April will mark Stress Awareness Month and a time to reflect on the impact of stress in day-to-day life. Our research reveals that UK searches for ‘stress’ rose by over a third (34%) in February 2023 compared to February 2013. To us, data like this is sad to see and we want to see a world where everyone can enjoy better mental health and improved ways of managing stress.
Life since 2013 has been tough for many. The world has continued to experience the effects of the global financial crisis, climate change and the pandemic to name just a few major events. In more recent years the onset of the Russia-Ukraine War, rampant inflation and rising energy bills have caused further misery for many families. Lots of us in the UK are aware of this and we also think this is why ONS data shows that the average level of anxiety amongst Brits has grown to 4.0 this month compared to 3.9 in February.
As many Brits, unfortunately, experience symptoms of stress on a daily and weekly basis, we’ve taken a look into the UK’s most stressed-out regions. Our data reveals the top 15 locations which are searching the most for ‘stress’ online. As these results encompass such a wide geographical area we believe this shows how people’s battles with stress are widespread at the current time.
Rank | The top 15 regions in the UK searching the most for 'stress' |
1 | Loughborough |
2 | Esh Winning, County Durham |
3 | Guildford |
4 | Cambridge |
5 | Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire |
6 | Hatfield, Hertfordshire |
7 | Galgate, Lancaster |
8 | Oxford |
9 | Bathford, Somerset |
10 | Wednesbury, West Midlands |
11 | Bedford |
12 | Farnham, Surrey |
13 | Coventry |
14 | Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire |
15 | Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland |
Stress is a serious health concern that can have a lasting impact on both your physical and mental health. Everyone will have a different experience with stress and it’s therefore so important to identify what triggers your outbreaks. There are also plenty of simple steps that you can take to minimise the impact of stress in day-to-day life. These can include talking to friends and family about your feelings to making time for walks in nature which has been found to help with symptoms of anxiety. The NHS website has some great tips and resources for managing stress.
At Lem-uhn we know that work can also play a role in triggering stress and it’s why we make sure that our team’s workloads are manageable and employees work their set hours only. The average person will spend approximately 81,000 hours of their life at work so it’s important to us that our team take genuine enjoyment from their 9-5. As well as organising endorphin-boosting monthly team socials, we also allow our employees to benefit from two Wellness Days per year which they can spend however they like to refresh and recharge.
Over the past ten years, it’s been great to see conversations about stress and other mental health topics opening up. Let’s make sure this continues both into this Stress Awareness Month and beyond.