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The UK Governments health advisers are advising businesses to deal with stress in the workplace. Not only is stress is a killer and destroyer of lives it is also the cause of an awful lot of lost money. As much as 25% of all business losses due to sickness are down to stress, according to the research. My own research might suggest that as much as 80% of the costs to business of sickness could be due to stress.

The BBC has a fuller report on the recommendations but I can’t help but wonder why it is so hard to get businesses to take stress seriously enough to do something about it?

According to the gm.tv website research, led by psychologist Dr Malcolm Cross at City University London, has shown making and drinking a cup of Tea when under stress really does help. This, of course, goes against most other research that suggests the caffeine in a cup of Tea will raise your levels of stress. The research does seem pretty convincing though with a 4% reduction in stress being reported for those who had Tea after a stressful event compared to those who went without.

However 4% is a pretty meagure amount of stress reduction and this might not work for everyone. This study was undertaken in the UK where there is a kind of informal Tea ceremony in times of crisis – “let’s put the kettle on”. British people have often taken a few moments to think through a problem over a cup of Tea and it could well be the positive psychological effect of this stopping and thinking that could be the reason for these results.

I’m still to be convinced that Tea itself has any medical stress benefits but having a calming routine you can use whenever a crisis hits will certainly help (as I believe this study really shows).

In a recent study of Police in the U.S.A. it was discovered that the stress of the job was having a detremental effect on the health of the officers. The study factored out social and lifestyle differences between the Police and the general populace and found that lifestyle did not account for the difference in life expectancy. It was later discovered that it was the influence of stress that was causing the trouble.

You can read more about it here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630132017.htm

CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personell Development) have issued guidlines towards reducing stress in the workplace.

You can find the leaflets here:

http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/health/stress/_lnstrswrk.htm

The guidance has been produced in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive and Investors in People.

A study undertaken in Finland has demonstrated that transition times in schools can be very difficult for children even leading to ’school burnout’. Girls are more susceptiable than boys.

There could be all kinds of reasons for why this is and it may not be a new thing but just proof of something that has always happened but it does have implications for education. A good self image seems to be the best antidote to the problem.

You can read more here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090514111359.htm

There is a great temptation to always think that the worst is going to happen to you. You know the kind of thing – you have to see the doctor, you have to see the boss, your wife tells you she wants to have a talk about something, etc. It’s easy to think that something is wrong and you are about to have your world turned upside down.

Then you discover that in fact your test results were fine, the boss wanted to thank you for doing a good job, your wife wanted to talk about holiday dates, etc.

Pessimists will tell you that it is best to anticipate the worst because then you are ready for it and anything above the worse is a bonus. However thinking this way leads to an increase in stress (high blood pressure – enlarged heart – sleepless nights – and so on). All this stress makes life miserable. The truth is that it is better not to anticipate the worst but the best.

The optimist discovers that they may not be right more of the time (although there is some evidence that suggests they are) but that when they get bad news they think about how they can cope rather than falling apart (a common misconception about optimists – that they go to peaces if they hear bad news).

So teach your self to aniticipate the best and not the worst.

One of the most sought after commodities in anyones life is peace. There is even a children’s book written about a mum who can’t find five minutes peace. The great news is that peace is a free commodity – it won’t cost you a penny to buy. However, the bad news is that this is not something you can simply buy, there is no shop where you can go in and say, “I’ll take five minutes peace please”.

You will find plenty of charlatans who will try to persuade you that they can sell you peace – but they are wrong. Peace is not something you can buy and you can’t get it just by following a new exercise regime or purchasing the latest book about it.

The truth is that peace is something you only get by working at it.

To get peace you need to give yourself a gift of some time

If you want more peace in your life then you need to take some time to get it. Now I know that is is possible to have inner peace even when things seem to be like bedlam all around you but you can’t get that without first of all learning how to do it. So you will need to give yourself some time. I suggest finding at least 15 minutes every day for this. Put it in your diary now.

To have peace you need to be filled with peaceful thoughts

If your mind is full of frantic and desperate thoughts then you will never find peace. You can go to the most wonderful place in the world but if your mind is full of activity then you will not find peace there. The only way to find peace is to put peaceful thoughts into your mind.

You can do this in many different ways. You can use words that are peaceful to help you think in a peaceful calm kind of way – try words like: calm, clear, still, rest, etc. Or you could think about peaceful places you have been to. Or you could make use of a relaxation exercise. Or you could go to someone very peaceful and let yourself indulge in the peace.

Whatever you do you need to get some peaceful thoughts into your mind.

Another way

I hope you will indulge me for just a moment because I want to share a way that I have found peace – a deeper peace than I could have found otherwise. Please don’t think I’ve gone all nutty and religious on you here but I just wouldn’t feel comfortable keeping this to myself when you are searching for peace.

I find that God provides me with a deep inner peace. As a Christian it gives me great comfort and peace to know that God loves me. I still need to think those peaceful thoughts (there is a lot of good stuff in the Bible if you want some extra help on this – if you are not sure where to start then try Psalm 23) but without my faith I don’t get the kind of peace I can get otherwise.

In studies this simple truth has been shown time and again. People with a faith tend to be less stressed than those without. You make your own mind up but I’m happy I have what I do.

Escaping from the busy-ness of life would be great, wouldn’t it? Don’t we all want a chance to get away from it all and find that little oasis where all of our troubles are gone and we can be perfectly happy? Yet when we try so often we fail. We have holidays that take us five days to settle in to and then we have to start thinking about getting back. Or we anticipate a future where maybe this might just be possible – perhaps when we retire we can enjoy this temple of peace.

If you are looking for this temple then read on …

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Sometimes I have found myself in a situation I didn’t want to be in. It’s easy for me during those times to feel very negative about things and this negativity always makes any situation worse. There is a simple technique that works for many people that allows you to get away from the negative feelings pretty easily but it does take a little practice.

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The way we see things can have a big impact on the amount of anxiety and disturbance we feel in any situation. The amount of anxiety we feel has a dramatic effect on our performance. However you can learn to take control of a situation and see things very differently. This technique is commonly known as reframing.

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