Thread by @lewisnyman

Today is #NationalStressAwarenessDay — Recently I attended a Stress Management course provided (for free, thanks @NHSuk) by Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service. I'd really recommend it!

Here's a short story of how I came across it and my experience with it...

This year I've been getting ill very often (every few weeks, I usually only get ill once or twice a year), waking up feeling exhausted, going to bed feeling exhausted. As well as feeling this constant underlying feeling of anxiety, which I've never had before.

I went to my GP, asking for a blood test to explain the constant tiredness. The blood test came back with nothing unusual.

My GP asked if I was stressed, which I was.

My GP recommended me to the local Wellbeing service, where I filled out an online form and they came back to me to arrange a one-on-one evaulation over the phone.

After a good 45-60 minute discussion about everything, they recommended I try a stress management first.

I signed up to a three 2-hour session course that started the next day. It was once a week for three weeks. Each week we had some homework to do and bring back to discuss.

The first session was avout understanding what stress is and the triggers and causes of stress. You can break stress down into:

* Thoughts (eg. "People are relying on me and I can't let them down!")
* Emotions (eg. Guilt, irritablility)
* Physical (eg. Headaches, unable to sleep)
* Behaviours (eg. Snapping, avoiding tasks, withdrawing, excessive alcohol/caffiene/drugs)

We also looked at a concept called "The Stress Bucket" which is a way of looking at the different areas of your life can all cause stress and how they can combine into a higher level of stress. It was surprisingly easy to list factors from every area of my life causing stress!

The stress bucket idea also includes taps you can add to the bucket to cope and relieve stress. However, some methods of coping are not helpful and can just put the stress back into the bucket, with interest!

An example of an helpful coping strategy could be exercise (you feel better after). An unhelpful one would be excessive junk food (you feel worse, and guilty).

Read more about the stress bucket model here: mentalhealth-uk.org/blog/the-stres…

Our homework from the first session was to keep an activity diary of how we spend our time, who we are spending it with, and where....

In the second session we analysed how we spend our time It helped me become aware of how I spend my time, and how much of that is helpful or not helpful.

But also, it was visible how much time I spent alone. Working from home can be tough, you need to make time to be social.

We then worked with a concept called the ocean liner, which is an exercise in designing a good balance of areas of your life. Think; work, exercise, tv, fanily, friends, hobbies, etc

If you put a lot of eggs in one basket (I'm mixing metphors but stick with me) and it goes to pot, your ocean liner is going to sink because it's not balanced.

For example, if you put all your efforts into work and work gets bad, it's going to affect you greatly.

It's also about being aware of how you'd ideally like to spend the time you have. We talked about time management techniques and how to tackle prostination.

Also: how to say no 👈

In the third session we talked about more specific tactics to reduce stress such as:
* Combatting negative thoughts
* Flight or flight vs rest and digest responses
* Some relaxation/meditation exercises
* Diet and exercise
* Sleep (Read @sleepdiplomat's book!)

Overall I found it really helped me understand where my stress was coming from and what I can do to reduce it instead of letting it spiral out of control.

I can't remember how many times I have been stressed and reached for some coffee to "be more productive" which is like pouring petrol on a fire and expecting it to go out.

Or evenings when I've had too much booze to relax, which then affected my sleep and made me feel really lethargic the next day.

That made it harder to exercise in the mornings (something I know really helps my mood) and also reducing my producvity during the day. More stress!

If any of this struck a chord for you, contact your local wellbeing service. It's free thanks to @NHSuk! You don't have to pay for expensive services or go on your own.

Also, because it's provided by the NHS it's bullshit free, it's all scientifically proven CBT.