As I turned on Breakfast News this morning as usual, I was struck by an item about the extent of stress and stress related illness in the workplace. According to NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence), 13 million working days are lost a year because of work related stress, anxiety and depression. (I assume this figure applies to the UK, but this wasn’t clear).

Other figures were thrown in regarding the cost to employers, apparently hitting £28.3 billion per year and NICE suggests that £250,000 per year could be saved in a firm of 1,000 staff by tackling this issue.

[1] See the article on BBC News website here

In reality, most of us probably think that this type of issue has been around as long as workplaces have,  but maybe it has not been quantified in this way, or even given the label of ‘work-related stress’ until recently.  Indeed, a certain and appropriate amount of stress is a good thing, depending on the circumstances – some people perform better under a bit of pressure, helping to motivate and drive them. Those of us who are sole traders can’t really blame anyone else for the very real stresses and pressures that running your own business can bring, but however these can be highly motivating factors (and some of us need a kick up the behind every now and then!)

Employers are being given further guidelines about how to improve the workplace, putting the emphasis on training managers and giving positive feedback, as, it seems, that the attitude of managers has been suggested as the biggest culprit.

So – it seems to all be a lot about control. We all find ourselves in situations that we have no control over, the attitude of a bullying manager, perhaps, imposed deadlines and budgets, redundancies, having to deal with people who can seem impossible at times – all these things can lead to stress, anxiety, rumination, negative thinking, and eventually to depression and physical illness.

We may not have any control over these factors, but there is one thing we can always take control over – our attitude to them! Wouldn’t it be great if we could stop being the victims and begin to get control of the way we feel, regardless of those things that we cannot control.

Someone recently said to me “Holding bitterness against someone is like letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head” How true!! Don’t let these external factors dictate how you feel inside.

Easier said than done? Maybe – but with modern NLP techniques and hypnotherapy it can become a real possibility to change the way you react to circumstances, and start behaving and feeling the way you want to, able to cope and stay calm when the world throws you all those challenges – an end to other people and circumstances dictating the way we feel and the beginning of being in charge of our own well-being.

Cathy Simmons

[2] http://www.cathysimmons.co.uk

07792 312 465