Stress Awareness Month, one of many awareness topics organized each year, is held every April. It launched in 1992 intending to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for the modern stress epidemic. 29 years on, whilst the conversations and understanding around stress are growing, there is still such a long way to go. So, this week’s blog is my small contribution to the cause, nine book recommendations for stress awareness month.
Stress Awareness month is a great catalyst for honest and upfront conversation about the realities of stress in our lives; there has been growing space for a range of personal and professional support for stress support that runs outside of April, however, there is still such a long way to go.
Over the past year, since the COVID pandemic, charities, communities and companies have all been aware of the impact of the pandemic on mental health. The experience has meant that many people have and will make significant changes to their lives to maintain their mental wellbeing. However, some shocking and sobering statistics show how important it is to reduce the impact and causes of stress. The website for Stress Awareness Month includes the following:
“According to the Mental health Foundation 74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.”
Every year, the campaign has a theme; for 2021 it is regaining connectivity, certainty, and control:
“We recently collaborated with Huawei to conduct a study on stress, gathering data from 2000 British adults. The research identified that 65% of people in the UK have felt more stressed since the COVID-19 restrictions began in March 2020. The three key causes for concern are feelings of disconnection, uncertainty, and a worrying loss of control.”
To enable us all to feel MORE connected, certain and in control, they have set up a 30-day challenge, with one action to support your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing each day. This blog may be landing on day eight of the challenge, but I am sure you can play catch up! One of the prompts for the challenge is a digital detox, and what better way to detox AND support your wellbeing than to pick up a book to support your personal development.
Stress management is something that is an underlying part of the career coaching that I provide to my clients, and not surprisingly, plays a bit part of the reading I do as part of the book club. So, I thought it would be useful to help you on your way, with nine books that I feel would be a useful addition to your library and to-read pile for stress awareness month:
Burnout (Solve Your Stress Cycle) by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
In the most recent book review on my site, you walk away with a toolkit of how to look after yourself in a way that goes beyond early nights and bubble baths. I think this quote sums up the number one message that this book gives us “The cure for burnout is not self-care; it is all of us caring for each other.”
Black box Thinking by Matthew Syed
Black Box Thinking “. Sometimes a book is recommended to you very simply; “If you are interested in personal performance then you MUST read this”. A quick trip to a local book shop and I sat down ready to learn about the secrets of high performers. What I got was an uncomfortable, thought-provoking and challenging insight into human nature. How it can make or break society.
A Toolkit for modem life by Dr Emma Hepburn
A Toolkit for modern life (53 ways to look after your mind by Dr Emma Hepburn, is one of the most accessible and practical books on mental health I have ever read. Whilst Dr Hepburn is immensely qualified, she doesn’t overcomplicate the science behind mental health. Instead, she talks matter-of-factly about not only the challenges so many of us face, but the tools we can use, every day, to support our emotional and mental wellbeing.
Why we sleep by Matthew Walker
Over the years we have all been given different messages about sleep; from the luxurious lie-in, teenage laziness, the risk of burning the candle at both ends or the praise for the person who is productive by getting up at 5 am! I am also sure we all know first-hand how we feel if we have a bad night sleep, either self-inflicted from a night on the town or newborn interruptions. Even though we all live with the repercussions of great or poor sleep, I don’t think many of us have actually considered why we sleep? For something that takes up quite a large part of our life, it’s about time we start understanding its function, so we can carve out time to make it happen!
The Comparison Cure by Lucy Sheridan
This book has a great combination of science, reflection, and some hard-hitting conversation starters; helping you not only understand specifically where your comparisons issues lie, but where they could come from, how you are holding yourself back and how important communication is. What is great about the book, especially considering the mindset of a person who picks it up, is she makes you feel content with YOUR version of success, rather than berate you for feeling like this in the first place! It also allows you to really focus down on your comparison blind spots, and to understand what you can do to take steps forward. There are a few books that I will re-read in my life, and THIS is one of them!
A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled by Ruby Wax
Many people know Ruby Wax from her comedy, but only recently have come to learn about how depression has been a constant presence across her life through Frazzled. Her interest in the power of mindfulness on mental health goes beyond her personal experience, she understands WHY mindfulness works. In 2013, she gained her Masters in Cognitive Mindfulness, from Oxford University, and this, combined with her lived experience of mental health and wellness, is what makes this book stand out in a sea of mindfulness books.
The Resilience Club by Angela Armstrong PhD
So, what is the book about? It is an easy to read and well-structured analysis of the realities of living and working in an era of pressure, technology, and being always on. As the blurb states “The resilience habits in his book are entirely within your control, simple to understand, quick to do, can be done anywhere, cost no money and require no kit”. Like many of the books that I read as part of the book club, whilst they are read with my clients firmly in mind, I often identify and take on board lots of the content, not just for my coaching practice, but for my life too!
The inspiration for this book came from her burnout period; a dramatic collapse in 2007 which gave her a head injury and some time to reflect on what she wanted out of life. I was reading this book going through my own crisis; excited about moving into my own business but concerned about how I would make it all balance!
Fast forward three years and my private reading have become my public online book club. I recommend books frequently in meetings and coaching sessions, so figured it was about time I shared my thoughts with the masses. When planning the books for 2018, it made sense that Thrive was added to the list; and it was a re-read through a different “lens” for me. Now I was reading it as the master of my own time.
Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
Haig is very honest and open about his journey with anxiety and depression (which I believe he also covered in Reasons to Stay Alive) and reflects on how the up-tempo nature of modern society is playing havoc with mental health. In fact, the book’s blurb is “What if the way we live was engineered to make us unhappy? And what if there was something we could do about it?”
There is not a one size fits all approach to stress management, in the same way, that there is no one cause of stress. But all nine of these books have brought something in my life, be it insight, reflection, new philosophies, tools, or techniques, that I know are helping me manage my stress and support my wellbeing. Whilst these may be entering your life during stress awareness month, I hope they last you a lifetime.
To read more book reviews check out the blogs here.
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Clara Wilcox is a straight talking, practical and experienced coach helping clients navigate the tricky waters of returning to work, career changes and professional development. The Balance Collective is a social enterprise focused on improving the lives of parents, by working together to build inner confidence and promote a healthy work/life balance.
