Stress Awareness Month

Millions of people across the UK can feel stressed. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 74% of adults felt so stressed at some point over the previous year that they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.    

Held every April since 1992, Stress Awareness Month along with the Stress Management Society aims to help inform people of the causes and cures for the issue.     

The Stress Management Society lists the following as things you can do for Stress Awareness Month.   

• Talk about Stress and its effects – lets work together to reduce the stigma that is associated with stress by talking about the topic openly and freely with friends, family and colleagues. 
• Share your coping mechanisms – if something has worked for you why not share it. It might benefit someone you care about and in the meantime, it might help you take your focus off your own challenges. 
• Be nice to those who are stressed and anxious – we are all undoubtedly going to experience stress and anxiety in our lifetime so treat others going through it with compassion and empathy.
• Look after yourself – we all need to think more about self –care. Take time out of your day to relax or do something that you enjoy. Don’t forget to exercise and eat well, even when you feel too stressed.    

You can also use their free stress guide.

For the college’s students, the SU have launched a Microsoft Teams page as a new platform for online student engagement and support. Anna Leahy from SERC’s Students Union said “This platform has a dedicated Health and Wellbeing Hub where students can go to find resources, information and support in relation to resilience, self-care, looking after your mental health and stress management.    

“This month, the Health and Wellbeing Hub will be focusing on Stress Awareness. Students can sign up for the Inspire Student Support Hub, have opportunities to try out yoga and other mindfulness activities at home, destress by taking part in online social activities and avail of advice from mental health professionals about how to manage stress and practice self-care. Students can keep in contact with the Student Engagement Team through this platform should they need any further advice or support.”   

To join use this link here, use the code f2hfw3o. If you have any problems getting connected please email, aleahy@serc.ac.uk or rcurrie@serc.ac.uk.     

SERC staff should look out for newsletter updates from SERC’s Mind Yourself programme, sent to all staff email accounts, staff are also encouraged to send emails to mindyourself@serc.ac.uk for any help or queries. 

Apply now for courses commencing September 2020. Visit www.serc.ac.uk to find out how you could be #BetterOffAtSERC