Are stress and mental illness linked?

The effect of mental illness on stress

If you have a mental illness this may lead to stress. This could be because you:

have to give up work because you are unwell,

spend too much money when you were unwell and get into debt,

are discharged from mental health services but dont feel ready,

dont get on well with your doctor, care coordinator, or anyone else involved in your care,

are worried about how long it will take you to recover from your illness, or

are worried about side effects if you are taking medication.

The effect of stress on mental illness

If you have a mental health condition stress can make the symptoms of your illness
worse. This can make it more likely that you will become unwell.

Stress is not an illness itself, but it can lead to you becoming unwell. For example, if
stress lasts for a long time it can lead to anxiety and depression. Experiencing a very
stressful or traumatic event could cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in
some cases.

Many people use alcohol or drugs to relax and forget about their problems or cope with
stress. However, using alcohol or drugs in this way is only a short term solution. It can
make your mental health a lot worse in the long run.
Physical Wellbeing
Mental health can be defined as:

A state of physical, social and mental well being (Mentality, 2004)

Mind and body are inseparable and our physical health is very important for our overall
sense of wellbeing. Our mental health can be affected by our physical health and vice versa
and this is why it is vital that we take a holistic approach to recovery.

There are many ways we can all promote and protect our physical and mental health:

Diet

Eating regular and balanced meals is important for physical health. Eating well need not be
too expensive. Information about healthy eating can be found at 'Weight Wise'. This site
provides information and practical advice about how to monitor what you eat and how to
eat healthily.

Also check out recent research linking food and mood at this site.

This document - Healthy Eating and Depression - is also a valuable source of information
about diet and its effects on mental health.

Exercise

Exercising regularly has a huge impact on physical health. Not many people know however,
that exercise can also benefit your mental health:

Exercise boosts the release of endorphins in your brain promoting feelings of well
being and reducing stress
The effect of exercise on our mood is instant
Exercise is fun and provides a diversion from negative thinking
Exercise provides an important source of social contact and is an easy way to meet
new friends
Exercise can promote a good nights sleep
 Exercising can be free!

The Mental Health Foundation also produces this helpful guide.

In addition, complementary therapies also have ideas which some might wish to investigate.

In both Cambridge and Peterborough there are a range of opportunities for physical activity.

Cambridge | Peterborough | Huntingdon

There are many aspects of physical wellbeing that are general to the whole of
Cambridgeshire.

Alcohol

Drink Sense
We operate a walk-in service where you can call in and see us without making an
appointment. Please contact the office to find out when this service is available. We are
currently unable to accept referrals via e-mail, or to enter into a dialogue on e-mail.

Smoking

If you are interested in stopping smoking there is expert help locally at

Camquit - the Cambridgeshire Stop Smoking Service. They are at The Mill
House, Brookfield 's Hospital, 351 Mill Road, Cambridge, CB1 3DF, (0800 018
4304 option 3); The Oak Tree Centre, Oak Drive, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE29
7HN (0800 018 4304 Option 4) and Unit 16 E Space North, 181 Wisbech
Road, Littleport, Cambs, CB6 1RA (0800 018 4304 Option 2) and also we
have an extended hours service on 0800 018 4304 Option 1.

Drugs

Talk To Frank
Website: www.talktofrank.com
Telephone : 0800 77 66 00 (24hrs)
Textphone: 0800 917 8765
Offers advice and information about drugs. You can call 24 hrs a day, every
day - calls from landlines are free and will not show up on your phone bill.

Addaction
Mill House
Brookfields Hospital Site
351 Mill Road, Cambridge CB1 3DF
Telephone: 01223 723020
Email: a.whitton@addaction.org.uk
Website: www.addaction.org.uk
The service offers a range of support services for adults with substance
misuse issues, including advice and information, needle exchange, open
access services (including complementary therapies), prescribing services,
group work, counselling support and one-to-one dedicated key work support.

Sleep

When we are worried, stressed or even elated our sleep can be affected.
Being deprived of sleep can have a negative impact on our wellbeing and
hence our ability to function in everyday life.

