Handling Pressure and Stress to avoid Burnout

By Matthew Ferguson

It appears from following the recent flow of news we are entering new levels of angst, pressure and stress.

Steven Pinker's latest book encourages us that we live in the least violent times in human history - good news. I have no reason to doubt his research. We also live with access to more information than ever in human history. This like everything else has positive and negative implications. We can search the web for pretty much any information which I think is a good thing in principle. We can connect instantly with other like minded people; the revolutions across North Africa were surely aided by the immediacy of communication. The downside is that we have so much information, suggestion, conjecture and opinions to which this very article contributes. We live in a connected world with a real danger of overload. This constant stream of information can and does overload our abilities to process it all. We can become nervous, uncertain and edgy. As pressure builds we get lost in demands, our levels of stress increases until eventually we can no longer perform and we suffer burnout.

There is a recent high profile case of the chief executive of Lloyds Bank having to take time out for health reasons, the suggestion being that he was suffering from stress. If that is true here is a man by all accounts dynamic and at the top of his profession. A man who had the respect of his peers and was seen by most to be the right man for the job, yet it would appear that he became overwhelmed by the demands put upon him.

What can we do? How can we handle the increasing levels of demands? Job security seems to be a thing of the past; financial security seems to be under threat with sovereign states in hock to the point of bankruptcy. Standards of education are constantly questioned and under review, with a social care system that is creaking at the knees with the various demands put upon it. Politicians have lost all courage and across the capitalist world chase votes with easy populist slogans but lack the courage to take the unpopular choices that need to be taken. Ok, for those that know me the rant is over for now!

The only thing we can do now is claim back our sanity. There are no easy solutions to the state we're in but we can become more proactive in managing our personal mental and physical states. There are things we can do and teach others to do that will help deal with the demands of the modern world. A recent edition of the New Scientist had the lead article entitled "Heal thyself". It's research highlighted the health benefits of, a positive attitude, trust, meditation, self-hypnosis and developing a purpose in life - all things we encourage. I would add exercise to the mix. If we take just a little time to engage with these process we will lower our stress levels helping us to make better decisions more of the time and help prevent the pressures of life leading us to stress and eventual burnout. So no matter how resilient we are we should devote a little time to our wellbeing as it pays great dividends.

Read more articles by Matthew Ferguson

Matthew Ferguson SQHP

(Clinical Hypnotherapist, Trainer of Hypnotherapy and NLP, Stress Consultant and Authentic Happiness Coach) Matthew runs a training school in Scotland (established in 1999) where he teaches Hypnotherapy, NLP and Coaching. Matthew is author of many well established Articles, CD's/Hypnosis Downloads.