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‘PeoPle can literally become Paralysed’

Nightingale Hospital near Harley Street specialises in cases of work burn-out. Director Dr William Shanahan says self-medication is rife. In the public sector, wine and cigarettes are the drug of choice. Among City high-fliers, it’s cocaine. Employers exploit the temporary drive the drug gives you, he says, with disastrous consequences.

“You get City types who are up all night on cocaine. It makes them faster on the trading floor,” he says. “But eventually the results are catastrophic because people just burn out. Their body says ‘you can’t get away with this’ and just shuts down. In this climate, employers react by giving people more work to do. But if

you put thousands into training then you should want people to be fit to deliver for you. It’s not good enough sending them home for a fortnight to watch Jeremy Kyle. I t means proper investment in treatment.”

One over-stressed client found himself unable to leave his plane seat. “People literally become paralysed,” says Shanahan.

The drive to succeed, explains Shanahan, draws people to the capital but can be their undoing. “I often counsel people to go back to their old job where they were happier,” he says.

There has been a shift in attitude among some employers. At least 13, including Royal Mail and Astra Zeneca, operate staff wellbeing schemes. These Employment Assistance Programmes (EAPs) offer counselling and resilience training. Occupational psychologist and EAP manager Andrew Kinder says stress has replaced trips and falls as a workplace hazard. “Stress audits are a wake-up call for managers to take action. I see three types of cases: anxiety disorder, that results in panic attacks, workers who are very angry about their treatment, and people who feel suicidal. London can be quite a lonely place. If you feel your relationships are breaking down and there is pressure at work then you can reach the tipping point. The key is to learn to build up your resilience to pressure with a workshop.”

It has to be better than resorting to mobile phone hurling or Sellotape.

www.eapa.org.uk■

alpha-stimhowitworks: You attach clips containing electrodes to each earlobe. An electric current flows into the clips from a battery-powered pack. The current should help “normalise” the brain’s electrical activity. The gadget has a button you press to control the strength of the electric current. anyscience? It reduces anxiety and depression by sending microcurrents through the brain. This electrical activity helps change brain patterns and triggers relaxation “waves”. relaxfactor: The strength of the current goes from 0 to 5. So I settled upon 2 after 3 made me feel sickeningly dizzy. I didn’t enjoy the feeling in my earlobes (which was like a constant itch). But within moments, I felt a pleasant, dopey feeling, similar to nicotine or a mild sleeping pill. My session lasted for one hour and I’d try it again just for the soothing feeling of heaviness. The data suggests you get the best results after using for several weeks.Cost/contact: £269/www.themicrocurrentsite.co.uk/01487 831495

daisydumas

theBreathminderhowitworks: This is a small 2cm-wide box which reminds you to breathe deeply by vibrating twice every 15 minutes. It clips onto your clothing and continues every quarter of an hour until you switch it off.anyscience? Taking deep “in-breaths” is a tried and tested technique to calm you. But too much oxygen can make you agitated. Prolonging your out-breaths helps you conserve carbon dioxide and rebalance your system.

Proper breathing — in for four, hold for seven, out for eight — can lower blood pressure, aid

digestion and stop panic attacks.

relaxfactor: A bit like a nagging parent

constantly reminding you to tidy your room. If you’re

busy it can easily become an annoyance. But I did feel

instantly calmer when I paid attention and took time to focus on breathing out.Cost/contact: £14.99/www.feelkarma.com or www.breathminder.com

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stresssquaresandthermometerhowitworks: Two types of stress thermometers to test your anxiety rating. One is a traditional mercury-in-a-glass type. Pinch the end of the thermometer. The temperature will indicate your stress level. Ninety-one degrees is “relaxed” but 79 degrees is “tense”. The other is a black square of plastic that changes colour depending on your temperature. Green is “calm” and black is “tense”.anyscience? The colder your fingers the more stressed you are. We’ve been primed from prehistoric times to react to fearful situations. Our bodies send blood from our extremities down into the essential organs — heart, major muscles, brain. This is vital for extra speed when pursued by sabre-toothed tigers.relaxfactor: I was a nervous wreck from starting work at 5.30am to finishing 11 hours later. Or that was the

there is now a whole range of gadgets that can help you relax while you work. We put the best stress-busters to the test

high-tech ways to relieve the pressureStress buster: more enlightened employers are offering counselling and “resilience training”

Health & Beauty

‘You get City types who are up all night on cocaine. But the results can be catastrophic because people just burn out’