Making changes for Stress Awareness Month

After surviving the jokes and pranks of April Fools Day yesterday, we’re here to talk about a slightly more serious subject.

April is Stress Awareness Month, and has been celebrated every April since 1992, to raise awareness about the causes and cures of stress in modern society.

TEACHING

As we have previously investigated, burnout is a huge problem that affects teachers, with over 400,000 teaching days being lost to mental ill health over the last three years.

Teaching is a stressful career, there’s no doubt about it. Nobody goes into it thinking it will be easy, but perhaps, rightly, expect a little more support when experiencing stress or burnout.

As it draws closer and closer to the exam period, it’s perfectly normal for feelings of stress and nervousness to creep up, but there are tactics you can employ to keep those feelings of stress at bay.

COPING

One of the common issues teachers face is their ever expanding workload, and the lack of time to complete it in. This can often mean that teachers come in early, work through lunch and stay late to complete everything.

While sometimes, the best way to beat the stress is immerse yourself in getting all of your work done, it’s important to recognise when you need a quick break.

Even if you can’t commit to it every day, take the time one or two lunches a week to head outside and get some fresh air.

Get involved in the playground, or take yourself for a brisk walk for twenty minutes, to reinvigorate you for the afternoon. The fresh air and exercise will do you good.

REACH OUT

If you’re feeling stressed, the chances are that you’re not the only faculty member feeling this way. Chat with your colleagues, and normalise conversations about mental health in the staff room.

Not only will this help lift the weight off your shoulders, it will do the same for your colleagues. You know what they say: a problem shared is a problem halved.

Credit to Mind on Twitter

No matter how you celebrate Stress Awareness Month, we hope you do something that makes you feel good and takes your mind far, far away from school. The Easter holidays are a good time to start.

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