Help with stress and burnout: how Wobble works, and the other UK routes

What is the difference between stress and burnout?

Stress is the body's reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure, and burnout is the physical, mental and emotional exhaustion that long-term or severe stress can lead to. Both descriptions are the NHS's own. A little stress can help you get things done. The NHS lists the signs that it has gone further: headaches, muscle tension, stomach problems, trouble concentrating or making decisions, feeling overwhelmed, worrying constantly, sleeping or eating too much or too little, snapping at people, drinking or smoking more. Work, money, family and health are common causes, and sometimes there is no obvious cause at all.

ACAS, the workplace advice service, points out that stress is not classed as a medical condition but can still be serious, and that stress over a long time might lead to anxiety or depression. You do not have to decide which word fits before asking for help. Every route on this page starts the same way: you describe what is happening and how long it has been going on.

Where can I get NHS help for stress or burnout?

NHS help for stress or burnout starts with your GP or, in England, with NHS Talking Therapies, which you can refer yourself to without seeing a GP. The NHS says to see a GP if you are struggling to cope with stress, if the things you are trying yourself are not helping, or if you have symptoms you are worried about. NHS Talking Therapies says it may be able to help with stress; you can refer yourself online if you live in England and are 18 or over, or 16 or over in some areas, and you do not need a diagnosis. Outside England, start with your GP.

If you need help urgently but it is not an emergency, call NHS 111 or ask for an urgent GP appointment. If you or someone else needs help immediately, call 999 or go to A&E.

Can I get signed off work with stress?

Yes: if stress means you cannot work, a GP or another healthcare professional can assess you and give you a fit note, and for the first seven days off you do not need one at all. For seven days or fewer you self-certify, which means confirming to your employer that you were off sick in whatever way they ask. After more than seven days in a row, counting weekends and bank holidays, you give your employer a fit note. A GP, hospital doctor, registered nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist or physiotherapist can issue one, and it is free once you have been ill for more than seven days.

A fit note says either that you are not fit for work, or that you may be fit for work with changes such as different hours or tasks, which your employer should then discuss with you. If you cannot agree the changes, you are treated as not fit for work. A Wobble therapist cannot give you a fit note; if they think time off or a GP appointment would help, they will say so in your video.

Where can I get help with stress at work or money worries?

For stress at work, check what your employer offers and call ACAS for free advice on the work problem itself; for money worries, Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper give free advice on debt and bills.

• Your employer. Some offer counselling through an employee assistance programme, and some use occupational health, a medical service that advises on support such as adjustments or a return after time off. Ask HR, or your trade union if you are in one.
• ACAS. Free, confidential advice on work problems and employment rights, for workers and employers, on 0300 123 1100, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Your phone provider may charge for the call.
• Citizens Advice. Free, confidential advice online, by phone and in person, including on debt, bills and the cost of living.
• MoneyHelper. Free, impartial guidance backed by government, with a locator that finds free debt advice services across the UK.
• Mind. The Mind Infoline, 0300 123 3393, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, answers questions about mental health problems and where to get help near you, in England and Wales.

Employers can also offer Wobble to their staff; the page for employers, linked below, explains how.

Can Wobble help with stress at work?

Yes, if you are struggling but not in crisis: you describe the stress in your own words, and a qualified, registered UK therapist records you a personal video, usually within hours, with what they understood, practical guidance and one clear next step. Wobble is the paid option on this page. A Wobble will not change your workload, settle a problem with your employer or clear a debt; HR, ACAS, Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper are for those. What a Wobble gives you is a qualified therapist's view on how the stress is affecting you and what to do about it, with no appointment, no waiting list and nothing to commit to.

The therapists are registered with a UK professional body (BACP, NCPS, UKCP or BABCP) or a statutory regulator such as the HCPC, insured and based in the UK, and never an AI. Wobble checks their documents, every therapist passes structured training and a scored clinical audition before a real Wobble, and Wobble's clinical lead, James Penney, NCPS Accredited Psychotherapeutic Counsellor, reviews live Wobbles and responses on an ongoing basis.

What does a Wobble about stress look like?

A Wobble about stress is your answers to seven short questions, one at a time, and a personal video back from a qualified UK therapist, five to seven minutes long. The questions ask for:

1. What is on your mind: the deadline, the inbox, the bill you have not opened.
2. How it is affecting your day to day: sleep, focus, energy, snapping at people.
3. One moment in the last week when it felt hardest.
4. What you are putting off or avoiding because of it.
5. The thought underneath, in your own words, such as "I cannot keep up".
6. What you usually do to cope when it hits hardest.
7. What you would most like help with.

You can add anything else in writing or as a voice note. The therapist works from what you sent, so the video is about your situation: what they understood, practical guidance on the stress as you described it, and one clear next step. Where it would help, they also point you to your GP, NHS Talking Therapies or ongoing therapy. Therapists do not diagnose.

Can I use Wobble regularly through a hard stretch?

Yes, and a hard stretch is what regular use suits: a Wobble a week or a fortnight, each one a check-in with a qualified therapist about where things stand now and one next step. A busy season at work, the weeks after time off, months of money worries: stress like that can run for weeks, and the support can run alongside it. The plans are priced for it: two Wobbles a month for £19.99, or four for £34.99, which is £8.75 each. Wobble sits before therapy or alongside it, including while you wait for NHS Talking Therapies to start, and if your therapist thinks ongoing therapy would help you more, they will say so.

What is Wobble not for?

Wobble is not for a crisis, and it is not for people who need to sit with a therapist for an hour at a time. A Wobble is also not the right tool for:

• A crisis or an emergency. Wobble is not a crisis service: call 999 or go to A&E, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option, or call Samaritans on 116 123.
• Live, ongoing work with the same therapist. Weekly therapy, on the NHS or privately, is the route for that, and Wobble can sit alongside it.
• A diagnosis or a fit note. Those come from your GP or another healthcare professional.
• Physical symptoms you are worried about, such as chest pain. The NHS says to see a GP.
• Employment, legal or debt advice. ACAS, Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper give that for free.