Today is National Stress Awareness Day. And according to Mark Newey, of Winning Minds, stress is the biggest blight of our lives today, causing serious illness, he believes that stress is a killer.
I have been giving this a plug for Mark (see pic) and this morning he was busy promoting it on BBC radio, we are also anticipating excellent local media coverage too.
Let’s just hope that Britain’s bosses sit up and take note. Not surprisingly, stress is the biggest problem in the UK workplace where numbers have soared, caused by excessive workload. Yet employers have a legal duty of care to ensure their staff are not harmed by work-related stress, and it is in their interest to do so as it costs them £3.7 billion a year in time taken off work.
The TUC is also plugging it today, its General Secretary Brendan Barber wants to emphasise that people who suffer from stress aren’t wimps, he is urging bosses to make the workplace as stress-free as possible.
I accept that stress is a normal part of our daily lives that we should be able to cope with, as long as it is not excessive or constant, in fact it can be stimulating too if you are working on an exciting project. But please do not ignore the warning signs of high blood pressure, insomnia, depression, panic attacks and heart attacks.
It is hardly surprising that stress is such a major problem today when you consider how our lives have changed over the years. Mark reckons we receive more mental and visual stimulation in one day than our grandparents in 1900 did in one year. He says it is time to claim back our lives. Is that possible, I wonder, or will it be interpreted as a sign of weakness if you complain about your workload? How can one successfully balance the demands of a challenging job, while remaining stress free, and keeping the boss happy? And who cares for the stessed boss?
the cinema screaming, one person even needed hospital treatment after fainting with fright.