Get involved in your community to help manage stress...Loneliness and isolation, can lower peoples' wellbeing and impact mental health. There are lots of community groups you can get involved in to meet like-minded people. Please visit our Get Involved page here Or email involvement@msvhousing.co.uk for more information.
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Take the 30 day challenge to reduce stress!
Stress Management Society have some fantastic free resources to help manage stress. Find them here.
You can also find a workbook, hints and tips to support you on the 30 day challenge
Stress Awareness Month is held every April to raise awareness of stress, help identify the causes and provide advice to reduce stress.
The last two years have been some of the most challenging we have faced. A recent study of 2000 British adults from the Stress Management Society (in partnership with Huawei AppGallery and Headspace) reported that 65% of people in the UK have felt more stressed than ever before since the COVID-19 restrictions began in March 2020.
One of the positives to come out of the pandemic is an increased awareness of mental health issues. There is still more to do but we are starting to normalise conversations about mental health. It is vital that we continue to talk more about how we are feeling and listen to others if they are struggling.
What is stress?If you feel overloaded by demands being placed on you, or your reaction to being put under pressure is to feel upset, worried, or unable to cope, you might describe yourself as feeling stressed. Stress is not an illness, but may lead to mental health problems like anxiety or depression or physical health conditions like stomach problems, back pain, heart disease or skin conditions. Stress is not a weakness, and no one should feel they will be judged if they admit they are struggling dealing with stress. Stress can affect anybody and if you are feeling stressed, please reach out to a friend or family member. If you are struggling with your mental health as a result of stress, there are organisations that can help. Visit the Mind website or The Samaritans website for help and support. |
The cost of living crisis and stress...Are external factors such as the increased cost of living causing you stress? Our community projects team will be placing a huge focus over the coming months on helping people who may be struggling. There will be projects coming up such as holiday hunger schemes, a new furniture project and support through fuel vouchers. Please keep an eye on social media or the Community Wellbeing page on our website for further information. If you are struggling with money, our Money Management team can help! Please don't delay, email CustomerSupportTeam@msvhousing.co.uk or visit our webpage for more information. |
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Identifying Stress
A stress bucket excercise:
Completing a stress bucket exercise can be a great way to help you identify what is causing your stress so you can then work out how to reduce or cope with your stress.
Imagine you have a bucket inside your body which collects all of your stress. Events and day-to-day things, such as work, home life, illness or finances add stress into the bucket. Sometimes the bucket might feel relatively empty, and other times it might feel quite full.
When we are going through a particularly difficult time, it’s normal for our bucket to feel full. We might feel like too much stress is pouring into the bucket at any one time, and we can feel like our bucket is overflowing.
If we notice ourselves feeling like this, like our bucket is overflowing, it is important to try to let some of the stress out. We can do this by engaging in some positive coping strategies – you might like to think of these as taps in the side of the bucket, which you can turn on to let some of the stress out.
