What is work-related stress?
Pressure you can’t cope with. It can show up as headaches, poor sleep or snapping at people. And it isn’t only yours to fix: your employer has a legal duty to act on it.
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What are the signs of stress at work?
| Where you notice it | Signs |
|---|---|
| Your body | Headaches or dizziness, tight or sore muscles, stomach problems, chest pain or a faster heartbeat. |
| Your mind | Trouble concentrating or deciding, feeling overwhelmed, constant worry, forgetting things. |
| Your habits | Snapping at people, sleeping or eating too much or too little, avoiding places or people, drinking or smoking more. |
| At work | More time off, arriving later, mood swings, pulling away from people, losing motivation and confidence. |
| In a team | Arguments, more staff leaving, more sickness absence, more complaints. |
These signs can have other causes too. If you’re worried, see your GP.
Chest pain can come with stress. But call 999 if it’s sudden and doesn’t go away, or spreads to your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back. Do the same if it comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headed or short of breath.
Stress or anxiety? Feel anxious most of the time, in a way that affects your everyday life? The NHS says it’s more likely to be generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).
GAD is a common condition where you often feel very anxious about lots of things. See a GP if you think you have it.
Wondering what stress hormones do? See high cortisol symptoms.
What causes stress at work?
HSE names six areas of work that can cause stress if they’re not managed well. And what stresses one person may not affect another.
| Area | What HSE means | A question you could ask |
|---|---|---|
| Demands | Your workload, work patterns and work environment. | Which of these tasks matters most this week? |
| Control | How much say you have in the way you do your work. | Can I choose the order I do these in? |
| Support | Encouragement and resources from your employer, manager and colleagues. | What training or help is there for this? |
| Relationships | Working well together, avoiding conflict and dealing with bad behaviour. | Who do I tell if I’m being bullied? |
| Role | Whether you understand your role, and don’t have roles that clash. | What does doing this job well look like? |
| Change | How change, big or small, is managed and explained. | What’s changing, and when will I hear more? |
Sources: HSE Management Standards; HSE
The questions are our suggestions, not HSE’s. Pick the one or two areas that fit you best, and start there.
Long hours and shifts count as demands. See long working hours and your heart and shift work and sleep.
What does my employer have to do?
Your employer has a legal duty to protect you from stress at work. They must assess the risks and act on them, as with any other health and safety risk.
That duty is a stress risk assessment. With 5 or more workers, the law says it must be written down. Your employer must also share the results with you.
Your employer may use HSE’s Management Standards, built on the six areas above. Followed properly, HSE says that’s a good enough way to meet the duty.
Have a mental health condition, like anxiety or depression, that means you need support at work? Access to Work support might include a tailored plan and one-to-one sessions with a mental health professional.
You must be 16 or over, in paid work, and live and work in England, Scotland or Wales. You don’t need a diagnosis to apply. You can only get its mental health support once.
Access to Work doesn’t replace reasonable adjustments, the changes your employer must legally make. Ask HR whether there’s a stress risk assessment, and ask to see the results.
How can I manage stress at work?
Start by talking. HSE says to talk to someone, such as your manager, as soon as you can. That gives them the chance to help before it gets worse.
Worried how it looks? HSE is clear that stress is not a weakness, and it can happen to anyone.
Six things to try this week
- Name the one or two of HSE’s six areas behind your pressure, and take them to your manager.
- Set small targets you can easily hit, instead of trying to do everything at once.
- Plan ahead for stressful days. A list of things to remember can help.
- Try a breathing exercise for stress.
- Try not to use alcohol, cigarettes, gambling or drugs to cope.
- Talk about how you feel with a friend, family or Samaritans on 116 123.
Sources: NHS: stress; HSE
Who to talk to, in order
- 1
Your manager
Talk early, so they have the chance to help.
- 2
HR, a rep or counselling
If your manager is the cause: HR, a union or employee rep, or a counselling service, if your work has one.
- 3
GP or NHS talking therapies
Aged 18 or over (16 in some areas)? You can refer yourself to NHS talking therapies, which may help with stress. No GP needed.
- 4
Urgent help
Call 111 and select the mental health option, or ask for an urgent GP appointment.
Sources: HSE; NHS: stress; NHS: urgent help
Your manager is the problem? First check what policies your workplace has, then try the people in step 2.
For more you can do outside work, see how to lower cortisol naturally and nature walks and stress.
When to speak to a GP
Book an appointment if:
- You’re struggling to cope with stress, or what you’re trying isn’t helping.
- You’d rather a GP referred you to NHS talking therapies than refer yourself.
- You feel anxious most of the time and it affects your everyday life. The NHS says to see a GP if you think you have generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).
- You have chest pain that comes and goes, or goes quickly but still worries you. Call 999 if it’s sudden and doesn’t go away, or spreads to your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back. Call 999 too if it comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headed or short of breath.
- You need help urgently but it’s not an emergency. Call 111 and select the mental health option, or ask for an urgent GP appointment.
Call 999 or go to A&E now if someone’s life is at risk, for example they’ve seriously hurt themselves or taken an overdose. Or if you don’t feel you can keep yourself or someone else safe. Samaritans are free on 116 123.