The World Health Organisation has described stress as ‘the health epidemic of the 21st century’. In this programme Fiona Phillips wants to understand why we are experiencing increased amounts of stress in our lives and what actions we can take in order to reduce it.

Fiona speaks openly about her own experience of stress and her desire to find better coping mechanisms in the hope of improving her health and happiness. A key question driving Fiona’s discovery is whether or not some types of stress might actually be good for us and drive us towards better performance and confidence at work and a healthier approach to the pressure and stress we might face at home. Fiona investigates this latest scientific thinking and learns how to turn stress into a weapon rather than a woe, simply by changing the way we perceive it. We reveal exciting new research about stress that could help us to lose weight – particularly those suffering from diabetes or obesity.

Alongside a team of experts and a number of willing volunteers, Fiona puts herself on the front line and in a number of high-stress situations to truly understand the meaning and power of stress, and find out if we can actually learn how to use it to our advantage.

Fiona explores some of the very latest scientific research behind stress and demonstrates a number of techniques and lifestyle changes which are designed to keep our high stress levels in check.