We all need some pressure in our lives – it makes our work satisfying and helps us meet deadlines. But, it’s all about striking the right balance. Too much pressure without having the chance to recover, causes stress that can be damaging to our health and lead to major illnesses.

Causes of workplace stress

There are a number of factors that can make you feel stressed at work. Some of them are listed below:

• Poor working conditions
• Long working hours
• Lack of job security
• Difficult commute to and from work
• Improper/poor management of the company.
• Mismatch between the requirements of the job and your own capabilities and needs
• Too much or too little responsibility
• Lack of a clear job description or chain of command
• Temporary work and fixed-term contracts
• No recognition or reward for good performance
• No opportunity to voice complaints
• No opportunity to use personal talents or abilities
• Inadequate time to complete tasks to personal or company standards
• Relationships with colleagues: harassment or bullying, prejudice or abuse regarding age, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity or religion

Other causes such as depression, divorce, family quarrels, broken home, illness of loved one, pregnancy, miscarriage and other very personal factors affect a person’s ability to perform as per expectations.

How stress affects us

Firm lines of demarcation between work and personal issues have dissipated. What goes on personally affects our work. What goes on at work affects our personal life. According to a study conducted in the United Kingdom, nearly one-third of working men say that the demands of their job interfere with their private life and nearly a quarter feel that their work has caused them to neglect their children. Thus, work stress causes issues not only at the workplace but at home too.

There are three ways in which stress affects us – behaviour-wise, physiologically and psychologically.

Behavioural symptoms

• Becoming irritable/aggressive, withdrawn and showing signs of social isolation
• Changes in eating habits and addiction.
• Poor timekeeping/reduced performance and inability to concentrate
• Erosion of self-confidence
• Inability to cope with family/domestic roles
• Neglecting personal appearance

Physiological symptoms

• Headaches/migraines
• Stomach disorders – indigestion/inflammatory bowel disease
• Raised blood pressure and heart disease
• Decreased immunity/frequent cough and colds/bronchitis
• Changing sleep patterns
• Muscle spasms – back/shoulder/neck pain
• Decreased sexual drive

Psychological symptoms

There is a growing feeling that the workplace is a “threat” – a place that causes anxiety, tension and low self-esteem.

Self-help

It’s impossible to escape pressure at work altogether, so you need to learn how to manage stress effectively. Some ways to reduce the negative impact of stress are given here:

• Try to make time for yourself, away from work, to rejuvenate your mind and body. For example, listen to soothing music or read your favourite book.
• Make time for meditation and yoga.
• Exercise regularly.
• Find time to pursue non-work activities like hobbies and recreational activities.
• Talk to your family and friends. It will help you unwind after work and also unburden your problems.
• Don’t drink too much alcohol or caffeine. Don’t smoke either. These stimulants will only increase stress levels and do you more harm than good.
• Eat regular meals and a healthy, balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Skipping meals will deplete your energy and leave you drained.
• At the end of each day, reflect on what you’ve achieved rather than worrying about the future. Don’t be too hard on yourself and remember to take each day as it comes.
• Learn to say no. If you are deliberately asked to take extra work on board, or to stay in the office after your colleagues have left, take the courage to decline.
• Take breaks at work. Don’t stay glued to the job – take a few minutes to sit back and relax, or take a brisk walk during your break.
• Plan your work. Sit down and establish what needs to be done. If you have an excessive workload, delegate it if possible. Set realistic deadlines for yourself.
• Make sure your work environment is comfortable. If it isn’t, ask for help from your organisation’s health and safety officer.
• If possible, don’t work for long hours – some projects need extra time, but working long hours over many weeks or months does not generally lead to more or better results.
• Take a look at your relationships with colleagues – do you treat each other with respect and consideration?
• Find out if your organisation offers flexible working hours.
• If all else fails, have a serious talk with your immediate manager, or think about changing your job.

It is in everyone’s interest to keep the workplace as stress-free as possible, and generally, organisations want to keep their employees happy and healthy. If companies have good work-life policies, employees are likely to be healthier and happier, and so, less likely to take time off work or think about quitting/switching jobs.

