With ever mounting workload, increasing patient complexity and rising patient expectations and complaints, work is becoming increasingly stressful in the NHS.
Life outside work is more stressful too. Notwithstanding stresses that we may have in our home life, we are now living in a 24/7 on-demand, fast-paced culture that lacks stop cues as we consume countless Netflix and apps on our phones. We have so many distractions at our fingertips all vying for our attention. We have multiple choices for pretty much everything. Not great if you are a maximiser, who sets high standards in decision making.
According to Dr Mithu Storoni, we no longer have the natural stress buffers in our day that previous generations have had. For example, in the past we had to physically move for daily tasks like answering the phone, or doing the shopping. We connected with others face-to-face which would have required movement on at least one person’s part. That activity and connection would have provided a natural way to de-stress. In order to survive and thrive in the 21st century, we have to create conscious buffers to get the balance back.
