Britons face health risks by ignoring signs of stress

The majority of Britons do nothing to combat stress, opting instead simply to live with it.

A poll shows that while half of respondents said they felt stressed at least once a week and one in five every day, nearly two-thirds admitted they would not take any steps to deal with stress, according to the survey published yesterday by the Mental Health Foundation.

Spending time alone was the approach chosen by 30 per cent of respondents, while the next most common method of tackling stress was to eat comfort food. However, the foundation suggests that sufferers should actively manage stress by remaining sociable and talking about their problems, eating healthily and practising mindfulness - a combination of meditation, yoga and breathing techniques - to counter the related risk of suffering depression or physical health problems.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the foundation, said: "Unmanaged stress can additionally develop into mental health problems, such as depression, as well as increasing the risk of physical problems, such as heart disease."