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What is Stress?

Stress is the body’s reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment. Stress is the adverse reaction people have in response to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them. Stress is a normal part of life. We can’t avoid it. At one point or the other, everybody—men, women, children, and even foetuses—suffer from stress. Stress can come from any situation, or thought, that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or anxious. What’s more—what is stressful to one person is not necessarily stressful to another.

It is also important to understand that not all stress is bad. Without a certain amount of stress in our lives, we wouldn’t feel encouraged to try new things, or work on areas of our life that need to change. Therefore, in small quantities, stress is good – it motivates us and helps us be more productive. If you have too little pressure in your life, you will feel tired and bored, and will not have the enthusiasm for the day or for your work. However, excessive stress, or a strong response to stress, is harmful and must be avoided.

Sources of stress

To be able to deal with excessive stress, we must first understand what causes it. Stress can come from outside or from within us.

External Stressors

Environment: Your physical surroundings can set off the stress response. Examples of environmental stressors include: an unsafe neighbourhood, pollution, noise [sirens keeping you up at night, a barking dog next door], and uncomfortable living conditions. For people living in crime-ridden areas or war-torn regions, the stress may be unrelenting.

Family and relationships: Problems with friends, romantic partners, and family members are common stressors. Marital disagreements, dysfunctional relationships, rebellious teens, or caring for a chronically-ill family member or a child with special needs, can all send stress levels skyrocketing.

Work/Profession: In our career-driven society, work can be an ever-present source of stress. Work stress is caused by things such as job dissatisfaction, an exhausting workload, insufficient pay, office politics, and conflicts with your boss or co-workers.

Social pressures: Your social situation too can cause stress. For example, poverty, financial pressures, racial and sexual discrimination or harassment, unemployment, isolation, and a lack of social support all take a toll on daily quality of life.

Internal Stressors

Multiple factors can play a role in increasing stress internally. These include uncertainty or worries, pessimistic attitude, unrealistic expectations, and low self-esteem. If you are a constant perfectionist, stress will keep nagging you. An excessively angry disposition will keep adding stress. Not being able to assert yourself could also be stressful.

Common features of stress

In some people, stress-induced adverse feelings and anxieties tend to persist and intensify. Scary enough, research suggests 70 to 90 per cent of adults visit primary care physicians for stress-related problems.

Chronic or persistent stress can present, physically, as:? Headaches, dizziness, blurred vision

• Aching neck, backaches
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Ulcers
• Infertility in women, impotency in men, loss of sexual desire in both sexes
• Allergies
• Insomnia
• Frequent cold – asthma, bronchitis
• Premature aging
• Fatigue
• Diseases such as hypertension, asthma, diabetes, heart ailments and even cancer.

Mentally, it can present as:

• Constant irritability with people
• Difficulty in making decisions
• Feeling of being a failure
• Loss of interest in life and people
• Difficulty in concentrating
• Feeling neglected or lonely
• Constant or recurrent fear of disease
• Dread of future
• Self hatred, guilt, feeling of ugliness
• Feeling of unable to cope
• Difficulty in letting go and laughing
• A feeling of having failed as a parent or partner
• A feeling of having no one to whom you can really confide
• The inability to finish one task properly before having to rush onto the next

The dynamics of stress

In a challenging situation, the brain prepares the body for defensive action – the “fight or flight response” by releasing stress hormones namely, cortisone and adrenaline. These hormones raise the blood pressure and the body prepares to react to the situation.

Fight Response

With a concrete defensive action, the stress hormones in the blood get used up, entailing reduced stress effects and symptoms of anxiety.

Flight Response

When we fail to counter a stress situation, the hormones and chemicals remain unreleased in the blood stream for a long period of time. Subsequently, it compels the mind and body to be in an almost constant alarm-state in preparation to fight or flee. This state of accumulated stress can increase the risk of both acute and chronic psychosomatic illnesses and weaken the immune system of the human body.

