Self-care is a mental health action that employees take alone. Symptoms of mental illness initially manifest as physical fatigue, behavior, and simple mental changes. People who are unaware of their mental health are often overlooked because there are few sudden and serious illnesses and many mild symptoms.However, if the company provides mental health education properly, each employee can quickly detect physical and mental changes and take action on their own.
Awareness and coping with stress
Self-care is listed as one of the four mental health care in the Guidelines for maintaining and improving the mental health of workers (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, published in 2006). When promoting mental health, it is important that workers themselves recognize stress, acquire the knowledge and methods to cope with it, and put it into practice. To be aware of stress, it is important to understand stressors and stress reactions to mental health, and to be able to correctly recognize your own stress and mental health.
Mental and physical reactions due to stress
The response to stress can be divided into three aspects: psychological, physical and behavioral. Psychological responses to stress include anxiety and depression (depressed mood, decreased interest / interest), irritability, decreased motivation, and decreased concentration. Physical stress reactions include insomnia (difficulty sleeping) and waking up (waking up late at night), simple discomfort, headache and stiff shoulders, back pain, eye fatigue, dizziness and palpitations, and abdominal pain. There are some symptoms like loss of appetite, constipation and diarrhea. Behavioral stress responses include increased drunkenness and smoking, increased appetite, withdrawal symptoms, increased absenteeism and delay, increased work errors, and increased happy hats.
When stress is managed correctly, these stress responses gradually decrease and improve. However, if it lasts for a long time, it can be a sign of excessive stress. It is recommended that you look back on your daily life and come up with a way to deal with stress well (how to deal with it). Also, if these symptoms are severe or last a long time, it is advisable to consult a specialist (psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine).
