This month is Stress Awareness Month. Everyone will get stressed or anxious at some point in their lives.

You may be anxious about starting a new job, feel stressed and overwhelmed with your current workload, or about sitting exams.

With the current cost of living crisis and all the bad news stories from across the world, feeling stressed can be a completely normal reaction to a difficult or challenging situation.

Being diagnosed with epilepsy can also trigger all kinds of emotions including stress and anxiety.

It can take some time to process information and get your head around what epilepsy might mean for you.

Unfortunately, for some people stress and anxiety can be a seizure trigger. This makes it even more important to try and minimise your stress levels in your life.

Be more active

Improving your physical wellbeing has a direct impact on your mental health.

Exercising can make you feel more positive and less anxious. It can also alter the chemical balance in the brain to help counter the effects of stress.

Even just taking yourself on a walk around your neighbourhood for half an hour can give you a much-needed mental health boost.

This is something that has certainly helped me whenever I am feeling stressed or anxious.

Before you take up any new activity, check with your epilepsy nurse to make sure this activity is safe for you.

Connect with nature

Get yourself out into nature. Even a stroll around your local park can be a great stress buster.

Research shows that being in nature can improve both our physical and mental health.

It lowers tension in your body and decreases stress hormones, improving your emotional wellbeing and making you more prepared to tackle some of the challenges that come your way.

Learn relaxation techniques

Breathing techniques, meditation or yoga can give you the tools to manage your stress.

It works best if you incorporate relaxation techniques into your daily life once you found something that works for you.

There are lots of resources about breathing techniques online. Check out local yoga or meditation classes, some of them are also offered online.

Connect with people

It is not always easy to open up to others and talk about what it’s like living with epilepsy.

Find someone you trust and start talking, you might feel more able to cope if you can verbalise what is going on for you.

Even just meeting up with someone for a coffee and a general chat might make you feel less alone and less stressed.

Some people also find it helpful to reach out and connect with others who live with epilepsy.

This could be via an online support group such as our private Epilepsy Scotland Support group on Facebook, or our monthly online support group on Zoom

You can also contact our confidential helpline on 0808 800 2200 if you need someone to talk to. Our friendly helpline officers are here for you and great at listening.

Focus on what you can change

Try not to get stressed about a situation which you cannot change. For example, you may be getting stressed about what people might think if you have a seizure in public.

You cannot control what other people think about you.

Try and identify what makes you feel anxious, stressed or upset. Ask yourself, is this something I can change? If not, try and let it go.

Once you accept that there is nothing you can do about a situation, this may change the way you feel about it.

You can find out more about how to manage your stress and anxiety by reading our factsheet.

If you feel that stress is getting the better of you, always speak to your GP or epilepsy specialist nurse.