Throughout April, Care in Mind have been raising awareness and sharing tips and ideas that our employees can take part in to help relieve stress. Stress Awareness Month is a national campaign that has been recognised since 1992, designed to increase the public’s awareness around the causes, cures and effects of stress on your body and mind.

Workplace stress can have a huge impact on organisations, so supporting staff in recognising and managing stress in the workplace is key.

Our People Services Department led weekly campaigns throughout the month looking at the impact stress can have on individuals and teams and how we can cope with and relieve stress both in and outside of the workplace.

 

Raising Stress Awareness

Throughout the month we shared resources with our staff teams on how stress can affect individuals and how managers can support the positive mental health of their teams. Staff have been considering how stress makes them feel and behave, how it can affect them in the workplace and sharing tips on how they reduce and relieve their own stress.

Our Resource Board raising awareness of stress and how it can affect your mind, body and behaviours, this was left for staff to see throughout April for Stress Awareness Month

Active Week

The aim of Active Week was to promote the positive effects of activity and a healthy lifestyle on mental health. We encouraged staff to get active during the day, whether this was to go on a walk on their lunch break, using the stairs or book a gym class for after work.

Care in Mind's Active Week poster, encouraging staff to be more active during their work day for Stress Awareness Month.

 

Mindful Week

During Mindful week, we considered the importance of Mindfulness and tips for managing symptoms of low mood or anxiety.   Staff were encouraged to think about how stress impacts the mind and body, and to be kind, patient and compassionate towards themselves.

On social media, we shared 5 ideas to start and finish your day positively; these include taking some time out every hour to plan the next, taking some deep breaths, having time away from social media and listening to how you talk about yourself.

Care in Mind's poster on Mindful Week, with some tips on how to be mindful of both yourself and others as part of Stress Awareness Month

 

Kindness Week 

For the final week, we launched Kindness Week. The aim was to spread positivity throughout the organisation by saying thank you, undertaking random acts of kindness and considering ways that we can support each other in the workplace.

Care in Mind's poster about Kindness Week for Stress Awareness Month

 

 

If you would like more information about how to relieve stress or how you can support your staff, there are downloadable resources on the Stress Awareness website:

http://www.stress.org.uk/national-stress-awareness-month-2019/