MIND - promoting rest and sleep

Health Checks
 If you are a service user of Cambridge & Peterborough Foundation NHS Trust
then you will receive a Physical Health Assessment on admission or will be
supported in accessing suitable health checks via your GP or other primary
care or community based services. The Trust promote the use of the Rethink
Physical Health Check, a tool designed to help you identify any physical health
needs that you might have, see the following link.

The Trust promote the use of the Rethink Physical Health Check, a tool
designed to help you identify any physical health needs that you might have,
see the following links - Rethink document and CPMHT Guidelines.

If you are a mental health practitioner and need guidance on supporting

people with their physical health needs see the following link.

Medication
Medication can be a vital part of treatment for many people with mental health problems. If
taken regularly medication can work well, often in conjunction with other therapies, to help
people live the kinds of lives that they want to lead. Unfortunately many medicines for
mental health problems have side effects that can affect peoples lives and so it is important
that people are fully informed and educated about their medication so that they can manage
their own medicines and find the ones that are best for them.

Find more information here in this document, from Fulbourn Hospital Pharmacy Department,
provides some questions you might want to ask to make sure that you are fully informed
about your medication.

The following website - Choice and Medication - offering information about medications used
in the mental health setting to help people make informed decisions about treatment.
Launched in 2008 the website is the result of a successful collaboration between the United
Kingdom Psychiatric Pharmacy Group (UKPPG), the Pharmaceutical Schizophrenia Initiative
(PSI) and the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE).

Travel management is a specialized business function that balances employee needs with corporate goals, financial
and otherwise. Travel management ensures cost tracking and control, facilitates adherence to corporate travel
policies, realizes savings through negotiated discounts, and serves as a valuable information center for employees
and managers in times when travel is not as smooth and carefree as it used to be.

https://www.gbta.org/usa/About/Pages/TheValueofTravelManagement.aspx
CHAPTER 25: EXPENSE ACCOUNT

Expense Account
Expenses are the costs incurred to generate revenues. In other words, a firm records an expense
when it disburses cash or promises to disburse cash for an asset or service used to generate
income. A manufacturer would record an expense when it pays its employees for producing its
products.

Expenses accounts are equity accounts with a debit balance. Expense accounts are considered
contra equity accounts because their balance decreases the overall equity balance. In other
words, debiting an expense account increases the balance instead of decreasing it like most other
equity accounts.

Expenses are subtracted from revenues to calculate overall equity in the expanded accounting
equation and calculate net income on the income statement.

Examples

There are tons of different expense accounts. Think about how many costs a business incurs to
produce and sell a product. Everything from production costs to selling costs is included in the
main expense account.

Just like revenues, expenses are generally separated into two main categories: operating and non-
operating.

Operating Expenses
Operating expenses include all costs that are incurred to generate operating revenues like
merchandise sales. Here are some examples of common operating expenses.
Rent Businesses that can't afford to purchase a space to operate usually rent a space from
another company. These monthly rental payments are recorded as an expense. Buildings and
floor space aren't the only thing rented, however. Equipment and vehicles are also commonly
rented by businesses.

Wages Employers have to pay their employees to perform operations in the company. Some
employees produce goods while others perform administrative functions like bookkeeping. The
company pays all of these employees for their time and efforts. These payments are recorded as
wages or salary expenses.

Utilities Utilities costs include electricity, water, heat, and even telephone services. These
payments are necessary any business to operate.

Advertising Advertising consists of payments made to another company to promote products

or services. Just about every company advertises their products or services in one way or
another. These payments are recorded as operating expenses because they help sell generate
operating revenues.

Non-operating Expenses
Non-operating expenses include costs that can't be linked back to operating revenues. Interest
expense is the most common non-operating expense.

Interest Expense Interest is the cost of borrowing cash for a period of time. Loans from banks
or bonds usually require regular interest payments to compensate the lender. These payments
don't generate operating income, so they are recorded as a non-operating expense

Expense Accounts
Related Terms: Business Travel; Per-Diem Allowance
Expense accounts, also called expense allowances, are plans under which companies reimburse
employees for business-related expenses. These expenses include travel, entertainment, gifts, and other
expenses related to the employer's business activity. Of particular interest to businesses and their
employees is the tax treatment of business-related expenses, the types of expenses for which employees
will be reimbursed, and the manner in which those reimbursements are made.

