Reset. Recharge. - Using Stress To Build Your Resilience

We are living through the Fourth Industrial Revolution ‒ and never has the world moved so fast. Many of us have embraced this digital era that has brought every conceivable convenience to our fingertips; however, it is also largely responsible for the dramatic increase in stress that people have recently been experiencing on a global scale. ANGELA EUSTACE

- Angela Eustace

The truth is that modernisation, with its rise in technological and economic progress, has made our lives much more efficient, easier and convenient 1 . However, the flip side to this evolution is the detrimental effect it has on our health and general well-being – particularly psychological distresses. 2 In fact, the number of peoplesuffering from stress, anxiety and depression has increased so exponentially over the last few years that it has now reached epidemic proportions – with work- and personal-related stress topping the list. This is unsurprising really, especially when one considers the insurmountable professional challenges that employees face nowadays, such as organisation restructuring, job changes and retrenchments – as well as dealing with deep-seated personal issues on either a physical, psychological or emotional level.

Fight or flight:

For many people, the first response to stress is to look for quick fixes to alleviate their discomfort – with many of these solutions being temporary and mostly ineffective. Learning to manage stress effectively over the long term requires building your own internal resilience skills first, then looking for external solutions. In this manner, you may be able to turn stressors, changes and challenges into opportunities,while cultivating resilience in the process.

State of mind