Guest Blog: From Overwhelmed to Empowered A Teacher’s Journey Through Stres

It’s almost six years to the day since a panic attack in front of my class that would completely change my life; and lead me to help thousands of teachers and school staff to do the same.

It was in early May 2019 that my mental health hit an all time low. I was five years into my career when my relationship came to an end, it was also my first year taking a year six class through the SATs and my Learning Support Assistant, Sally, had sadly been diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier that year and would very soon pass away. I was not okay; but I didn’t know just how ‘not okay’ I really was… 

One morning, after break time, my children were filtering back into the classroom after break time. There had been a dispute during a game of football and a child who found it particularly difficult to regulate their emotions and was just reintegrating after spending some time on a reduced timetable, came flying into the room, hands aloft, voice very much raised. Soon pens, books and chairs were thrown across the room. But this wasn’t a new situation for me, I had dealt with it countless times before, so what happened next caught me completely off guard.

As someone in their mid-20s, I hadn’t had a panic attack until that day and all I can say is that I’ve never been more terrified in my entire life. Beads of sweat were suddenly dripping down my forehead, I was shaking with dizziness, and excruciating pains were spreading across my chest. I was completely convinced that I was about to die. Words cannot describe the fear. Cutting a long story short, I was subsequently sent home, seen by a paramedic and spent a day in hospital having ECGs, blood tests and consultations. I even wore a 24 hour ECG machine to rule out any other heart issues! And the diagnosis?

This diagnosis wasn’t just a product of that morning, though. It was the compound effect of five years of neglecting my needs, prioritising the pressures of teaching and avoiding some really uncomfortable questions about how, and why, I was working the way I was. This led me down a path of desperately trying to recover, seeking support through coaching and counselling, learning a lot about the areas of stress, mental health, behaviour change, neuroscience and psychology - and eventually completing formal qualifications to enable me to support other school staff with the struggles I had faced.

Six years on, I’m here with you - hopefully able to help you avoid ever feeling how I felt that day. Now I’m not going to share the usual spiel about just leaving work earlier or encourage you to meditate every morning (though these can be useful strategies). Instead I want to walk you through three realisations I had, and the strategies I discovered, that profoundly changed the way I felt, thought and taught!

Alongside this, we can create space for creativity. Space is one of the first things to go when we’re overwhelmed: we see the stack of stuff to get through on our to-do list and we put our heads down, trying to just get through it all. If we are wanting to have more creative thought (this includes not just new ideas for teaching but also things like day-to-day problem solving), allowing our minds space to go into the default mode network is important.

This is the ‘gear’ our brain shifts into when we’re not actively, consciously engaging in a challenging activity. For example, when we’re going for a walk, driving or taking a shower - things the brain can almost do on autopilot! In this state, our brain makes connections, plans things out and problem solves. It’s why you remember the answer to that quiz question, or the name of that song, days afterward when you’re doing the washing up!

About three months into the process of recovering and relearning how to live a mentally healthy lifestyle, I accidentally stumbled across the third (and maybe the greatest) tool I’d like to share with you, one that you could do right now if you wanted to.

What’s great about this is just how accessible it is; even popping your head outside for a few minutes has profound impacts on not just how you’re feeling but on your entire physiology! Getting some sunlight helps to increase the levels of serotonin, an important chemical that’s responsible for everything from learning to happiness to regulating body temperature. It’s often referred to as the ‘happiness hormone’ but I like to call it the ‘contented chemical’!

If we don’t see enough serotonin in the brain we might experience overthinking, low mood, irritability or low energy. Just being outdoors, taking some deep breaths and immersing yourself in the natural world, rather than being boxed indoors all day, has been shown to reduce levels of our stress hormone, cortisol, and increase levels of serotonin. Even listening to nature sounds has been shown to have a similar effect!

This week, try spending just five minutes outdoors in sunlight each day. It could be popping your head outside whilst the kettle boils, going for a quick stroll at lunchtime or maybe taking that phone call outside. Listen to the sounds, breathe in the air and take in the sights around you.See if you can give your brain some space: maybe it’s with some instrumental music on the drive home or sitting by yourself with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Or maybe try creating some more novelty in your life by trying a new food, starting a new hobby or visiting somewhere new this weekend. And remember, something small is better than nothing at all. Tiny tweaks compound to big changes over time!