Embedding Workplace Mental Health First Aid & Stress Management Summit 2018

Transcription

1 Embedding Workplace Mental Health First Aid & Stress Management Summit 2018

2 TAKE CONTROL Victoria Walford BA MBPs PGdip EMDR (Registered Psychologist & Psychotherapist)

3 A successful global well-being strategy must embrace individual needs yet be effective collectively Interestingly, the workplace has a symbiotic relationship with its employees; both must act responsibly, taking ownership of their individual roles towards managing stress One effective solution - encourage employee education and engagement of stress-reduction methods

4 Prevention over cure

5 PERSONAL EXPERIENCE - WHY I UNDERSTAND STRESS 10 YEARS REHABILITATION I can t save myself from this The first words that ran through my mind as I somersaulted off the car that hit me side on and continued to drive through me. That morning I had specifically chosen the safer route for cycle training before work in the City. How can I stay here? I tumbled down the windscreen catching eyes with the driver. The next fall is going to hurt I slid across the bonnet and woke imprinted on the tarmac I was diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Prevention is more effective and efficient than cure.

6 LISTEN TO YOUR BODY & LEARN. HEALING NATURALLY & CONSCIOUSLY YOU RE MAD NOT TO TAKE DRUGS! Said London s leading Psychiatrist I thought I was mad to take them: They have a 40% hit rate with unbearable side effects & are toxic to the body; how will that help heal my body? I returned to university to study psychology. It was hard - wounds were slow to heal. Astonishingly therapists understood little about trauma. Humans are resourceful: I wanted to work. I had an idea and founded an award-winning Free-From bakery - something I could around my rehabilitation yet I preferred to help others another accident stalled me: time to re-assess I came off the crutches with a consolidated sense of purpose To get back on my bike and to formalise Pocket Stress Buster - an online portal to help you understand and manage your stress

7 You ll never cycle without nerve pain & flashbacks. Back to rehab 9 months later 1000KM of Vietnamese mountains By bike

8 YOU CAN SPEND YEARS IN THERAPY BEFORE LEARNING THE MOST IMPORTANT FACT ABOUT STRESS Victoria Walford

9 LEARNING FROM PTSD LIFE EXPERIENCE CONTROLS YOUR STRESS RESPONSE PTSD is like the ultimate stress recipe, concocted of a range of symptoms, from anxiety, depression, dissociation, flashbacks and nightmares. It s just that the symptoms tend to be more extreme. You can view your stress response as a unique blend of coping behaviours Some people become anxious and others become depressed. It is your unique genetic make-up and life experience that shapes your individual stress response. When stressed, people instinctively cook up all sorts of coping strategies to manage uncomfortable symptoms such as anger outbursts, drinking or comfort eating. This said, we all share the same biological makeup and when stressed your emotional HQ is activated. Also known as the Limbic system.

10 MAKE SPACE & CALM DOWN LEARNING FROM PTSD At the heart of the Limbic system sits the Amygdala which (alongside other brain regions) primes you to run, to fight or freeze. It is extremely hard to be cool, calm and collect when its activated. It is also worth noting that the Limbic system interacts with your memory centre; the Hippocampus. This interaction helps us to learn from experience. For example, when stressed, have you noticed yourself acting impetuously? That you react emotionally before you realise This is because when stressed, your amygdala is in control, activating emotionally charged memories and their consequential [learnt] behaviour (automatically). When the Amygdala is on the frontal cortices are off and our behaviour is more emotional (more on this later). Whether you re anxious, angry or depressed, if you want to change how you feel and react to stress, your first task is to calm the Limbic system.

