Reflections on sight loss - RNIB

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The association encourages staff to let
managers know if they have a problem at
home and to deal with it first before catching
up with work. As well as understanding
problems at home, Clarke and his
management team also try to anticipate issues
that can add to stress at work.
“Rehabilitation workers are worried about
their future because of personal budgets and
articles they may read in the media. Locally,
a number are also affected by contracts
between societies and local authorities, as
local authorities can sometimes be sloppy,
make late payments, don’t pay enough, and
on occasion contract specification can be
unclear. This can and does cause stress,”
says Clarke.
If these kinds of stress are familiar to social
care workers, there are methods that can be
used to manage stress and alleviate at least
some of the anxiety it provokes. Professor
Stephen Palmer of City University and director
of the Centre for Stress Management, explains:
“Achieving a balanced lifestyle is not as
straightforward as it seems, but it is possible to
reduce stress by being aware of your thinking
processes and understanding what triggers a
stress response. For example, if you think a
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situation is awful, challenge your thinking. A
reality check will probably show that the
situation isn’t awful, just difficult.”
Similarly, Palmer suggests trying to change
levels of frustration tolerance in stressful
situations. “If someone says ‘I can’t stand
this’, the reality is the living evidence that we
withstand most things. Perhaps better is ‘I
don’t like this, but I can stand it’. If you think
differently, you can become more resilient and
less stress,” he says.
“A useful approach is to think
of solutions, which will lift your
feelings, rather than of problems
that will take you down”
He also counsels that stressful tasks should be
tackled as they arise and not be put off, since
taking responsibility can reduce stress and
prevent a situation that becomes so stressful
that the ability to seek solutions is lost.
Palmer argues that failure, too, if blamed on
oneself, can cause stress and depression. His
advice is to remember that we all have skills
deficits and should encourage self-acceptance