There is increasing evidence that work-related stress is on the rise.

This stress is a major cause of occupational ill health and often leads to sickness, absence, high staff turnover and poor performance.

If work-related stress is affecting you personally, understanding its causes, recognising the signs, and putting strategies in place to avoid or deal with it should help you minimise the impact it has on you.

Gaining a better understanding of work-related stress could also make you a far more effective manager. It can help you recognise management behaviours which have a positive and negative impact on stress at work, and help you improve the support offered to staff who suffer from stress.