Stress Awareness

April marks Stress Awareness Month, and in 2025 the theme is #LeadWithLove – the aim of the 2025 theme is to empower you to approach yourself and others with kindness, compassion and acceptance, no matter the challenges you face.

Stress is defined by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them’.

It affects individuals in different ways, but has a significant impact on productivity and attendance at work. During the 23/24 year, stress, depression or anxiety resulted in 16.4 million working days lost (the biggest cause of absence).

On average, each person who was absent with stress took over 21 days off – a significant impact on many organisations.

Across the wider population (not just working aged adults), 74% of individuals reported to feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope when suffering with stress.

Women in the UK report to feeling stressed for approximately 10 days per month, with men experiencing on average 7 days per month of stress. 74% of women, and 61% of men attribute their stress to their work.

Stress symptoms can range from burnout, feelings of being unable to cope, physical symptoms (heart disease, back pain, digestive conditions, and skin conditions), through to suicidal feelings (35% of women and 29% of men have experienced suicidal feelings as a result of stress).

How can you manage stress?

Stress can be caused by many factors both work related, and non-work related.

One of the most stressful situations you may face in your personal life is job searching, especially where this has followed redundancy or unexpected loss of employment. Often, this can lead to concerns about financial aspects (how you will afford to live, the impact on your wider family), along with feelings of self-doubt, and desperation to secure a new role.

There are steps you can take to manage your stress when job searching, including –

· Identify your strengths, look at what you can bring to a role, and the kind of roles you will apply for

· Seek feedback from applications and interviews – use this to take positive steps for future applications

· Seek support from friends, family, colleagues – share your concerns and utilise your network

· Keep a spreadsheet of roles applied for, dates and interviews – review your progress

· Seek professional support if needed

If you are in a role, and experiencing work related stress, raise this with your manager. There are likely to be many actions the company can take to support you, ultimately reducing the likelihood of the situation escalating into absences or performance concerns.