Health and Wellbeing Supports

Anxiety, Stress and Mental Fitness – A self-awareness fact Sheet

What is Anxiety / Stress  

A mental and physical condition that results from pressure or demands that exceed your current capacity or perceived capacity to cope. The source of these demands is termed “stressors” Anxiety /stress is a perfectly normal experience in the life of humans. Building on coping skills and self-care planning are the key factors to building personal resilience and mental fitness for life.

Creating a Healthy Work-Life Balance  

We know that to reduce the risk of physical illness we must work towards a level of physical fitness that suits our body and lifestyle. The exact same process applies to our mental fitness. We must put a self-care plan in place to help us achieve our optimum mental fitness and build our resilience and maintain our coping skills. Those that implement a self-care plan can and do achieve very positive results. 

Facts — Debunking Myth and Stigma

— Anxiety is a normal emotion – every human experiences anxiety at times

— Talking to someone / sharing a concern can reduce anxiety significantly

— Planning small steps for mental fitness can produce very positive results — Try it!!

— Self-care planning can significantly reduce the more negative impact of anxiety and stress

Time to Act — Steps to Take

When anxiety persists or is overwhelming e.g., feeling anxious for more than a day or two, or you feel overwhelmed by an experience or as can be the case, not knowing why you feel overwhelmed the following actions work!

Actions

Tell someone – a family member, a friend, a colleague, a coach. Never underestimate the power of talking to someone. It is called the “talking cure” for good reason

  1. Talk to your GP he / she will assess you and advise on best steps
  2. If professional help is needed seek out a counsellor

(GP can assist with this) or see the useful contacts list below for counsellors in your area (www.iacp.ie)

Remember

All anxiety whether it is from a specific experience, or you are not aware of why you feel anxious is

  1. A normal human feeling
  2. Treatable
  3. Will pass / can be worked through by receiving the proper supports

Mandate Trade Union have prepared this factsheet to provide support for our membership in collaboration with Michael O’Toole, Director of Occupational Wellness Solutions (www.ows.ie) our partner in developing wellness supports for employees in Irish Retail.

Available supports and general information

This is a non-exhaustive list of supports available.

 

KEEP IN TOUCH

The Union for retail, bar and administrative workers in Ireland