Relaxation response

Just as the body has an automatic process to prepare it for a “flight or fight” situation, it can also go into what is called the “relaxation response”. This stage of low arousal is less known than the body’s red alert status, and it initially takes a conscious effort in order to experience it. During relaxation, our blood pressure is lowered, breathing becomes regular and the metabolic rate decreases. All these things allow the body to recover from the strains placed on it by everyday life. A prolonged period of relaxation also increases the body’s secretion of particular mood-altering chemicals, which lead to feelings of happiness and contentment.

Research has suggested that the most significant and sensible way to relax is a change in lifestyle. However, there are some alternative methods which can help in relaxation response.

Deep breathing

Breathing is a necessity of life that most people take for granted. People who are at ease with themselves and the world breathe slowly, deeply and rhythmically. When we become stressed our breathing gets shallower and accelerates erratically. Improper breathing contributes to anxiety, panic attacks, depression, muscle tension, headaches, and fatigue. Therefore, breathing awareness and good breathing habits will enhance your psychological and physical wellbeing.

Meditation

Meditation is a very simple way of lightening the mind, forgetting about everyday stresses and concentrating solely on mental relaxation. It is the practice of uncritically attempting to focus your attention on one thing at a time. Often the meditator repeats, either aloud or silently, a syllable, word, or group of words. This is known as mantra meditation. Gazing at a fixed object such as a flame or flower can also anchor attention.

Guided imagery

Guided imagery is the use of relaxation and mental visualisation to improve mood and/or physical wellbeing. It is simply the use of one’s imagination to promote mental and physical health. It can be self-directed, where the individual puts himself into a relaxed state and creates his own images, or directed by others. When directed by others, an individual listens to a therapist, audio-taped exercise or watches a video that leads him through a relaxation and imagery exercise. Some therapists also use guided imagery in group settings.

Physical exercises

Exercise is the simplest and most effective means of stress reduction.[We cover the psychological benefits of exercise in Exercise to lower stress.]

Various natural and alternative methods

Yoga, Homoeopathy, Aromatherapy, Reflexology and Acupuncture, among others, are known to be very effective in dealing with stress. They provide an integrated approach to stress and its management.

Nutrition

Relaxation is virtually impossible if your body isn’t maintained properly. Being overweight or underweight can create serious health problems. Correct diet will promote a general positive feeling and calm.

Hypnotherapy

Hyponotherapy is a valuable means of treating stress-related illnesses. Increasing numbers of medical and mental health professionals now use hypnosis to overcome the pain of chronic headaches, backaches, childbirth, cancer, severe burns, dental phobias, and more.

Personal growth techniques

Living positively is a wonderful way to live. There have been numerous studies done which prove the link between good health and positivity.

Massage

The aim of massage is to relieve muscular tension, to alleviate fatigue and revive energy. Many of the benefits of massage come through the healer-patient contact. A practised masseur is able to use his or her hands to communicate feelings of harmony and relaxation. The actions of massage – stroking, kneading and pulling — detoxify the body, improving circulation and lymphatic drainage.

Psychotherapy

If you have difficulty reducing the stress in your life, seek professional help. Many people find psychotherapy a very useful and rewarding therapy. Some people feel that simply talking to complete strangers, in fact, therapeutic.

Persistence Pays

Stress management is the need of the hour. However hard we try to go beyond a stress situation, life seems to find new ways of stressing us out and plaguing us with anxiety. Be it our mind-body exhaustion or our erring attitudes, we tend to overlook causes of stress and the conditions triggered by them. In such unsettling moments, we often forget that stressors, if not escapable, are fairly manageable and treatable. One just can’t wish away a situation. Moreover, one has to live through these situations in the right spirit, to make living a worthwhile experience. Don’t give up. Your ability to relax, learn to handle stress, and heal yourself, is tremendous. Change might not always come easy — you may feel stuck in your stressful habits – but you can do it. All it takes is patience, persistence.and time.

— with additional inputs from RAHUL Baji

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