April is Stress Awareness Month in the UK, and the theme for 2025 is #LeadWithLove.
The annual awareness campaign, observed every April since 1992, aims to increase public awareness of the causes of stress and effective measures to reduce it.
The Stress Management Society is at the forefront of this campaign, setting the focus for Stress Awareness Month each year by identifying a theme which reflects current societal challenges.
For 2025, this theme is #LeadWithLove, which has been selected to encourage people to approach themselves and others with kindness, compassion and acceptance.
The Stress Management Society explains:
“In today’s world, where stress often thrives in the midst of conflict, tension, and division, we believe that love is the universal force capable of shifting the narrative. By choosing love as our starting point, we embrace empathy, prioritise understanding, and create positive change in every interaction.”
Embrace leading with love for Stress Awareness Month 2025
They advise that people can embody the theme of Stress Awareness Month 2025 in many ways, such as:
- Practicing acts of love: extending small gestures of kindness to others, such as holding the door open for someone or actively listening to someone’s worries, can make a big impact. You can also offer support to global communities or volunteer with charities
- Supporting self-love: take some time for self-care and show yourself the same kindness you would extend to others
- Accessing free resources: the Stress Management Society provides guidance on stress management, improving mental health and how to lead with love in your daily life
- Share your journey: Join in the conversation using #LeadWithLove on social media to share your acts of kindness and moments of connection, and help to inspire others
- Book a #LeadWithLove Session: organisations that learn about proactive measures to boost workplace wellbeing by booking a #LeadWithLove information session
The Stress Management Society suggests that “even the smallest acts of love can spark powerful waves of positivity that ripple outward.”
Take part in Stress Awareness Month 2025
As noted above, they provide a range of resources, including an information pack, tips and techniques to manage stress and improve your wellbeing, to support people and organisations participating in Stress Awareness Month.
For 2025, the Stress Management Society have also produced a Stress Awareness Month campaign video to provide more information and help people embracing leading with love.
Other ways in which people are encouraged to take part in Stress Awareness Month, and to help tackle stress year-round, include:
- Talk about stress and its effects to help reduce the stigma associated with stress and poor mental health
- Share coping mechanisms you have found useful which may benefit others
- Be kind to those who are experiencing stress and anxiety
- Look after yourself – take time to relax or do something you enjoy and try to eat well and remain active even when you are feeling particularly stressed
- Learn how to say no to requests that are too much for you and will lead to you becoming overwhelmed and unwell
Tackling stress and boosting mental health
Mental Health UK also provide advice and guidance about managing your health and wellbeing to help reduce stress levels, with advice relating to work-life balance, alcohol, exercise, body image worries, burnout, sleep and smoking.
The Stress Management Society offers a Corporate Stress Test and sets out a range of workplace wellbeing solutions.
Some signs of stress include, but are not limited to:
- Feeling irritable, aggressive, anxious, nervous or afraid
- Being unable to enjoy yourself
- Worrying constantly
- Experiencing racing thoughts and being unable to switch off
- Feeling depressed and/or uninterested in life
- Being unable to sit still
- Finding it hard to make decisions or concentrate
- Eating too much or too little
- Smoking or drinking alcohol more than usual
- Biting your nails or picking at your skin
- Being tearful or crying
Mind recommends working on building up your emotional resilience in order to better manage stress. They suggest:
- Making key lifestyle changes such as adopting a better work/life balance; making time for friends, interests and hobbies; using simple relaxation techniques such as walking or having a bath, and; practice being more straightforward and assertive in your communications with others to avoid them placing unreasonable demands on you.
- Protecting your physical health by being physically active, eating healthily and getting enough sleep.
- Be kind to yourself and give yourself a break. This could mean taking an actual break or holiday or just getting a change of scenery. You should also try to reward yourself for achievements, forgive yourself for mistakes and work to try and resolve any conflicts with friends, family or colleagues.
- Build up your support network by reaching out to friends and family or to your line manager or HR contact at work, speaking to your GP, accessing peer support or looking up specialist websites or support organisations.
There are further treatments for stress if it is severely impacting your quality of life. Always speak to your GP if you are struggling and need support.
Learning and development solutions for tackling stress
First Response Training (FRT) is a leading national training provider delivering courses in subjects such as health and safety, first aid, fire safety, manual handling, food safety, mental health, health and social care and more.
An accredited Mindful Employer themselves, FRT’s specialist mental health training courses include Understanding Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace, Managing Stress, Anxiety and Phobias Awareness, Self-Harm Awareness and Suicide Awareness.
They can also provide qualified, approved trainers to deliver accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training courses, including the Adult, Youth and Lite versions.
A trainer from FRT says:
“While stress is not recognised as a diagnosable mental health condition, it can lead to more serious mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, and can also have physiological effects.
“It’s important to recognise the severity of stress and to learn proactive and positive ways for managing, minimising and preventing stress, both in the workplace and in our personal lives.
“We think the #LeadWithLove campaign is great for highlighting the importance of kindness and compassion – for ourselves as well as others – in tackling stress and improving mental health and wellbeing.”
Resources for Stress Awareness Month
A brief summary of our mental health training can now be downloaded as an infographic.
We also have a number of other free infographics available to download which provide simple tips for helping to manage your mental and emotional wellbeing and proactively manage your stress levels. These include:
- Managing Stress at Work
- Manage Your Stress at Work
- Manage Your Stress
- Support Your Mental Health
- Connect With Nature
- Work Well From Home
You can also download our free Guide to Mental Health Training from our website.
For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.