Looking after your mental health in the workplace

Stress is a normal response to the demands of work. However, understanding when someone is struggling or experiencing excessive job stress is critical, as it can be damaging to their mental health.

As the end of financial year approaches, business and life can get stressful. This month we are highlighting mental health in the workplace. In the blog below, Client Services Administrator, Kristie Smith identifies some of the warning signs to look out for and tips on how to deal with stress.

Stress and anxiety can affect us all at some stage during our lives. We could experience a stressful day at work or feel anxious about a particular event we are attending, but what happens when these feelings don’t subside? Would you know how to determine when to approach someone and offer help or what steps to take to help yourself? It is important to identify the warning signs that someone may be suffering from stress and anxiety:

• Finding it hard to concentrate
• Feeling irritable, stressed or teary
• Inability to sleep
• Racing heart
• Restlessness
• Obsessive thinking
• Tense muscles
• Panic attacks
• Avoiding social situations

If you notice these changes in someone, make a concerted effort to ask them if they’re okay. Listening, offering reassurance and practical support are just a few ways you can help someone who may be silently suffering from stress, anxiety or on the verge of a burnout.

Here are some simple but important techniques to help you or someone you know deal with stress:

• Get enough sleep
• Exercise regularly
• Eat a well-balanced diet
• Deep breaths
• Meditate
• Talk to someone
• Limit caffeine
• Take time out
• Seek professional help

Follow the links below for further resources:

• Breakthrough 
• Lifeline 
• Beyond Blue