Flu season is arriving early. Could the emotional load you're carrying be increasing your susceptibility to winter illnesses?
With news that flu season is arriving earlier than usual in England, attention is understandably turning towards vaccinations, hygiene and protecting yourself and others from infection.
According to the UK Health Security Agency, flu activity during September was higher than during the same period in each of the previous four winter seasons.
But there's another important aspect of winter health that deserves your attention, particularly if you're managing a demanding career, leading a team or juggling responsibilities at home.
The emotional load you're carrying.
When emotional pressure begins to affect your physical health
You might be exceptionally good at keeping everything together.
Meeting deadlines. Managing difficult conversations. Supporting colleagues. Looking after family. Making decisions. Being the person everyone else relies upon.
And somewhere amongst all those responsibilities, you're quietly carrying your own worries, frustrations, anxieties and emotional exhaustion.
You keep delivering. Keep smiling. Keep pushing through.
But your body doesn't necessarily distinguish between the pressure of a demanding working day and the emotional stress you've been carrying for months.
When stress becomes prolonged, your body's stress-response systems remain activated more frequently than they're designed to.
Over time, this can disrupt immune regulation, affect sleep and recovery, and potentially increase your susceptibility to infections.
It's not that stress directly causes colds or flu. But chronic emotional strain can influence how effectively your body responds when exposed to illness.
And that's an important distinction.
What does this mean for employers and leaders?
If you're responsible for people, safeguarding their mental and emotional wellbeing is about considerably more than helping them feel happier at work.
It's also part of creating the conditions for better physical health, resilience and sustainable performance.
Consider the employee who never complains, always says yes, takes on additional responsibilities and rarely takes a break.
From the outside, they may appear to be your most resilient team member.
But beneath that outward competence, they could be carrying an enormous emotional burden.
And because they're still performing, their distress may go completely unnoticed.
High performance doesn't necessarily mean someone is emotionally well.
When employees feel psychologically safe, supported, valued and able to speak openly about pressure without fearing criticism or judgement, they're better positioned to manage stress before it becomes overwhelming.
This means paying attention to workloads, boundaries, communication, workplace relationships and the unspoken expectation that everyone should always be available and coping.
It also means recognising that people bring their whole selves to work, including the emotional pressures they may be experiencing outside it.
Prevention begins before someone becomes unwell
As winter approaches, it's worth considering whether your approach to workplace wellbeing is genuinely preventative or whether support tends to arrive only when someone is already struggling.
Vaccination, infection prevention and appropriate sick leave remain essential. But supporting emotional wellbeing deserves a place alongside these measures.
Because healthier workplaces aren't simply those with fewer sick days.
They're places where people feel sufficiently safe and supported to look after themselves, communicate their needs and perform without continually sacrificing their wellbeing.
So, here's my question to you.
As you prepare for the winter months, how much attention are you giving to the emotional load you're carrying, and the pressures your employees may be silently managing?
Sometimes the most important preventative step is recognising what's happening beneath the surface, long before your body begins asking you to slow down.
How well are you protecting your emotional wellbeing?
You might be taking all the usual precautions to protect your physical health this winter, but how much attention are you giving to what's happening beneath the surface emotionally?
Why not take a few minutes to check in with yourself?
My complimentary Self-Esteem Reality Check Quiz is designed to help you recognise some of the hidden patterns that may be affecting your emotional wellbeing, from self-doubt and overthinking to people-pleasing and the pressure to keep everyone else happy.
It's an opportunity to discover where you may be feeling less emotionally secure than you realise, and where a little extra support could make a meaningful difference.
Because looking after yourself starts with understanding what you need.
Take the quiz today and make this winter the season you begin looking after your emotional wellbeing as carefully as your physical health.
Take Your Complimentary Self-Esteem Reality Check Quiz
And if your results highlight something you'd like to explore further, I'm here to help you take that next step.
Warmly,
Lisa x
Beyond the Therapy Room - Build resilience, confidence & communication to lead through transition & emotional load | Multi-award-winning Executive Psychotherapist & Mentor | Author | Fractional Head of Wellbeing Strategy