* Work Career advice: 'I'm really struggling with work stress since being promoted' Work stress is common Work stress is common Credit: Alamy * Louisa Symington-Mills -- about work. How can I turn it around? I’m sorry to hear about the stress you’re experiencing as a result of your new job. Workplace stress can be triggered by many different scenarios including relationships (for example confrontation or bullying), organisational challenges, salary worries, excessive workload and pressure to succeed. Stress occurs when these pressures become overwhelming, and triggers physical and emotional responses such as fatigue, tearfulness, a rapid heartbeat, headaches and loss of appetite, odd aches and pains, amongst others. Many people experience stress at some point during their working life, and it’s one of the leading causes of sick leave in the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics, a total 9.9 million working days were lost due to this condition in 2014/15, whilst stress accounted for 43 per cent of all working days lost due to ill health. Work stress Your office’s use of regular targets to guide and monitor performance is a classic motivational tactic, as you identify. Thanks to our ‘fight or flight’ instinctive reactions, humans are behaviourally adapted to cope with modest levels of stress. Creating deliberate pressure is designed to encourage employees to generate naturally-occurring performance enhancing chemicals such as adrenalin and cortisol, -- work for some people and in moderation, it’s when we experience too much pressure without enough of an opportunity to recover that we can start to experience stress. So although some workplace stress is normal, and indeed can be beneficial to performance, excessive stress can interfere with your productivity and cause your health and wellbeing to deteriorate – particularly when an individual is exposed to excessive stress levels over a prolonged period. When stress at work interferes with your ability to perform in your job, manage your personal life, or adversely impacts your health, it’s time to take action. -- radically improve your sense of mental wellbeing. If you look after yourself – which includes making sure you have a balanced and healthy diet - you’ll become stronger and more resilient to stress. As you begin to feel better, you’ll be better able to manage work stress without becoming overwhelmed. Here are some good strategies to help you to manage your response to stress at work. However, please seek help from your GP or healthcare professional if you’re experiencing emotional or physical symptoms that are stopping you getting on with life; having a big impact on the -- front of the TV may not do the job you hope it will of distracting you from your busy day at work. As I mentioned earlier exercise is a great stress reliever, and of course spending time with friends and family can provide you with a listening ear, and be a boost to your confidence. -- · Talk to your manager. Whilst there is no specific law aimed at dealing with stress at work, employers have a responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act to ensure the welfare of their staff. You’ve been in your role for three months; if you haven’t had a review -- Lastly, don’t forget that your friends and family, social life, hobbies and interests can also be huge boosters to your overall wellbeing, raising your resilience to stressful situations, and providing stability and enjoyment away from work. Take things one step at a time.