Protecting Your Physical Health as a Social Worker

Just as important as protecting your mental health is ensuring that you are meeting your physical health needs as a social worker.

Many physical complaints are caused by stress in the field of social work.  Tense shoulders and neck are some indicators that you might be feeling a lot of stress.  Social workers also might have somatic complaints such as a sore or uneasy stomach which are indicators of internalizing the go-go-go nature of the job and the often lack of control we have.

Sitting at a computer for long periods of time could cause eye strain, headaches, migraines, or carpel tunnel syndrome.  One solution to this problem is to take regular breaks away from your desk.  Also, try and break up the day between paperwork and home visits which will give you more exercise than just sitting at your desk all day and relief if you usually spend days at a time on the road.

Taking regular meal breaks is also important and it might mean saying no to things that can wait until after you have had your lunch.  It's unhealthy for you to skip meals and just live off coffee or pop to get you through the day.  I always suggest to people to have a stash of healthy snacks at the office for when hunger strikes, and to always have something handy in your purse/bag in case you are away from the office for significant periods of time and there is no place to get food.

Getting enough rest to combat physical symptoms of a stressful job is also helpful.  Try not to nap as soon as you get home, even if you are exhausted.  Go to bed an hour or two early if you are truly that tired so that you can sleep through the night.  Try to avoid reading/watching the news before bed or exposing yourself to anything stressful since it will make it hard for you to fall asleep.  If you are a social worker that tends to wake up in the night thinking about things you need to do tomorrow, keep a piece of paper handy by your bed to write down notes so that you can get it off your mind and go back to sleep.  If you have had a particularly upsetting day writing in a journal might be helpful to get your feelings out since holding them in is NEVER a good idea.  And if there are times that you work late into the night or have to get up extra early for work, try to replace the sleep that you lost as soon as possible or else waking up in the morning is going to get really hard in just a short amount of time.

Doing relaxing yoga or attending a gym can also bring about a release of physical tension.  It might help to settle your body and mind after a stressful day of work so that you can spend the evening relaxed.  It can also create additional social opportunities for you.

Lastly, make sure you take off time that is owed to you.  This could include banked overtime hours or vacation time.  The work is always going to be there and there is no perfect time to take a vacation.  Your clients will always be angry that you're "leaving them" and your boss is always going to wonder how all the work is going to get finished while you are away, both will survive.  However, you won't, at least physically. of you don't give yourself occasional breaks from the unrelenting pace of social work.