THREE-quarters of us say we are stressed, with work named as the biggest factor.
Even before the pandemic, 74 per cent felt overwhelmed or unable to cope, according to the Mental Health Foundation.
And experts fear this may have got worse.
Stress is the body’s reaction to feeling threatened and has been humans’ survival response since caveman days.
But living with it every day over a long period of time can take a toll on physical and mental health.
Chartered psychologist Professor Gail Kinman explained: “One of the best ways to describe stress is when the demand on you exceeds your ability to cope — from professional life, personal life or both.”
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Last year 822,000 people reported suffering from work- related stress, depression or anxiety, with many blaming workload pressures, tight deadlines and too much responsibility.
Prof Kinman added: “Pressure can boost health and performance if it is short-term but if it is longer and you feel out of control or lack support, it can affect your mental and physical health.
“Fear is a massive part of the stress response and leads to increased heart rate, tensed muscles, more focused vision and that rush you feel as it releases adrenaline.
“These are designed to help with short-term threats, like running away from danger.
“But much of the stress in our lives is long-term and, if you have these responses again and again, it can lead to high blood pressure and muscular skeletal problems and it affects our heart.
“Symptoms vary. Some people feel ratty or teary, others hide away and reject support.
“At work people can be indecisive or sloppy. It affects us physically, socially and cognitively.”
Stress can lead to overeating and more than a quarter of people say they drink more alcohol when stressed.
Inpatient hospital admissions caused by stress-related illnesses can cost the NHS £8billion a year.
Prof Kinman said: “It is not sustainable to live in a constant state of reacting to stress so we need stress-busting strategies.”
With Stress Awareness Day coming on Wednesday, take The Sun on Sunday Health’s quiz, to find out how stressed you are — and then read our tips on how to keep it at bay.
ANSWERING these ten questions in the Perceived Stress Scale test will enable you to find out if your current level is low, moderate or high.
Richard Latham, CEO of Wellmind Health, explains: “Understanding your level of stress is a first step towards helping yourself. It is important to seek assistance if you are suffering.”
For each question, choose from the following answers: 0 – Never. 1 – Almost never. 2 – Sometimes. 3 – Fairly often. 4 – Very often.
In the past month how often have you . . .
1) Been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly?
2) Felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life?
3) Felt nervous and stressed?
4) Felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems?
5) Felt that things were going your way?
6) Been unable to cope with all the things that you had to do?
7) Been able to control irritations in your life?
8) Felt that you were on top of things?
9) Been angered because of things that happened that were outside of your control?
10) Felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?
FIRST, reverse your scores for questions 4, 5, 7, and 8.
So on these four questions, change 0 to 4, 1 to 3, 3 to 1 and 4 to 0. If you answered 2 it stays the same.
Now add up your scores for each item to get a total.
Scores can range from 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating a higher perceived stress level.
Which category are you in?
0-13: Low stress.
14-26: Moderate stress
27-40: High perceived stress
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This test is clinically-graded but does not provide a clinical diagnosis.
The test can also be found online at bemindfulonline.com/test-your-stress.
