Stress Awareness Month: Guidance to break negative cycle from UoG psychology expert

Ahead of Stress Awareness Month 2025 in April, University of Gloucestershire’s Dr Kerry Rees, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, offers some expert advice and guidance:

Stress:

Every day we go through life ticking things off our to do list. We achieve these goals by planning and monitoring where we are now compared to where we wish to be and where we think we should be.

Imagine, your brain is a driver and your body is a car and the things you need to do are journeys. Sometimes, you go faster towards your destination, sometimes slower. This depends on deadlines: the perceived urgency of the journey.

Your brain uses information from your senses and plans to decide when to use the accelerator, the brake and when to change gears. Like cars, people can run out of fuel.

Sometimes, we feel overwhelmed with all the things we need to do and with tight deadlines. This can cause a feeling of stress – feeling unable to cope physically, emotionally and psychologically. Stress may cause us to go faster – to do more in a shorter time because we believe this will relieve this threatening feeling.

Your body cannot sustain this pace; it works best by dealing with things in a short time frame then resting. Our bodies react to threats with a fight or flight response. This allows us deal with the threat, then move on. From this perspective, some stress is useful – it motivates us to act, this is called eustress.

If stress persists over long periods, stress can wear us out both physically, emotionally and psychologically, so we experience a lack of control or an inability to, escape the threat.

We slow down and stop moving forward and may feel a sense of detachment from others and life in general – we experience burnout.

In effect we are sitting in a car with little fuel revving the engine and pressing the brake but not moving forward. This describes ‘freezing’ rather than a fight or flight response – we can become stuck in this moment.

Recognising Stress:

Stress is like an angry toddler travelling with us in the car – it demands all your attention and energy.

This makes it difficult to think of anything other than the source of stress, the stressor. By extension, this might cause problems concentrating, sleeping and relaxing and we may become irritable, and feel on edge as if our thoughts are out of control.

These issues can increase stress producing a negative cycle.

Some people develop physical symptoms such as stomach pains and racing pulse.

Another sign of burnout is a disconnection from other people because others seem to get in the way of ticking things off the to-do list or we may feel we do not have sufficient resources to interact with others.

Managing Stress:

People are different, but it can help if we try to break the negative cycle. Adopt positive coping strategies: This helps regulate your thoughts, emotions and behaviours.

• Regularly take deep breaths and stretch
• Slow down – we are not superheroes. This also helps you regain perspective.
• Devote time each day to thinking about things that are not related to work or family politics.
• Be present – put your phone down, stop thinking about deadlines or comparing yourself to others – look at your surroundings and other people; listen to what they have to say.
• Be active – regularly exercise if possible.
• Go outside for walks, preferably in a green space.
• Think of challenges as an opportunity to learn new skills and ways of thinking: Things may not go the way we planned first time but that does not mean they will always go wrong.
• Think of the advice you would offer to a good friend who is really stressed – take your own advice.

For advice on stress, contact your GP or MIND or The Samaritans, or access trusted sources such as the NHS.

Image: Students enjoying the Gloucestershire countryside