Recognise triggers

You may work in a variety of settings including private homes, day centres and residential facilities. It is important that you are aware of the situations you may find yourself in and the behaviours and incidents you may need to deal with on a regular basis.

You also need to be aware of which situations or aspects of your role you find stressful; that is, that trigger a stress response from you. Remember, we are not all the same and our reactions are unique to us, so, one person may find dealing with a person who is depressed highly stressful, but have no problem working in a time-pressured environment.

By recognising when you feel stressed, you can work backwards to identify the trigger – what was it that happened before you began to feel stressed? For example, you may be feeling uptight and edgy, and when you go back over your day, you may remember that a person you regularly support was behaving in an unusually aggressive way. This may be the trigger that caused your stress response.

Keeping a stress diary can also help to identify triggers. Make notes in a diary, for a week or a month, and each time you feel stressed write this down and work back to identify the trigger. In most cases, there will be a theme.

By recognising triggers, you can better manage your stress responses.