The Health Hazard: Take Control, Restore Wellbeing and Optimise Impact by Alison Coughlan is a wonderful self-help guidebook for those who most need it but who never get help. Those who are helping us all, health and social workers. We are all indebted to them (be it in times of COVID-19 or anytime) and feel grateful for their generosity and professionalism. However, who thinks about their well-being and their needs? This book explores burnout and its effects as well as practical tools to overcome it. It is very easy to follow in spite of the complexity of the issues involved. It helps us on our way to improving our professional and personal lives (as they are intertwined). I found the planning tools extremely useful.

The Health Hazard: Take Control, Restore Wellbeing and Optimise Impact by Alison Coughlan is a comprehensive guide that is bound to help so many carers. As a teacher and as the mother of an emergency ward nurse, I can relate to their difficulties and am most interested in ways to help my son. This book is actually of great help to me who cannot stop working for others and forget about my own needs too. I loved that it was illustrated with so many anecdotes, stories that are fictional but so telling! I believe this is a must-have for health and social workers. Thank you so much for sharing such a special and refreshing book that focuses not only on our mindset but also on so many other topics!

Alison Coughlan’s The Health Hazard is a story about surviving and recovering from mental and emotional stress in the social and health sectors. She begins with her own story and explains how she went from “running the hamster wheel” to living the life of her dreams. The author discusses in depth how work stress can turn into “burnout” when it is not properly recognized and managed. She calls her readers to action, no matter where they are in their own home and life cycles, to take some time for self-care, as the benefits of doing so outweigh the negative consequences.

I believe most readers will find themselves in one of Alison Coughlan’s examples, even if they haven’t worked in public health. Through a series of relatable examples, the author outlines the instances in which individuals are depleting themselves and the ways they can improve their lives through self-care. The suggestions in the book seem like things we already know to do, but certain individuals need the practices discussed in The Health Hazard to remind themselves to make self-care part of their daily routines. There are also practices in the book that seem like self-motivated therapy, and charts and questions that make you more aware of your time and where it may be better spent.

I recommend the book to all adult readers, especially those who work in the health, business, and social service fields. Even if readers are not involved in the sectors I mentioned, though, the book may apply to them, as it covers a range of distinguishable situations that may be applicable to adults who are struggling in society or situations where perfection and/or the push to wear multiple hats is stressed.

If the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us anything, it's how important and irreplaceable the people working at the frontlines of the health and social sectors are. But they are also human, prone to stress, anxiety, and fatigue, especially in the never-ending high-pressure situations they have found themselves in during the last couple of years. With The Health Hazard, Alison Coughlan, a noted speaker, author, and mentor, seeks to help frontline workers deal with the everyday pressure situations of their jobs and avoid burnout amongst people involved in purpose-driven work. Drawing from her over twenty-five years of experience in the health and social sectors, Alison offers a step-by-step guide to help readers create a rock-solid plan that helps them get where they need and deserve to be. This includes developing insight, creating an enabling mindset, and building your energy reserves.

For all those courageous frontline workers who risked their own lives during the global pandemic, The Health Hazard is a must-read. Author Alison Coughlan provides an accessible, well-researched, and in-depth guide aimed at helping people build their resistance against fatigue and eventual job burnout. Mental health care awareness has gained momentum these past few years. Alison started her career as an immunology researcher, and in this book, she uses her area of expertise and knowledge she gained over the past decades to help people cope with health issues. In any high-pressure work environment, it is easy to lose yourself to your job and forget to care about yourself. This is why books like The Health Hazard are becoming increasingly relevant. Highly recommended.