One in five Brits are suffering from 'unmanageable stress'

 

It’s official – we’re a nation carrying the world on our shoulders; the most stressed in Europe in fact.

 

Around one in five Brits are suffering from unmanageable stress, with work and finances proving to be our most common stress triggers.

 

Adding to the nation’s woes, three quarters of us feel we don’t have enough time to spend with friends or family, with only a third having time for hobbies and two thirds (67%) complaining they don’t get enough sleep at night.

 

Yet only 1 in 4 of those have spoken to a medical professional with others believing they’re strong enough to handle it or simply don’t think it’s useful.

 

Promoting good mental health is vital every day of the year and despite the hurdles of everyday life, it’s important that employers endorse a positive working environment and healthy lifestyle for their staff.

 

Our recent research revealed the nation’s top 5 stress relief solutions for Brits are;

  1. Talking to family and friends (48%)
  2. Exercising (39%)
  3. Getting enough sleep (38%)
  4. Shopping (25%)
  5. Avoid socialising (24%)

As always, we remain committed to helping employers tackle this issue, and the latest enhancements to our self-referral pathway are centred around making it as easy as possible for employees to access emotional wellbeing support.

 

Having the right support in place and early intervention can have a significant positive impact on a prognosis, reduce the cost of treatment and help employees return to work quickly.

 

It’s important to us that our customers get fast access to support when they need it, no matter what their emotional wellbeing concern is, and the addition of our new treatment options means we’re offering the full spectrum of mental health support.

 

In partnership with Nuffield Health we’re now offering two new treatments which include guided online therapy for mild to moderate symptoms and emotional wellbeing therapy for common emotional wellbeing conditions.

 

Awareness days around mental health are definitely impactful, but changes and support must come from within organisations.

 

For more information on Cigna’s enhanced emotional wellbeing offering click here.

 

*The 2018 Cigna 360° Well-being Survey drew on 14,467 online interviews across 23 countries and territories and can be downloaded here.