Q: Coping with stress

<p>Coping with Stress: advice to hospital staff</p> <p>${youtube}<a href="WFWvkjJ755Y">Coping with Stress associated with COVID-19: advice to hospital staff</a></p>

Question 1

Free Wellbeing apps

Accepted Answer

There are a number of free wellbeing apps available until December 2020, these include Sleepio, Silvercloud cCBT and Headspace for Mindfulness meditation.

Wellbeing apps

Question 2

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

Accepted Answer

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is the feeling of being anxious about almost everything and anything. Often, people affected by GAD will feel overly worried about a wide range of things relating to a variety of topics including health, money, work, school and relationships and sometimes may not even be able to identify a reason that they feel anxious.

GAD can cause a change in your behaviour and the way you think and feel about things, resulting in symptoms such as:

restlessness
a sense of dread
feeling constantly "on edge"
difficulty concentrating
irritability

Your symptoms may cause you to withdraw from social contact to avoid feelings of worry and dread. You may also find going to work difficult and stressful, and may take time off sick. These actions can make you worry even more about yourself and reduce your self-esteem.

You may also experience a range of physical symptoms including:

dizziness
tiredness
a noticeably strong, fast or irregular heartbeat (palpitations)
muscle aches and tension
trembling or shaking
dry mouth
excessive sweating
shortness of breath
stomach ache
feeling sick
headache
pins and needles
insomnia

CBT can help you understand and change your thought processes and/or behaviours to help reduce the uncomfortable symptoms and help you manage worry more effectively.

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Question 3

Coping with stress

Accepted Answer

Coping with Stress: advice to hospital staff

${youtube}Coping with Stress associated with COVID-19: advice to hospital staff

Question 4

Support for particular professional groups

Accepted Answer

Some professional bodies and charities are offering specific support depending on your professional group:

Ambulance Staff

The ambulance staff charity

This charity offers a range of help and support for paramedics and their families, including bereavement support, mental health and physical rehabilitation.

Doctors

BMA Wellbeing service 0330 123 1245. This is a completely confidential helpline which can offer same day access to a counsellor and/or peer support. Doctors do not need to be a member of the BMA and the service is open to medical students too.

BMA wellbeing

GP Wellbeing hub

Doctors in distress

Single Point of Contact (SPOC) – The Professional Support Unit (PSU) have launched this specialist support service for trainee doctors experiencing a range of issues during the COVID-19 outbreak. It is a free, confidential and impartial service. Trainees can sign up for a 45-minute conversation with a senior PSU lead. Calls can be arranged for same day, next day or next week to accommodate for last minute changes in rotas. To request a 1:1 appointment, click on the following link: SPOC

Nursing

The Royal College of Nursing ha

Question 5

Free Webinars

Accepted Answer

Thrive LDN have created some helpful free webinars and resources around coping with COVID and the 'new normal'

This webinar will provide a brief introduction to mindfulness and its benefits. You will go away with three mindfulness based exercises that you can start to practice and some mindfulness based activities to start you off on your mindfulness journey.

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Insomnia is thought to affect around one third of the population. This webinar looks at why we sleep and some of the common sleep difficulties. Followed by strategies and tips to overcome these sleeping problems.

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This film, will look at Anxiety and will take a look at helpful long term strategies for managing anxiety and reducing worry. Associated slides can be accessed here

${youtube}Coping well during COVID - managing anxiety

The following film will consider some of the challenges created by home working. We’ll explore some strategies to help you switch off from work and enjoy your time outside of work more. Helping you to find a better home working life balance, enabling you to find it easier to separate working from home life. Associated slide show can be accessed here

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Question 6

Depression

Accepted Answer

Depression is more than simply feeling unhappy or fed up for a few days. Most people go through periods of feeling down, but when you're depressed you feel persistently sad for weeks or months, rather than just a few days.

Some people think depression is trivial and not a genuine health condition. They're wrong – it is a real illness with real symptoms. Depression is not a sign of weakness or something you can "snap out of" by "pulling yourself together".

The good news is that with the right treatment and support, most people with depression can make a full recovery.

They range from lasting feelings of unhappiness and hopelessness, to losing interest in the things you used to enjoy and feeling very tearful. Many people with depression also have symptoms of anxiety.

There can be physical symptoms too, such as feeling constantly tired, sleeping badly, having no appetite or sex drive, and various aches and pains.

The symptoms of depression range from mild to severe. At its mildest, you may simply feel persistently low in spirit, while severe depression can make you feel suicidal, that life is no longer worth living.

Most people experience feelings of stress, anxiety or low mood during difficult times. A low mood may improve after a short period of time, rather than being a sign of depression.

What causes depression? Sometimes there's a trigger for depression. Life-changing events, such as bereavement, losing your job or giving birth, can bring it on. People with a fam

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