Stress Management at Work 2
August 2nd 2011 02:34
Stress vs. Challenge
Before we proceed with the deeper aspects of the issue, let us first delineate job stress and its difference to challenge.
The concept of job stress is often confused with challenge, but these ideas are not the same. According to Sauter et al., a challenge energizes us physically and psychologically. Challenge brings about motivation to learn a new skill or to master a job. When a challenge is met, we feel a sense of satisfaction and relaxation. However if a challenge has been transposed to become job demands that cannot be met, relaxation has been turned to exhaustion. And the task at hand now becomes stressful. In short the stage is set for illness, injury, and job failures.
Facts on Workers and Stress
US-based surveys confirm how stress easily enters our workplaces. A survey by the Northwestern National Life depicts that 40 % of workers report their job is “very or extremely stressful”. In another survey by the Families and Work Institute 26 % of workers report they are “often or very burned out or stresses by their work”. And still a survey by Yale University reveals that 29 % of workers report they feel “quite a bit or extremely stressed at work”.
Similarly, in recent studies the Filipinos are labeled one of the most stressed out people in Asia.
Using the above facts, we can now imagine how 26-40 % of the total workforce affected by stress can bring about a negative impact in work production or output.
The Body’s Physiologic Responses to Stress
When we experience stress, our body reacts physically. This results from the evolutionary process. Our ancestors require an increase in strength and stamina when they were threatened (Johnson, 2001).
Stress sets off an alarm in the brain, which responds by preparing the body for defensive actions. The nervous system, specifically the sympathetic branch, is aroused, releasing hormones that sharpen our senses, quicken our pulse, tenses our muscles, and more. This collection of responses is what we call the “fight or flight response”.
Before we proceed with the deeper aspects of the issue, let us first delineate job stress and its difference to challenge.
The concept of job stress is often confused with challenge, but these ideas are not the same. According to Sauter et al., a challenge energizes us physically and psychologically. Challenge brings about motivation to learn a new skill or to master a job. When a challenge is met, we feel a sense of satisfaction and relaxation. However if a challenge has been transposed to become job demands that cannot be met, relaxation has been turned to exhaustion. And the task at hand now becomes stressful. In short the stage is set for illness, injury, and job failures.
Facts on Workers and Stress
US-based surveys confirm how stress easily enters our workplaces. A survey by the Northwestern National Life depicts that 40 % of workers report their job is “very or extremely stressful”. In another survey by the Families and Work Institute 26 % of workers report they are “often or very burned out or stresses by their work”. And still a survey by Yale University reveals that 29 % of workers report they feel “quite a bit or extremely stressed at work”.
Similarly, in recent studies the Filipinos are labeled one of the most stressed out people in Asia.
Using the above facts, we can now imagine how 26-40 % of the total workforce affected by stress can bring about a negative impact in work production or output.
The Body’s Physiologic Responses to Stress
When we experience stress, our body reacts physically. This results from the evolutionary process. Our ancestors require an increase in strength and stamina when they were threatened (Johnson, 2001).
Stress sets off an alarm in the brain, which responds by preparing the body for defensive actions. The nervous system, specifically the sympathetic branch, is aroused, releasing hormones that sharpen our senses, quicken our pulse, tenses our muscles, and more. This collection of responses is what we call the “fight or flight response”.
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