John Freeman and Jon Painter, Mental Health Nursing lecturers in the Department of Nursing & Midwifery talk about coping with stress for Mental Health Awareness Week.

Hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, the focus of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week starting today, is stress. It’s the case that as many as two thirds of us will experience a mental health problem in our lifetimes, and stress can be a key factor in this.

Let’s be honest, we all know what it’s like to feel stressed – university students and staff more than most, but it’s not easy to pin down exactly what stress means. According to MIND, when we say things like “this is stressful” or “I’m stressed”, we might be talking about different things, for example:

• Situations or events that put pressure on us e.g. times where we have lots to do and think about, or don’t have much control over what happens.
• Our reaction to being placed under pressure – the feelings we get when we have demands placed on us that we find difficult to cope with.

Everyone will recognise these situations and instantly be able to describe the feelings that arise very quickly as a result. They’re not good are they?

The fact is, that by tackling stress, we can go a long way to tackle mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, and, in some instances, self-harm and suicide. We know that children and young people can be powerfully affected by stress, so it’s important to seek advice and get some help.

If you wanted to take a very quick, indicative test to check whether you’re stressed, have a go at this test.

If you are struggling, the most important thing to know is that you are not on your own, and that help is available…confide in somebody…contact your GP. You don’t have to live with these feelings forever. There are some really good suggestions here.

If you’re a student, do seek help. The Student Union webpages are incredibly helpful and full of advice and suggestions for self-help as well as professional support. If you have a Student Support Officer, they are a friendly and invaluable source of support as well or seek out the help of the Wellbeing Service. Colleagues working for SHU have the Mental Health hub where there is more practical advice and information as well.

Further information can be found on the Mental Health Foundation’s campaign page , via their twitter feed #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek or at the Student Minds website.