The Insights Discovery model can help us understand behavioural changes caused by pressure and also how we can decide what to do about it! What actually is stress? Stress  occurs when the demands placed on a person exceed that persons perceived ability to meet those demands (The Stress Management Society). Stress can manifest itself in a number of physical ways that include: heart rate increase, butterflies in the stomach, muscle tension,  headaches, restlessness, hyperactivity and loss of appetite. Alongside physical effects there may also be emotional ones that include: irritability, impatience, anger, frustration, anxiety attacks, worry, upset, tearfulness, withdrawal, depression, feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and inadequacy, inability to concentrate, overly emotional or aggressive and lack of confidence or self-worth. There are many factors that can cause stress the Insights Discovery colour wheel can help you understand.

Causes of stress for Earth Green include: unfair or impersonal treatment, violation of values, interruptions or time pressures, stress signals include becoming silent, withdrawn or hurt, being judgmental, resistant, stubborn or overly cautious. A remedy could include personal contact to restore trust, understanding sincerity or putting the task aside to another day.

Causes of stress for Sunshine Yellow include: restriction of flexibility, no interaction or fun or personal rejection, stress signals include being over responsive, appearing opinionated, argumentative and remedies can include allowing room for manoevre, saving face and distracting to something different.

Causes of stress for Cool Blue include: lack of information, structure and logic, poor quality work, time wasted or rushed tasks, stress signals include becoming questioning and deliberate, nit picking, being aloof, withdrawn and resentful. A remedy could be getting feedback on the way forward, informational and emotional support and going back to the beginning and analysing more carefully.

Causes of stress for Fiery Red include: lack of focus, indecisiveness, being out of control. Stress signals include becoming aggressive, impatient, irritable and demanding. Remedies could include allowing for fast action or decision making, making decisions and allowing them to be in control.

Some amount of stress can improve performance, but it has to be at the right time and the right kind of pressure. It allows an indvidual to stretch and grow and operate outside of their comfort zone, the image below shows you how stress can easily become strain an panic.

Over 23.3 million days lost due to work related ill-health in 2014/15 (another 4.1 million lost due to injuries). Stress, depression and anxiety accounted for 9.9 million of these days, it affects everyone, regardless of job role.

Using Insights Discovery we can identify four levels of stress:

The Insights Discovery Personal Profile can help you understand stress within yourself and ways to reduce it:

• Control your thinking – turn up Cool Blue!
• Connect with your feelings – turn up Earth Green!
• Be expressive – turn up Sunshine Yellow!
• Manage your responsibilities – turn up Fiery Red!

Using Insights Discovery we can work with you or your team to find remedies for stress and also how to stretch you. Call us to find out more! 0207 1010 680