Did you know?

• Stress / anxiety is now one of the top ten ailments suffered by the population (1). Together with sleeping problems it shows the highest increase over the last ten years (+10% change)
• Stress is now recognised as contributing as much as 75% to all illnesses and in recent years it has become fashionable to think of stress itself as the major disease of the twentieth century
• Stress is the second biggest cause of illness at work, costing the industry at least £5 billion in absenteeism and staff turnover and approximately 90 million working days (2)
• Over a 3 year period a study of over 100 company car drivers showed that those who were involved in accidents had significantly higher stress levels than their accident-free colleagues (3)
• Stroking a pet has been shown to alleviate stress in both normal life and for special situations such as children undergoing hospital treatment
• Experts believe that the easiest and cheapest way to beat stress is to smile. Smiling and laughing produce chemicals called endorphin, which work on the brain to give an overall feeling of well being

(1) BMRB
(2) Managing Work Place Stress - Cartwright S & Cooper CL
(3) British Council Safety Guide, Keeping Stress under Control