Stress Awareness Month April 2026

Let’s Talk About Stress

April is Stress Awareness Month so we’re taking the opportunity to highlight the importance of how to spot the signs that you may be stressed and what you can do about it.

Most of us have been stressed at some point in our lives, but what actually is stress?

Stress is how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened. It’s not always a problem, but sometimes it can be.

Stress usually happens when we’re in a situation that we don’t feel we can manage or control. But sometimes there’s no obvious cause.

When is stress a problem?

Sometimes, a small amount of stress can help us to complete tasks and feel more energised. But stress can become a problem when it lasts for a long time. Or when it’s very intense. In some cases, stress can affect our physical and mental health.

You might hear healthcare professionals refer to some types of stress as ‘acute’ or ‘chronic’:

• Acute stress usually happens immediately after an upsetting or unexpected event. For example, a sudden bereavement.
• Chronic stress lasts for a long period of time or keeps coming back. You might experience this if you’re under lots of pressure a lot of the time.

Is stress a mental health problem?

Stress isn’t normally considered a mental health problem. But it is connected to our mental health in several ways:

• Stress can cause mental health problems. And it can make existing problems worse.
• Mental health problems can cause stress. You might find coping with the day-to-day symptoms of your mental health problem stressful.
• You might use recreational drugs or alcohol to cope with stress. This could also affect your mental health, and cause further stress.

Tips for managing stress

Identify your triggers

Working out what triggers stress for you can help you anticipate problems. And you can think of ways to solve them. Even if you can’t avoid these situations, being prepared can help.

Take some time to reflect on events and feelings that could be contributing to your stress. You could do this on your own or with someone you trust. You could consider:

• Issues that come up regularly
• One-off events that are on your mind a lot
• Ongoing stressful events
• Something that you’re worried about happening again

Organise your time

Adjusting the way you organise your time could help you feel more in control of any tasks you’re facing. And more able to handle pressure.

• Identify your best time of day. Do the important tasks that need the most energy and concentration at that time.
• Make a list of things you have to do. Arrange them in order of importance, and try to focus on the most urgent first.
• Set smaller, achievable targets. When we feel stressed, it’s easy to set ourselves large or unrealistic goals. Setting smaller, more achievable goals can help us feel more satisfied and in control.
• Vary your activities. Balance interesting tasks with more mundane ones. And balance stressful tasks with those you find easier or can do more calmly.
• Try not to do too much at once. If you take on too much, you might find it harder to do any individual task well.
• Take breaks and take things slowly. It might be difficult to do this when you’re stressed. But it might help you deal with things better and get through a stressful situation.
• Ask someone if they can help. For example, you could ask a friend or family member to help with some of your daily tasks.

Try to address some of the causes of stress

There will probably be lots of things in your life that you can’t do anything about.

But there might be some things you can do to improve or resolve some of the issues that are causing you stress.

Posted on: 24th March 2026