Stress Awareness
April marks the beginning of Stress Awareness Month! This observance is a national, cooperative effort to inform people about the dangers of stress, successful coping strategies, and harmful misconceptions about stress that are prevalent in our society.
While this has been an ongoing campaign of awareness and education since 1992, there’s still a lot of work to do! This is especially true as technology and our way of working continues to change. 2021 may also be one of the most important campaigns to date, as we have all been dealing with the stress surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic for over a year now. Stress coping techniques will be an essential tool as we navigate returning to work and attempting to return to “normal” life.
Stress Facts
- According to the National Institute of Mental Health, small amounts of stress can help motivate people to prepare or perform and might even be lifesaving in some situations.
- Chronic stress, on the other hand, severely impacts your health. It can weaken your immune system and can make you more susceptible to numerous health issues including headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure and even heart disease.
- As stated by the American Psychological Association, the five most cited sources of stress include money, work, family, economic outlook and relationships.
- In 2019, Gallup reported that 55% of Americans are stressed during the day, which was 20% higher than the world average of 35%.
- In 2020, the American Psychological Association (APA) Stress in AmericaTM survey found that COVID-19 had led to an unprecedented level of stress among Americans. This led the APA to “sound the alarm” and announce that we are facing a national mental health crisis that could yield serious health and social consequences for years to come.
Stress is a universal human experience and we are very much still in the midst of a mental health crisis. That means every person can benefit from learning about stress and how to manage it.
We will be releasing more blogs, tools and resources to help you learn more about and cope with stress this month! If you haven’t subscribed to our mailing list yet, now is the perfect time!
