Stress may be something you feel everyday, but it is shocking how quickly it can spiral into a chronic state of mind that affects your health and wellbeing.
National Stress Awareness Day is about taking stock of our own stress levels - an increasingly important thing to do considering stress is the overwhelming cause of sick days in the UK.
A new survey reveals that the biggest cause of stress is a lack of sleep. Not enough sleep affects your concentration and energy levels, and should it become a regular occurrence, can even affect how long you live and your immune system.
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The study found that 56% of adults feel sleep is their biggest stress factor, while shortly behind, 48% felt money was a big issue. Family issues and relationship conflicts followed at 35% and 27% respectively.
Overall, a whopping 95% of adults reported some levels of stress in their lives. Maybe we could do with learning from the measly 7% who said they felt they coped 'very effectively' with their worries.
Work is an obvious culprit for stressful environments but even at their most overwhelmed, Brits seem to find it tricky to share the burden with others.
Around 51% of those questioned would consider stress to be an illness, but only 27% of UK workers said they would feel comfortable with the idea of taking a day off work and telling their boss that it was for stress-related reasons. 71% think that stress should be talked about more, but 33% said that when they feel stressed, they don't like to share their worries with anyone.
Commenting on the findings, Jonathan Warren, director at Time4Sleep said: "There is definitely still a stigma surrounding stress as a 'weakness', making people reluctant to admit to others when they're struggling.”
