International Stress Awareness Week

To support International Stress Awareness Week, our EDNA Advisors are delivering a special ‘Say Hello to EDNA’ session – Fostering Wellbeing: “Effective Stress Management in the Workplace” on 26 November 2024 – register here

Let’s talk about stress – What is Stress?

Stress is defined as ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them’.

Some people find a certain amount of pressure can help keep them motivated, yet when there is too much pressure it can lead to a person experiencing symptoms of stress.

Stress is not an illness, but it can affect a person’s physical and mental health.

What happens when Stress is not managed?

When stress is not managed it can cause burnout (physical and mental exhaustion) anxiety or depression. Negative effects of stress can increase the risk of physical illness.

Some common symptoms of workplace stress:

Physical symptoms

Fatigue, frequent colds, headaches
Loss of sleep
Changes in appearance
Tightness in the neck, shoulders, or chest

Behavioural symptoms

Nervous habits
Irritability or aggression
Uncharacteristic errors
Working longer hours
Increased sickness absence

Whilst acute stress can help protect the body from dangerous stressors, chronic stress can harm the body.

What factors contribute to Stress?

Many factors can contribute to stress at work such as poor working conditions, too many or conflicting demands, feeling a lack of support or encouragement from managers or others at work, bullying, and conflict, particularly if these are not managed well, change within the organisation, and so much more.

How can we help our colleagues who may be experiencing stress?

Individuals may require adjustments to support them do their role. When we consider a person who has a disability, they may require adjustments at work to help them thrive in the workplace, we must remember that a person’s needs may change over time, or a person may not feel comfortable to talk about their challenges or difficulties, therefore it is important that we share our knowledge in how and where to access support, to work with the individual to help identify the cause of the stress and work together on possible solutions.

We must be open to the fact that an individual may not have shared their disability with their manager or, colleagues, and may be struggling or masking their difficulties in fear of judgment or other reasons.

How can we support a person if they have not shared their challenges and difficulties?

We recommend raising awareness of disability support within the workplace and sharing knowledge of EDNA. This generally has a positive effect for people who are struggling to feel they can reach out.

How may EDNA be able to help?

We can together work towards making a positive difference, we can together work towards eliminating stress in the workplace.

Here at EDNA, we offer a safe space to talk about a person’s challenges and difficulties in the workplace concerning a disability, long-term condition, or neurodivergence. We can together explore the support available.

We can help in having a safe conversation with the individual, we can create a report that is tailored to the individual, and their needs. The report is helpful at times for what might be felt as having ‘a difficult conversation with their manager or colleagues’.

We are here to help, to ensure our workplace remains inclusive and is supportive for all.

EDNA’s overall aim is to improve the well-being of our staff so they can feel safe, accepted, valued, and included. It offers access to the support they need so that they can reach their full potential and thrive in the workplace.

Internal resources for support and further advice