To support Samaritans’ ‘Stress Down Day’ on 1 February, employees across the UK will be turning off their email and wearing their slippers to work.

Shockingly, over 80 per cent of workers said they would rather phone in sick with flu or another problem than admit they were stressed; a sign that the problem is poorly understood and managed.

A third of UK workers cannot even get to sleep at night through anxiety, whilst three-quarters cannot ‘switch off’ when they leave their office. The cost of all this stress is estimated at £3.7 billion per year.

Samaritans’ ambassador Graham Norton said: “I did work with a nightmare boss once who everyone hated, but the frightening moment now is when you realise ‘oh my gosh, I am the boss! I am the one they go home and complain about!’

“It is very important that there is a service like Samaritans out there, somebody people can turn to when things are really bleak and can’t manage to put things in perspective for themselves. It’s fantastic that no matter what time of day or night it is, there is someone to bounce off and assure you that this stressful time will pass.”

Royal Mail, BUPA, Dorset Cereals, Neal’s Yard Remedies, Motorola, Taylor’s of Harrogate, Topshop, First Direct, Lloyd’s of London, Trader Media Group, RBC Dexia, Royal London, Allianz Insurance and WPA are supporting the event and allowing employees to wear slippers, sell detox smoothies, sponsor colleagues to turn off emails for a couple of hours and create a chill out zone.

For further information go to www.stressdownday.org