Wednesday is National Stress Day, created by Mind, the mental health charity, to get people talking about stress and how it affects them1.

What is stress?
Stress is a normal part of every-day life and is the body’s natural reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure.
Life pressures such as work, home, kids, health, and finances can leave us feeling like we don’t have a chance to catch our breath, but everyday stresses are often manageable and even motivational.

However, in the past year, 74% of people have felt so stressed that they have been overwhelmed or unable to cope2 highlighting the negative impact that prolonged periods of stress can have on our mental wellbeing.

Signs of stress
There are many physical and emotional reactions to stress, including:

• irritability
• feeling overwhelmed
• having trouble sleeping
• chest-pains
• muscle-tension
• headaches
But whilst stress isn’t something that can always be prevented it can be managed.
Mind suggests that looking after your wellbeing can help reduce the impact that stress can have on our lives. Making lifestyle changes, looking after our physical health, giving ourselves a break, and building a trusted support network are just some of the steps that can be taken to help manage stress.

Talking about stress with your clients
With stress affecting so many people it’s a subject that may come up when speaking with your clients.
Being able to offer your clients a metal health benefit that they can use in their everyday lives could offer real value to them.
That’s why we offer free mental health support to all our income protection and health insurance members and their immediate families. Available through our HealthWise App the service provides access to mental health specialists who can help assess and treat mental health conditions via video-consultation.
For more information on income protection and health insurance from The Exeter, why not organise a webinar or meeting with The Exeter sales team on 0300 123 3207 or email us at sales@the-exeter.com

HealthWise is powered by Square Health.

1. www.mind.org.uk
2. www.mentalhealth.org.uk
3. www.nhs.uk