Stress Awareness Month

April marks Stress Awareness Month and this years theme Lead With Love, which aims to encourage everyone ‘to approach ourselves and others with kindness, compassion, and acceptance, no matter the challenges we face’.

In today’s world, where stress often thrives in the midst of conflict, tension, and division, we believe that love is the universal force capable of shifting the narrative. By choosing love as our starting point, we embrace empathy, prioritise understanding, and create positive change in every interaction.

Whether it’s extending a gesture of kindness to someone nearby or practising acts of love, such as offering support to global communities, holding the door open or being an active listener, small actions of love can make a big impact. Support self love by taking time for self-care and show yourself the same kindness you offer to others. Even the smallest acts of love can spark powerful waves of positivity that ripple outward.

Stress is a normal physical response when we feel under pressure, and it can often be a positive state which allows us to overcome difficult or challenging situations. However, if the body remains in a state of stress for a long period, it can have serious negative impacts on our mental and physical health, including, anxiety, depression and insomnia.  

The Authority offers a range of resources, information and training on Stress and Mental Health which we encourage you to make use of. The Individual Stress Assessment is an excellent tool to use if you are concerned about your levels of stress. This tool can help you to recognise your triggers and will allow you and your manager to support you more effectively in the workplace. 

Furthermore, we have created the Mental Health in the workplace (nhs.wales) eLearning module as a key mandatory module, this must be completed by everyone. It focuses on mental health, including stress, in the workplace, supporting yourself and others and provides links to the internal and external support available.

We remain committed to supporting your mental health and wellbeing and encourage you to focus on making manageable adjustments to your daily routine, while the impact of small actions on their own may seem little, the cumulative effects of these habits can end up being profound!

To assist team leaders, supervisors and managers to reduce stress and mental health related sickness absence in their service areas, we have organised a programme of “Managing Stress and Mental Health in the Workplace” workshops. All team leaders, supervisors and managers are strongly encouraged to attend these workshops.

For more information visit the Stress, Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing intranet pages for further information and support. Please also see our Help and Support page for external organisations and resources. For any other Health and Wellbeing queries, remember that the Health and Wellbeing team can be contacted anytime via the online contact form.