How to Support Yourself with Work-Related Stress and Anxiety
Recent years have seen huge changes in people’s work patterns and habits, with many people adjusting to blended hybrid working, and responding to economic pressures and cost-of-living challenges. Whilst change is a part of life – it can also be a trigger for anxiety and a cause of work-related stress. This blog looks at the ways work can impact your sense of wellbeing, and how work-related stress and anxiety can steal your serenity. We’ll consider some practical self-help strategies that can support your psychological health if you feel impacted by work-related stress and anxiety.
The impact of work-related stress and anxiety
Work is a key part of many people’s lives - whether that’s in the form of paid employment, voluntary work or labouring at home to keep on top of chores and the tasks of life. On average, a third of our adult lives are spent at work if we’re working full-time. And, part-time employment does not necessarily mean part-time work, as anyone who juggling non-paid work, including caring for children and other family members, alongside paid employment knows. Even if you’re not currently employed, the toll of looking for work can take up significant amounts of focus. Therefore, if work leaves you feeling stressed and anxious, then a big chunk of your life is impacted. Feelings of tension, stress and anxiety can spill into other areas of life. Work-related stress and anxiety affect our personal relationships, leisure pursuits and rest, spreading and contaminating our non-work life. The utopian vision of the 19th Century reformer, Robert Owen, who campaigned for "eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest" seems pure fantasy when you find yourself lying awake, anxiously ruminating about work.
The satisfaction of a job well done
Work pays the bills (hopefully!)
It also has the potential to provide satisfaction and a sense of purpose
Work, in whatever form it takes for us, can provide both income and industry. Paid employment not only helps pay the bills, but also provides a potential sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Research shows that being under occupied can be detrimental to wellbeing (Eklund & Argentzell, 2016). This helps to explain why retirement or redundancy, or even being not-so busy at work can also feel stressful. The lack of work potentially means a reduction or absence in feeling productive and useful which can lead to reduced self-esteem.
For self-employed workers, a changing economy and ever shifting market can also lead to fears and anxieties. Not only are livelihoods at risk, but there’s also a worry about what an empty order book might feel like from a self-esteem point of view. No orders = no income + lack of accomplishment. That’s certainly an anxiety provoking equation.
Work-related stress
So, what do we mean by work related stress and anxiety? Stress is the term we use to describe our reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure. In the short term, stress focuses the mind and the body to meet demands – to get the report to your boss ahead of the deadline, or to process a sudden influx or orders. However, when sustained over time, stress is detrimental to physical and mental health. We tire, mentally and physically when we are under duress for too long. If we assess that the demands outstrip our ability to cope, feelings of hopelessness and threat emerge. Over time, work-related stress can lead to burnout.
Work-related anxiety
In a similar way, work-related anxiety is the feeling of dread, fear or apprehension about some aspect of our work. It may be experienced as physical symptoms of tense muscles and difficulty breathing. It may be felt as a panicky sensation in our stomachs. It can also take the form of troubling thoughts and feelings that cause real distress. Whilst some level of anxiety can alert us to action - for example, by prompting us to take a look at our situation and environment and make changes as needed – too much work-related anxiety can be paralysing. Anxiety causes our body to release adrenaline and cortisol and our hearts beat faster so that blood can quickly reach the parts of our body needed to run or fight the threat. This can lead to feeling shaky and breathless as a result, and may culminate in a panic-attack.
Causes of work-related stress and anxiety
So, let’s consider some of the common workplace threats and pressures that can trigger work-related stress and anxiety. Threats in the workplace can take the form of the passive-aggressive email that leaves you feeling under threat. It may come in the guise of a colleague who is ever critical and has zero tolerance for imperfection. Overheard rumours of lay-offs and redundancies can be a significant workplace threat, as can news reports about downturns in the economy. Needing to adapt quickly – perhaps with inadequate training – to new work patterns and remote and digital ways of working can feel unsettling. Being asked to work in areas and ways outside of our comfort zones can feel threatening. For anyone on a zero-hour contact or where pay comes in the form of commissions, there can be anxiety and stress associated with the uncertainty.