For tax purposes a company's expense account plan is either accountable or nonaccountable. An
"accountable" plan must meet the certain requirements of the Internal Revenue Service: there must be a
business connection; expenses must be substantiated (usually through a receipt); and any amount received
by an employee in excess of actual expenses must be returned to the employer. Substantiation means that
the employer must be able to identify the specific nature of each expense and determine that the expense
was business-related. Expenses may not be aggregated into broad categories, and they may not be
reported using vague terminology. If the company's plan is in fact an accountable plan, then all money
received by an employee under the plan is excluded from the employee's gross income. It is not reported
as wages or other compensation, and it is exempt from withholding.

Companies that fail to require employees to substantiate their expenses or allow employees to retain
amounts in excess of substantiated expenses are considered by the IRS to have "nonaccountable" plans.
Funds employees receive under nonaccountable plans are treated as income, subject to withholding, and
such expenses are ductible by the employee only as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. Even then, the
expenses are deductible only if they exceed 2 percent of the employee's adjusted gross income.

The tax laws affecting business-related expenses change at intervals as the IRS revises its regulations
based on its own experience; changes are almost yearly. In 1994, for example, deductions for meal
expenses were reduced from 80 percent to 50 percent. But then, in 2000, the IRS changed restaurant rules
again, requiring receipts for meals only if the meals cost $75 or more; in 2002 the IRS changed per-diem
deduction rules. Changes are also triggered by the passage of new legislation. The corporate scandals
(Enron, WorldCom) have resulted in important legislation, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which
requires much closer tracking and record-keeping by publicly traded corporations. Sarbanes-Oxley is
unlikely to affect most small businesses, but fall-out in the form of tightened record-keeping requirements
or revised per-diem rates permitted by the IRS have to be watched.

For this reason, it is in the best interests of both employer and employee that all affected parties have a
complete understanding of expense accounts and reimbursable expenses. Employees who find that they
are incurring business-related expenses need to determine from their employer exactly what types of
expenses are reimbursable, and companiesespecially small business ownersneed to make sure that
employees do not take advantage of expense account policies with excessive spending on lodging, food,
and entertainmentnever mind fraudulent reporting thereof. In an effort to control spiraling travel and
other business-related expenses, some companies have developed reimbursement policies that spell out in
detail the various travel expenses that qualify for reimbursement.

SPECIFIC EXPENSE ACCOUNT POLICIES FOR

THE SMALL BUSINESS
Small business owners are encouraged to carefully document all business-related expenses, both for tax
purposes and to minimize their exposure to expense account fraud by employees (this type of fraud cost
American businesses an estimated $600 billion in 2002 according to the Association of Certified Fraud
Examiners, up from $400 billion in 1996). Specific steps and policies that should be considered include:

1. Establish strong internal control systems for tracking expense accounts and
activities. These systems include written policies for expense reporting and
reimbursement, including what can and cannot be expensed, regular schedules for
submitting expense account reports, and original documentation requirements
(receipts) for confirmation of expenses.
2. Institute report procedures to verify legitimacy of submitted expenses. Steps
that can be taken in this regard include uniform standards for review of expense
reports, comparisons of year-to-year costs, comparisons of submitted mileage
expenses with actual mileage information for areas traveled (which can be
obtained easily via various Internet travel sites).
3. Establish and maintain careful hiring practices, including comprehensive
background/reference checks, before hiring new employees. Companies that
take the extra effort to find quality employees for their work force are less
vulnerable to fraudulent activity.
4. Be careful not to institute unreasonably stingy policies. Expense accounts, if
left unmonitored, can develop into a significant source of income loss for small
businesses. But owners and managers should also realize that today's
competitive business environment requires many companies to devote
considerable financial resources to entertaining clients and business partners in
order to ensure a stable and positive relationship.

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