Stress

A demand on mind and body

General Adaptation Syndrome
 Demand-Control Model of stress

Active
High Low Strain (EUSTRESS)
Job Control

High Strain
Low Passive (DYSTRESS)

Low High

Job Demands
 Effect of work stress

• Psychological – affect (depression)

• Cognition (cognitive failures)
• Physical –immune suppression,
• Behavioral – substance use, lifestyle factors,
• Organizational – absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, job
performance, safety, interpersonal relations
 Causes of stress

• Work load and Pace

• Layoffs
• Lack of control over one’s job
• Economic insecurity
• Long working hours
• Role Stressors
• Career issues
• Interpersonal
• Workplace violence
• Role conflict
• Personality factors-Predisposition to stress, Workaholism, Type A-
Type B personality, Hardiness
 Approaches to Tackling Work-related Stress

 Prevention
 Identifying and acting on the causes of stress
 Stress Risk Assessments

 Management
 Giving staff the skills to cope / manage

 Treatment
 Professional medical and psychological support
 Maintaining Work-Life Balance

• Focus on what is truly important.

• Take advantage of work-related options.
• Protect non-work time.
• Manage your personal time.
• Set aside specific time each week for recreation.
 Organizational Stress Management

• Increase individuals’ autonomy and control

• Ensure that individuals are compensated properly
• Maintain job demands/requirements at healthy levels
• Ensure that associates have adequate skills to keep up-to-date
with technical changes in the workplace
• Increase associate involvement in important decision making
• Improve physical working conditions
• Provide for job security and career development
• Provide healthy work schedules
• Improve communication to help avoid uncertainty and
ambiguity
 Coping strategies

• Positive self talk

• Visualization – uses imagination to put positive messages
into action
• Relaxation techniques
• Enough sleep and exercise
• Avoid getting angry over things you can't change
• Learn how to say 'no' to unreasonable demands
• Put 20 minutes 'me time' in your diary every day
• Accept the fact that you can't be 'all things to all people'
• Have one 'arrangement free' weekend every month
• Eat healthy
Stress Management: Individual and Organizational Strategies

• Stress management tries to maintain stress at an optimal

level for both the individual and the organization
• Stress management strategies
Stress reduction: decrease number of stressors
Stress resilience: increase person’s ability to endure
stressors
Stress recuperation: help a person bounce back from the
stress response
 Resilience

The positive psychological capacity to rebound, or ‘bounce back’

from adversity, uncertainty, conflict or failure
Factors associated with resilience
- Self efficacy
- Social support conflict skills
- Personal ethics
- Optimism
- Education
 Deconstructing the Work break

• Vacations
• Week ends and end of day breaks
• Within day work breaks- Respites Vs Chores
Respites- activities that involve either low effort/or
preferred choice
Chores- Activities that continue to draw upon the resources
utilized during the work
• For a work break to result in recovery people must utilize this
time to engage in activities that reduce demands on their
personal resources and enable these resources to be
recovered