Self-help support strategies for work-related stress and anxiety
We’ve looked at what work-related stress and anxiety are, and some of the causes. Let’s turn our attention now to things you can do to support and help yourself if you’re impacted.
Take a stress audit
There are steps employees and employers can take to prevent and manage workplace stress and anxiety. Awareness is a powerful tool here – being able to name and describe different stressors and challenges allows for an objective view of the situation. This is sometimes known as a stress audit. Consider the various factors that are contributing the the stress for you. These may fall under the headings identified by the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) as stress domains:
Demands
Control
Support
Relationship
Role
Change
There are various tools available for conducting a stress audit, or a stress risk assessment - the HSE website has a range of resources.
Once you have identified sources of stress for you, you may also like to consider the resources and strengths available to you in making changes. Can you speak to your line manager? If you live with a disability, are there any reasonable adjustments that may help reduce the stress or anxiety you are facing at work? Are there any steps you can take to have greater control over your work flow? Who or what is available as support for you? Many employers offer a EAP scheme (Employee Assistance Provision) which can include access to counselling as a form of support for staff impacted by stress, anxiety or other issues.
2. Build in a Mindfulness practice
Mindfulness has been shown to be an effective tool for self-support with stress and anxiety
Mindfulness - the art of being present and focusing your attention on the present moment -has been shown to be an effective strategy in reducing of work-related anxiety (Zaccaro et al., 2018; Janssen et al., 2018).
For busy workers who want to find ways to learn more about Mindfulness, there are some excellent Apps out there that can support Mindfulness practice. Headspace provides easy to access Mindfulness exercises. For people interested in finding out more about the theory as well as the practice of Mindfulness, Sam Harris’ Waking Up App may be of interest.
3. Breathwork
As with mindfulness, breathwork approaches that encourage a focus on the breath, and a slowing down and deepening of the breath have been shown to be an effective tool for feeling less anxious and stressed in the workplace (Zaccaro et al., 2018; Janssen et al., 2018).
If you’re interested in applying breathwork, you may like to check out my other blogs here and here on how breathwork can support with workplace stress and anxiety. Other resources that may be of interest include Tom Granger’s Draw Breath book and the NHS Every Mind Matters video.
4. Boundaries around notifications and being available
One source of stress for many people is experiencing interruptions and demands. Tech means that, in theory, we can be reachable 24/7. However, having focus time and time when you are not at risk of interruption is important. Time to recharge and take a break from screens can help manage stress. A few minutes away from notifications and social media can help reset your focus. Consider taking a 10 - 15 mins walk as a break at some point in your working day to help clear your mind and give you some time away from interruptions and demands.
Gathering it all together
Work related stress and anxiety have a real impact on people. Having some means to make changes or introduce some form of self-support can be a helpful if you’re experiencing work related stress or anxiety. Calming, regulation strategies, can help you to gain a sense of perspective upon the issues that are impacting work-related stress and anxiety. Having a clear sense of what the issues are and how they impact you allows for supportive conversations with others. It may be that speaking with a line-manger can help. You may find speaking with a friend helps. And, for many, speaking with a counsellor to explore issues of work-related stress and anxiety is a helpful outlook that can result in increased self-awareness and lasting change.
Get in touch
If you are interested in scheduling a free intro call to ask any questions you might have about starting counselling to explore work-related stress or anxiety, I welcome you making contact with me, Claire Law. I’m a BACP Senior Accredited Psychotherapist offering professional counselling and psychotherapy in Preston, Lancashire and online for adults based in the UK.
I offer a simple, no-pressure approach to people who are considering counselling - and can chat through how I work, and to share with you my availability for new clients for either:
In person counselling at my therapy room in Preston.
Online counselling via MS Teams.
References:
Eklund, M. & Argentzell, E. (2016) Perception of occupational balance by people with mental illness: A new methodology in Scandinavian journal of occupational therapy, 23:4, 304-313.
Jasssen, M., Heerkens, Y., Kuijer, W., van der Heijden, B., & Engels, J. (2018). Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on employees' mental health: A systematic review. PloS one, 13(1), e0191332.
Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B., & Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 12, 353