STRESS AND HEALTH

STRESS AND HEALTH

INTRODUCTION

Challenge is essential to health, work performance and enjoyment of life for the normal person.  But too much challenge produces stress.  Stress has always been an integral part of our daily life.  Different people experience stress in different ways, for different reasons.

Stress is triggered by different events.  The workplace is one of the greatest causes of stress in our lives.  It’s true that some level of stress is desirable to generate enthusiasm, creativity, and productivity.  But a completely stress-free workplace is almost impossible to achieve.  Stress has been variously defined as:

• a response to challenging events,
• an event that places demands on the individual,
• an environmental characteristic which poses a threat, and
• a realization that individual is unable to deal adequately with the demands placed upon them
• the perceived difference between professional demands and a person’s ability to carry out those demands.

One important part of our lives which causes a great deal of stress is our job or our work.  Research work has shown that the experience of stress in the workplace has undesirable consequences both for the health and safety.  Workloads have increased for those in work.  Over the time “stress” has become a buzzword in modern management thinking.  The most frequently cited consequences of stress at work include high turnover, absenteeism, poor time keeping, irritability, bad temper and lack of communication.  There are some people who experience high levels of stress still continue to turn up for work but the productivity and quality of performance is impaired.

Psychological evidence suggests that a certain amount of stress is helpful – it is even essential – to good performance.  Stress enhances the body’s ability to respond to challenges and enables quicker, stronger and fiercer responses (Grout, 1994).

The challenge therefore is to cope with stress.  Although stress can be challenging and produce positive benefits, it can also be harmful and damaging.  The good news is that stress can be managed.

Not all individuals perceive the same situation as stressful and each individual’s differences they bring along with them in terms of their personality and life experiences will color their response to stress.  When there is a threat in an individual’s life, whether it is physical, emotional, mental or social, the body’s defense system kicks into an action named by physiologist Walter B. Cannon as the ‘‘flight or fight’’ response.

CORRELATION TO HEALTH

There is a proven correlation between stress and poor health.  Statistics indicate that stress is a growing problem and is having an increasingly negative impact on employees without them realizing it.  It affects a person’s health, the ability to work, and also the performance.

It is vital to control and manage stress in a culture which puts more and more pressure on us to succeed.  The first and most important method is to take good care of personal health.  It is vital to maintain a balanced diet.  Moderate exercise should form part of every executive’s routine.  A balance between work and home must be maintained.  Studies have shown that working excessive hours does not correlate with improved work performance.  Most people work well under pressure.  The harm only occurs when they manage it badly.

Small episodes of stress have little risk to the health of a person.  However, when stress is overload the body’s defense system will gradually wear down and the person is left increasingly susceptible to illness.  Emotional stress causes the immunity system to deteriorate, and cells to malfunction and deteriorate more rapidly than normal.

CAUSES OF STRESSES

Stress response is a double-edge sword.  When it is working properly, stress helps people to stay focused, energetic and alert.  Stress also sharpens the concentration while playing a game or keeps people on their toes during a work presentation.  Stress can stop being helpful and may cause damage to health, relationships and productivity.

A beneficial stress, or so called good stress is called Eustress.  The detrimental stress is the one which makes you irritable, dampens your spirit, and shortens your life is called Distress.  Different occupations will have different basic stressors.  However, people working in the same occupation will experience different levels of stress due to personality type and the support mechanisms they have available to them.

Any event or situation that puts a demand on a person is called a stressor.  When confronted with a stressor, an individual can adopt a number of behaviors that may have a positive, negative or neutral effect on physical and emotional well-being.

CONCLUSION

A stress-free environment is almost impossible to have in today’s complex and fast-paced business world.  The key to stress management is taking breaks.  When dealing with chronic stressors, it is important to take a break from whatever it is that is causing the stress.  Stress is becoming a more prevalent issue in our fast-pace society.  The demands of meeting deadlines and larger workloads are put on individuals to increase productivity.  Remember, when employees are healthy and satisfied with their work, productivity will be at the maximum.

 

REFERENCES:

1.         Jeff Grout, (1994),"Executive Stress and How to Survive It", Executive Development, Vol. 7 Iss: 4 pp. 29 - 30

2.         David W. Rees, (1995),"Work-Related Stress in Health Service Employees", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 10 Iss: 3 pp. 4 - 11

3.         Victor M. Rojas, Brian H. Kleiner, (2000),"The Art and Science of Effective Stress Management", Management Research News, Vol. 23 Iss: 7 pp. 103 – 106

4.         Jagdish K. Dua, (1994),"Job Stressors and Their Effects on Physical Health, Emotional Health and Job Satisfaction in a University", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 32 Iss: 1 pp. 59 - 78

5.         Jolynn Carr, Becky Kelley, Rhett Keaton, Chad Albrecht, (2011),"Getting To Grips with Stress in the Workplace: Strategies for Promoting A Healthier, More Productive Environment", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 19 Iss: 4 pp. 32 - 38

6.         Bob Ferdinand, 1988, "STRESS MANAGEMENT", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 20 Iss: 4 pp. 14 – 17