issues head on. For more information on how you can manage this visit  Support Available | Calm your mind

 Work stress

Pressures of deadlines, demanding bosses and never ending tasks can make you feel there is not enough hours in the day. Its ok to feel stressed about work, the important thing is to recognize it and try to address it. For useful hints and tips visit Work-related stress – NHS (www.nhs.uk)