Do we work too hard? The UK is at risk of becoming a 'burnt-out nation'. That's according to charity, Mental Health UK which has urged the government to 'lead a national conversation' on the issue. We're finding out from some of you - what do you do to de-stress? And what measures could be implemented to help the nation as a whole?
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00:00 I think there is a big problem with the mental health of lots of people, not just young people,
00:06 but older people as well. You know, COVID had a lot to do with that. Lots of older people
00:11 were shut away for their own safety, obviously, but it had a detriment on their health.
00:16 Working hours are, well, they're quite okay for me personally. I don't really experience
00:21 the huge level of stress that's being asked. I mean, not recently, but when I do, it's
00:27 nothing really too much to complain about. I mean, if I get stressed, probably because
00:31 I have a lot of work, so if I've got a lot of work, I just kind of got to do it, you
00:35 know?
00:36 I think we work the longer hours in the whole of Europe and a lot more countries, don't
00:40 we? So I think we should have a bit more downtime, really. But it's economics, isn't it?
00:47 A recent poll conducted by YouGov uncovered more than a third of UK adults faced extreme
00:52 pressure in the workplace in the last 12 months, with 20% requiring time off due to poor mental
00:58 health caused by stress.
01:00 Chief Executive of charity Mental Health UK, Brian Dow, warned that Great Britain is rapidly
01:05 becoming a burnt-out nation, adding that for many people, life outside work has become
01:10 increasingly difficult due to the cost of living crisis and pressures on public services,
01:15 while global challenges such as climate change and artificial intelligence fuel stress, anxiety
01:21 and feelings of hopelessness. Do you agree that we're under too much pressure?
01:25 Yeah, definitely. I think it's a hard one, isn't it? Because if you don't work enough,
01:29 you can't pay your bills, you can't have a nice life. So I think it's really finding
01:33 that balance between work life and your personal life, you know? But I think it's important
01:40 to distress with different things.
01:42 When I was your sort of age, mental health wasn't something that was spoken about. It
01:48 was just a case of, oh, snap out of it. You're responsible for your own welfare, take care
01:53 of it. And it just seemed to work.
01:57 I think some people do put too many hours in that need the rest, but I understand why
02:01 they're doing it as well. And this should be like zero hours that they can put in for
02:06 overtime because I do think they grind them to the ground.
02:08 Have you got any tips to de-stress or anything you like to do personally if you're feeling
02:13 a little bit stressed out? Is there anything you do?
02:16 Well, me personally, if I'm feeling just like stressed over something, I usually listen
02:21 to music, play games or whatever. Best thing to de-stress really is just what you love
02:28 best.
02:29 So I go rugby training or gym and just mainly physical activity that really helps me out.
02:36 And yeah, just chilling with my mates. That really helps as well.
02:39 Yeah, it's important to have that.
02:40 It's important to have that social activity as well, yeah.
02:43 If I just need to release stress after that, maybe just during the weekend, just save a
02:47 whole day for myself, just do what I want, relax. That's it.
02:52 I like to do yoga because I study dance in university. So yeah, yoga is one of my de-stressing
03:01 methods I suppose.