Dealing with stress

My name‿ is Peter. For three years‿ I had chronic stress│ an(d) never used the word,│ because‿ in my country it‿ is treated‿ as‿ a personal failing rather than‿ a condition‿ of work,│ an(d) there‿ is‿ a social cos(t) to saying‿ otherwise.

My coping mechanism was to work harder,│ which‿ is symptomatic rather than therapeutic. I slep(t) badly,│ los(t) weight‿ an(d) began making‿ errors that were‿ entirely out of^outta character. What precipitated the change was not‿ a decision but‿ a collapse,│ an(d) the diagnosis my doctor gave me was not‿ a surprise so much‿ as‿ a relief. What‿ I had been describing‿ as weakness was‿ a workload that was‿ untenable,│ an(d) the fact│ that my colleagues were‿ experiencing the same thing‿ an(d) saying nothing should tell you how useful the wor(d) stress has become.

Since then‿ I have set boundaries│ that I^{thad I} do not renegotiate,│ and‿ I have stopped treating resilience‿ as the capacity to absorb‿ unlimited pressure. Resilience‿ is the ability to notice the warning signs‿ early,│ and‿ it‿ is not‿ a substitute for‿ a sustainable workload. Burnout‿ is not cured by a holiday;│ a fortnight‿ off restores the symptoms to their previous state within‿ a month. If we normalised the conversation,│ fewer people would‿ arrive‿ at‿ a doctor's surgery pretending‿ everything‿ is fine,│ an(d) more‿ employers would discover that the problem was never‿ attitude.