Most people have to work to generate enough money to pay their bills and live. In many cases, this means doing any job that’s available. Of course, if you’re just working for the money you’ll find it harder to stay motivated and perform your best.
This can lead to you just doing enough at work. In turn, the management can start to question your commitment and motivation. In some cases, this can lead to reprimands and ultimately the loss of your job, even if it isn’t a fair conclusion.
That’s when you’ll need to contact a good unfair dismissal employment lawyer and pursue the matter further.
There is little doubt that the disciplinary process and job loss will cause a huge amount of stress in your life. This can seriously affect your mental health.
Understanding Stress & Mental Health
Stress is a natural reaction to any situation that is unknown or potentially dangerous. Your body releases cortisol that helps you to prepare to fight or run away. Unfortunately, while you’re body is creating additional cortisol, it’s not producing all the other hormones you need.
In short, long-term stress increases the risk of mental and physical issues. Stress creates anxiety which often leads to depression as you can’t control the outcome and feel overwhelmed. Feeling depressed will stop you from undertaking regular activities, leaving you isolated and further depressed.
Eventually, the depression can lead to suicidal thoughts which is a serious mental health concern.
How Work Creates Stress
Work is one of the biggest causes of stress in your life and, therefore, your potential mental health disorder.
Work is stressful as you need to reach performance levels, targets, and a boss can often be unsympathetic when you are dealing with personal issues.
This is often made worse when you are doing a job you don’t enjoy. Along with the stress of performing properly, you have the stress of going to work, when you really don’t want to. That’s why it is better to do a job that you enjoy, if you can.
Dealing With Stress & Mental Health At Work
The key to dealing with stress at work and preventing mental health disorders from occurring is to identify the issue. Take a look at when you get stressed and what is causing the stress, then record everything in a journal.
You’ll then be able to identify the triggers that are causing you stress. In some cases, you’ll be able to avoid the triggers. In others, you’ll have to tackle the issue but you can do this through breathing exercises and meditation.
Perhaps most importantly, you should also talk about your anxiety and stress. A good employer will provide you with someone to talk to and they will do their best to reduce the stress placed on you at work. Communication is essential as it isn’t always obvious to an employer that you are struggling mentally.
Remember, you can consider switching jobs to something you really enjoy. It will make a big difference to how you view each working day.