Arrrrrrrgh #$@!% …Stress, what does it do to us?
18 November 22
What’s the commonest reason for sickness and absence…You’ve guessed it…
Stress and anxiety are the commonest reasons for people to contact their GP and the commonest reason for sickness absence in the workplace.
If you are suffering from stress and anxiety, then you are not alone; look around you; most people that you see will have either suffered themselves or be close to someone who has. So, the first thing to do is not to ignore it; talk to your family, your GP, HR.
We can experience stress at home and at work and often, they bleed into each other.
There are domestic problems, illnesses, and financial problems. At work, there is ‘work-related stress’ due to excessive pressure or other experiences such as harassment and Incivility, lack of control of your day and work overload.
What does stress do to us?
Stress causes a ‘flight or fight’ response in the body.
When we are stressed, our body makes hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.
These hormones speed up the heart, increasing the blood pressure, making us hyper-aware and agitated, and they tell the body to release glucose and cholesterol into the blood stream to fuel the body to survive.
Now, this made total sense back in the ice age when our ancestors were faced with a sabre-toothed cat and need to run or kill it but doesn’t really make much sense in the office or driving a vehicle, in fact, it makes the job so much harder to do.
The real physiological effects of stress are measurable and cause real sickness, which we all need to be aware of.
How does stress affect us, and are there any signs that we can look out for?
The short-term effects of stress are commonly headaches, forgetfulness, irritability, low energy, absenteeism, increase in smoking and alcohol consumption and reduced performance. The common coping options that are usually taken are to complain, to neglect the work and then either wait and hope for change or to leave.
The long-term effects are depression and other physical illness which have been brought on by the constantly high levels of stress hormones, poor sleep, mal-adaptive habits like smoking, alcohol, illicit drug use and poor self-care.
There is commonly an increase in heart disease, self-harm and an impaired immune system which leads to an increase in infection and disease.
How does Health Drive Digital help?
Health Drive Digital was created to help workers live happier, healthier, and longer lives.
Evidence shows that lifestyle improvements are essential to mental wellbeing; being active, having a good diet and sleeping well.
The meditative process and mindfulness programs that we recommend on the Fitbit app can reduce heart rate and blood pressure, they can help with sleep and can calm a troubled mind.
We will check up on your mental health from the onboarding process onwards, nudge you to make better choices and urge you to seek help when needed.
But remember that we are all vulnerable and so if in doubt, please speak up. Talk to your manager or HR department, talk to your GP or our online GP, and there are always charities out there who share our view that mental wellbeing should be a priority for all.
If in doubt, reach out…
© 2022 Dr J Pearson, Chief Medical Officer, Health Drive Digital; all rights reserved
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