11 PRACTICAL TIPS FOR PERFORMANCE

12 RELAX YOUR MUSCLES & BREATHE WELL DON T MOCK THE YOGIS Let s practice progressive muscle relaxation

13 Your body stores mental stress. Relaxing muscle tension releases cumulative stress. RELAX YOUR MUSCLES & BREATHE Divide the body into 3 muscle groups Feet, legs & buttocks Hands, arms, shoulders, chest and abs Back, neck, jaw and face Inhale & tense the muscles in group 1,2&3 Exhale slowly saying relax to yourself & releasing the muscle tension Feel the tension easy away Repeat with groups 2 & 3 individually Repeat with tensing the whole body

14 BLUE SKY TRIGGERED ME TO FALL OVER Learn your triggers

15 LEARN YOUR TRIGGERS TO MITIGATE IMPENDING DISASTER. IDENTIFY YOUR TRIGGERS PTSD exaggerates the importance of understanding your stressors known as triggers Triggers are environmental cues that upsets only you Triggers elicit a specific behavioural response that enables you to handle a difficult situation. This is known as a coping response (adaptive behaviour). Sometimes it is useful to notice what emotion is evoked, where you feel it in your body and how it makes you feel - acknowledge this and release the energy by breathing out. The problem comes when the coping response is out dated and the adaptive behaviour becomes maladaptive (now the response is unwanted but it is hard to stop). It s been a stressful day. You reach for a glass of wine

16 LEARN YOUR TRIGGERS TO MITIGATE IMPENDING DISASTER. MANAGE YOUR TRIGGERS As a one off this is O.K. But life is busy and feeling stressed is part of the norm. now you can t stop drinking, you re becoming tetchy and carry a constant headache. In this example, stress (your stressor) triggers you (implicitly/automatically) to drink wine (your coping mechanism to manage stress) and a habit is forming... alcoholism is on the horizon. With this in mind, you can choose how you handle feeling stressed. Now, you can act to prevent yourself becoming an alcoholic. Learn your stressors and examine how you can change your response to it.

17 PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE DO BETTER Consider a situation you didn t handle well. What did you do afterwards (to make yourself feel better)? Consider - was your response appropriate? e.g. walked away cross and snapped at the next person I spoke to. What would you like to change about your reaction? Describe the new preferred response Visualise your response, what will you do the next time? Act it out in your head. Imagine - how it will feel afterwards to be more in control? Get ready to respond better the next time by identifying your triggers Is this a familiar coping behaviour for you? When else do you do this?

18 Almost 9 out of 10 employees say they would think twice before offering to help a colleague with poor mental health. Yet by being empathetic

19 THE SIMPLEST PERFORMANCE ENHANCING PROGRAMME That is, actively listening to someone creates engagement - boosting motivation and productivity. And here s why

20 SHOW COMPASSION TO YOURSELF & OTHERS MOTIVATE YOUR PEERS BY LISTENING Good communication with others creates a sense of belonging and perceived worth - this is often reflected in performance at work. Actively listening to others displays empathy and compassion and, biologically speaking, this is as important as to us as food and sex. Empathy is so important that we have mirror neurons in our brains which enable us to mimic others and feel what they are feeling. Compassion is linked to the mesa-limbic pathway, known as the reward circuit. It is responsible for action, motivation and associated with the feelings of pleasure. The role of this pathway is to reward behaviour that promotes our survival encouraging us to act in the same way again. Today, survival related behaviour is about being successful at work / happy at home. We need to foster healthy work behaviours that activates our reward circuit.

21 EMERGENCY STRESS-BUSTING TECHNIQUES

22 GROUNDING TECHNIQUE Stop your mind running away from itself and leading you astray. Instructions: 1. Notice 5 new things 2. Describe these 5 new things in detail (size, weight & feel etc.)

23 SLOW YOUR SYSTEM Activate your parasympathetic nervous system slowing the stress response Instructions: 1. Inhale counting to Tap the count out with your fingers whilst breathing in slowly. 3. Pause & exhale for 5 counting out whilst tapping your fingers. 4. Repeat.

24 Think of us like the gym for your mind; we train the brain to build resilience against things like worries, stress, anxiety & depression before they strike. An online members-only club be part of a dynamic community dedicated to enhancing life offline. Our unique blend of cognitive training & grounding breathing techniques are delivered via an accessible programme, and help you better understand and train both sides of your brain (the old brain & the new brain).

25 USEFUL INFORMATION