6 minute read
WINNING THE STRESS BATTLE - BY DIANE COOKE
None of us are immune from stress. Not even celebrities. But can you live with stress and still stay well? We ask an expert.
Keeping calm and carrying on is not always an option, as actress Suranne Jones discovered when intense pressures in her work and private life caused her to break down.
Suranne, 40, had to take time off before taking on the lead role in the BBC One biopic of Anne Lister, in the period drama Gentleman Jack.
“With every new job now, I’ll consider the psychological side… the content, which I maybe didn’t do before. I’ll need to know that I can live in that place for a period of time.
“The inner light, the inner confidence, can go out of all of us… and if you lose it personally, that inner thing, you can’t put it out professionally – because that’s where it all comes from, inside you.”
Manchester born Suranne Jones – real name Sarah – had married, had a baby and lost her mum Jenny to vascular dementia, all in the space of two years.
Actress Suranne Jones in the hit show, Gentleman Jack
All that time she was taking on challenging, often dark roles. “Betrayal! Murder! Paedophilia!” is how she summarised what looked, from the outside, like a flawless professional run from 2015 to 2018.
She was fantastic as the lead in the BBC noir Doctor Foster, the story of a small town GP made vengeful by the discovery of her husband’s infidelity.
Then she was a mother who’d lost a daughter in Lennie James’ award winning drama Save Me, and after that another mother whose daughter had been abused in a West End production of Bryony Lavery’s Frozen. Amid all this, she won a BAFTA for the first series of Doctor Foster and filmed a second, featuring more betrayal.
“I look back and go ‘wow’. I’m not surprised it affected me along the way. Something had to give.”
And so it did. She collapsed backstage at Frozen and was forced to pull out of the production.
At the time, the former Coronation Street star, blamed the play’s dark plot but has since revealed she never allowed herself to grieve her mother’s death.
She ‘put all the bad stuff to one side’ and threw herself into work. Then she began to feel ‘edgy and nervous’.
Describing how she couldn’t converse properly, Suranne said being in the theatre only heightened her anxiety and panic. She didn’t want to take time off for fear of becoming a headline.
“You try to resist what’s happening. Keep working. Keep doing the trick of going round as Suranne not Sarah. And in the end something gives. I think that’s what happened,” she explained.
Community consultant psychiatrist Kate Wood says identifying the cause of the stress is essential to find the right solution.
“Stress is a very general term for a multitude of symptoms and sometimes people are looking for a pill that will fix it rather than finding out the cause and working out what’s needed.
“Is it a reaction to a stressful situation – illness, job loss, debt, bereavement? Is it isolation and loneliness? Or is a past trauma affecting your ability to cope with the stresses of life?
“That solution could be medication or therapy. But it could be debt or housing advice in a church hall to sort out money or benefits. It might be rediscovering something you used to enjoy to regain motivation, or finding a social group so you feel less isolated”.
Suranne Jones took time off, did yoga, had therapy, quit Instagram and finally returned to TV work, on the BBC Gentleman Jack series in May 2019. She has ruled out a return to theatre for the time being.
“Go back to emotionally draining myself in a very dark auditorium? Probably not yet,” she said.
• Series 2 of Gentleman Jack is expected back on our screens in 2021.
NEED SUPPORT?
Help yourself – our self help guide on stress can be read on our website, downloaded or watched as a video. Just search 'Mersey Care Self Help Guides'.
STAYING WELL THROUGH STRESS
The fact is stress kills. Prolonged stress has been linked to heart disease, depression and diabetes. Here are some tips on how to combat it.
Psychiatrist Kate Wood says self help – or self soothing as it’s sometimes called – is also important to combat stress. “Some patients are sceptical when I suggest guided meditation, but everyone can do it. If you’re disciplined and set five minutes aside it can really help.
“Exercise is a known antidote to stress. And if you struggle to sleep a hot bath and a milky drink before bed will set you up for a good night’s rest.”
TIPS
EAT WELL
When we’re overwhelmed, it’s easy to reach for a quick fix in the form of sugar rich food and drink. This gives us an instant spike in serotonin, the body’s feel good chemical, but it won’t last – and neither will the fast rise in your blood glucose levels, which also gives you a temporary high.
Instead, opt for complex carbohydrates such as porridge or wholegrain bread, which will give you the energy you need to face a difficult day.
Taking 10 minutes to eat lunch away from your desk will reduce stress levels.
Talk Liverpool is a NHS free talking therapy service for people with a Liverpool GP. Go to www.talkliverpool.nhs.uk
EXERCISE HELPS
If you can’t afford to visit a gym, or have responsibilities that keep you at home, there are plenty of free home based workouts that can be squeezed into a few minutes.
SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP
Your first port of call should be your GP. “We all have stress in our lives,” says Dr Zoe Norris, a GP, “but the definition of anxiety as a disease is different from stress.” If patients come to her complaining of stress, she will ask them whether they have been having palpitations, panic attacks or long term sleep disturbances. These could all be indicators that they were struggling with an anxiety disorder.
TRY TO GET ENOUGH SLEEP
When you are stressed, your sleep often suffers. But staying up late is counterproductive. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help address anxiety and improve the quality of your sleep.
YOUR SUPPORT NETWORK
“If you feel overwhelmed, it’s usually a combination of work and home life factors. Develop your support structures. Look at your relationships, who are your potential allies? It may be family or friends. When people open up, they’re often overwhelmed by how much support is available to them.
YOUR JOB DOES NOT DEFINE YOU
Ask yourself the question: what do you really care about? Strip your workload down to the essentials. Many things that we do in the workplace to endear ourselves to our bosses or appear more proactive than our colleagues are pointless.
To avoid burnout, remember you don’t have to spend every hour in productive or fruitful labour. There are other dimensions of life, and selfhood that are worth believing in.
Tips adapted from information published in The Guardian September 2019.
