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This is the archive
of teacherstress.co.uk. The URL (web address) teacherstress.co.uk is no longer valid.
These pages are no longer being maintained, but while they are still useful this archive will remain online. The principles and concepts remain relevant, but links may become out of date and Health and Safety advice change (improve!). For up-to-date information and help, visit the Teacher Support Network www.teachersupport.info . They also run the Teacher Support Line. It is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is confidential. You can find telephone numbers and online services at http://www.teachersupport.info/index.cfm?a=63. |
Work-related stress is the main health and safety concern in four out of five UK schools [4]. If unnoticed, stress can lead progressively to a decrease in performance, health injury and long-term absence from work.
Typical health injuries include anxiety, depression, heart disease, back pain, gastrointestinal disturbances and various minor illnesses [1].
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"Teachers need to be encouraged to get support early rather than wait until things go wrong. People deny their own crisis really."(Norfolk, UK, primary school headteacher.) [2] |
The teacher is often the last person to realise that a problem involving stress is developing.
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"Stress is not a weakness."(UK National Health Service.) [3] |
Teachers may be reluctant to admit they are feeling stressed by work. This is because they fear that being stressed can be seen as a sign of weakness. This is often a result of peer pressure or the management culture or both.
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"Work-related stress is a symptom of an organisational problem, not an individual weakness."(UK National Health Service) [3]. |
Stress cannot be eliminated by individual teachers "taking up hobbies" or adopting "coping strategies" as is sometimes suggested [4].
Employers are legally required to take action on stress. They have a general legal duty of care under the UK Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They also have a specific duty under the UK Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 to undertake risk assessments for potential risks including stress [4].
The UK Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require a teacher (employee) to tell the employer about any shortcomings in their health and safety arrangements. This includes issues related to work-related stress. It requires a partnership between the teacher and the senior management team based on honesty and trust. [1].
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"Stress is rooted in the way teaching and schools are organised."(UK National Union of Teachers) [4]. |
A report into the scale of occupational stress in 2000 found that the groups in the UK reporting high stress (in order) were teaching, nursing, management, professionals, other education and welfare, road transport and security. In all these groups at least one in five reported high stress. For teachers it was two in five [5].
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"Work-related stress myth: 'a little bit of stress is good for you'. Wrong - ill health due to work-related stress is the second most common type of work-related ill health reported. ". (UK Health and Safety Executive) [7]. |
People often use the term "stress" coloquially to include "pressure". Thinking that a little bit of stress makes you work more efficiently is totally wrong. You need a certain amount of pressure ("eustress") to function efficiently. A little bit of stress will have the opposite effect. Stress ("distress") is people's natural reaction to excessive pressure. Stress is bad for you. [6]
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"Mental illness carries with it a stigma that is not attached to those who suffer from demonstrably physical conditions". (Changing Minds - the campaign by the Royal College of Psychiatrists) [8]. |
You can easily see a mangled leg and even a limp during the recuperation process. You cannot see the mental health equivalent. A psychiatric injury can be just as serious - even as life-threatening - as a physical one.
Visit
the TeacherStress Discussion forums
You can read the messages and comments posted by other visitors
(teachers, friends and family, school managers etc). You can also post
your own messages.
Stress symptoms
There is a bewildering array of symptoms, usually including fatigue.
Depression symptoms
It is important to consult a doctor if experiencing depression symptoms
for more than two weeks.
Where to get help
A variety of sources of help for stress and depression suffers
including telephone hotlines:
What to do about stress
Advice for stress sufferers, friends and family, school managers
and staff representatives.
Stress management
This should properly be called pressure management. Pressure
management is not a treatment for health injury, but advice for coping
with pressure so that it does not lead to stress.
You speak
You can also have your say about teacher stress and read about some
real experiences of stress in teaching.
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[1] UK Health and Safety Executive: "Tackling work-related
stress: A guide for employees".
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg341.pdf
[2] Norfolk, UK, primary head teacher Ian Money: "Norfolk
education staff wellbeing project: working for fitter schools".
www.teachersupport.info/index.cfm?p=796
[3] NHS plus: "Your health - Work-related stress".
www.nhsplus.nhs.uk/your_health/stress.asp
[4] UK National Union of Teachers: "Tackling Stress".
www.data.teachers.org.uk/resources/pdf/tackling_stress.pdf
[5] Prof A Smith et al, Cardiff University: "The scale of
occupational stress".
www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_pdf/2000/crr00311.pdf
[6] UK Health & Safety Executive: "Work-related stress -
A short guide".
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg281.pdf
[7] UK Health & Safety Executive: "Work-related stress -
myths and facts".
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/stress1.htm
[8] Professor Arthur Crisp (editor): "EVERY FAMILY IN THE
LAND Understanding prejudice and discrimination against people with
mental illness".
www.stigma.org/everyfamily
| Acknowledgement This material has been reproduced from the World Wide Web site http://www.teacherstress.co.uk and is reproduced with permission. The information provided is for general use only and is not intended to provide personal medical advice or substitute for the advice of your doctor or healthcare professional. Please consult your doctor or healthcare professional if you have questions about the information presented, concerns about individual health matters or the management of stress. |