Work-related teacher stress

Work-related stress is the main health and safety concern in four out of five UK schools [4]. If unnoticed, stress can lead progressively to a decrease in performance, health injury and long-term absence from work.

Typical health injuries include anxiety, depression, heart disease, back pain, gastrointestinal disturbances and various minor illnesses [1].

The teacher is often the last person to realise that a problem involving stress is developing. 

Teachers may be reluctant to admit they are feeling stressed by work. This is because they fear that being stressed can be seen as a sign of weakness. This is often a result of peer pressure or the management culture or both.

Stress cannot be eliminated by individual teachers "taking up hobbies" or adopting "coping strategies" as is sometimes suggested [4].

Employers are legally required to take action on stress. They have a general legal duty of care under the UK Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They also have a specific duty under the UK Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 to undertake risk assessments for potential risks including stress [4].

The UK Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require a teacher (employee) to tell the employer about any shortcomings in their health and safety arrangements. This includes issues related to work-related stress. It requires a partnership between the teacher and the senior management team based on honesty and trust. [1].

A report into the scale of occupational stress in 2000 found that the groups in the UK reporting high stress (in order) were teaching, nursing, management, professionals, other education and welfare, road transport and security. In all these groups at least one in five reported high stress. For teachers it was two in five [5].

People often use the term "stress" coloquially to include "pressure". Thinking that a little bit of stress makes you work more efficiently is totally wrong. You need a certain amount of pressure ("eustress") to function efficiently. A little bit of stress will have the opposite effect. Stress ("distress") is people's natural reaction to excessive pressure. Stress is bad for you. [6]

You can easily see a mangled leg and even a limp during the recuperation process. You cannot see the mental health equivalent. A psychiatric injury can be just as serious - even as life-threatening - as a physical one.

Contents of the TeacherStress web site

Visit the TeacherStress Discussion forums
You can read the messages and comments posted by other visitors (teachers, friends and family, school managers etc). You can also post your own messages.

Stress symptoms
There is a bewildering array of symptoms, usually including fatigue.

Depression symptoms
It is important to consult a doctor if experiencing depression symptoms for more than two weeks.

Where to get help
A variety of sources of help for stress and depression suffers including telephone hotlines:

• England: teacher support line 0800 562 561 anytime
• Cymru (Wales): teacher support line 0800 085 5088 anytime.

What to do about stress
Advice for stress sufferers, friends and family, school managers and staff representatives.

Stress management
This should properly be called pressure management. Pressure management is not a treatment for health injury, but advice for coping with pressure so that it does not lead to stress.

You speak
You can also have your say about teacher stress and read about some real experiences of stress in teaching.

About the TeacherStress web site

Stress information sources for this page

[1] UK Health and Safety Executive: "Tackling work-related stress: A guide for employees".
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg341.pdf

[2] Norfolk, UK, primary head teacher Ian Money: "Norfolk education staff wellbeing project: working for fitter schools".
www.teachersupport.info/index.cfm?p=796

[3] NHS plus: "Your health - Work-related stress".
www.nhsplus.nhs.uk/your_health/stress.asp

[4] UK National Union of Teachers: "Tackling Stress".
www.data.teachers.org.uk/resources/pdf/tackling_stress.pdf

[5] Prof A Smith et al, Cardiff University: "The scale of occupational stress".
www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_pdf/2000/crr00311.pdf

[6] UK Health & Safety Executive: "Work-related stress - A short guide".
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg281.pdf

[7] UK Health & Safety Executive: "Work-related stress - myths and facts".
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/stress1.htm

[8] Professor Arthur Crisp (editor): "EVERY FAMILY IN THE LAND Understanding prejudice and discrimination against people with mental illness".
www.stigma.org/everyfamily