Work Stress Management

Christian A. Gallardo, MD
Why do we work? • Work provides:
– Income
– Fulfills a variety of
other needs
• Mental and
physical exercise
• Social contact
• Feeling of self
worth and
competence
What is Work Stress?
Work Stress:
• “…the harmful physical and
emotional responses that occur
when the requirements of a job
do not match the capabilities,
resources, or needs of the
worker.”
– Outcome: poor health and
injury - NIOSH Publication No. 99 -101
Work Stress:
• “Stress is a reaction
people have to
pressure placed upon
them and occurs when
pressures exceed the
individual’s ability to
cope.”
- Health and Safety Executive
Work Stress
• A normal part of life
• Has good and bad
implications
• Biological response to
our environment
• Flight or fight response
• Physical and mental
reactions
Factors Influencing Work Stress
• The drive for success
• Changing work patterns
• Working conditions
• Relationships at work
• Job Demands:
workload and work
paces
Factors Influencing Work Stress
• Poor Job Content:
boredom, lack of
meaning
• Levels of job control,
decision latitude
• Organizational policies
and procedures
Causes of Work Stress
• Individual and
Situational
Characteristics/
Worker
Characteristics
– Personality
– Coping Style
– What is stressful
for one may not be
for another
Causes of Job Stress
• Work Characteristics/Working
Conditions/Organizational factor
– Exposure to stressful work conditions (job
stressor) can adversely and directly affect
health and safety
– Examples of job stress
• Example workload
• Environmental hazards
• Pressure for increased productivity
Causes of Job Stress
• Environmental Factors
– Economic Uncertainty
– Political Uncertainty
– Technological Uncertainty
Work Stressors
• 1. Task Design
– Heavy workload,
infrequent breaks,
little or job control,
long hours of work
or shift work
Work Stressors
• 2. Management Style
– Lack of worker participation in decision
making, poor communication, lack of family
friendly policies
Work Stressors
• 3. Interpersonal Relationship
– Poor Social Environment, lack of support
from co-workers or supervisors
Work Stressors
• Short Live or infrequent stressful situations
pose little risk, if any at all
• Continuous stress episodes may be
damaging
– Body is constantly on guard and activated
– Wear and tear to biological systems is faster
– Fatigue or damage results
– Repair and defense systems are
compromised
Early Warning Signs of Work Stress
• Headache
• Sleep Disturbances
• Difficulty in concentrating
• Short Temper
• Upset Stomach
• Job Dissatisfaction
• Low Morals
Manifestation of Work Stress
Work Stress Prevention
Why Prevent Work Stress?
• In the USA more than half of the 550 million
work days lost each year are stress-related.
-The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

• In the UK, stress accounts for 6 million

workdays lost annually
- Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

• Statistics Canada has calculated the cost of

work time lost to stress at $12 billion a year
Why Prevent Work Stress?
• This loss is in terms of
– Absenteeism
– Lost productivity
– Poor customer service
– Escalating short and
long-term disability
claims.
Why Prevent Work Stress?
• Healthcare expenditures
are close to 50% greater
for stressed workers
compared to non-stressed
workers.
• Overall, stress in a
business contributes to
19% absenteeism costs
and 40% turnover costs.
Stress Management Strategies
• Individual Approach
• Organizational
Approach
Individual Approach
Self Help
Not all the stress
we experience
is generated at
work!!
External Stresses – Major Life Events
• Death of a loved one
• Divorce/ Separation
• Imprisonment
• Injury / Illness
• Marriage/ Engagement
• Loss of Job
• Retirement
• Pregnancy
• Sexual Problems
External Stresses – Major Life Events
• Change in Financial Status
• Change of Job/ Work
• Mortgages or loans/ foreclosure
of mortgages/ loans
• Changes in responsibilities
• Moving houses
• Holidays, Christmas, etc.
• Violation of the laws
Recognize the Problem
• The most important point is to recognize the
source of the negative stress
• This is not an admission of weakness or
inability to cope!
• It is a way to identify the problem and plan
measures to overcome it.
Stress Control

A–B–C
Strategy
ABC Strategy

A = Awareness
What causes your stress?
How do you react?
ABC Strategy

B = Balance
There is a fine line between positive/ negative
stress.
How much can you cope with before it
becomes negative?
ABC Strategy

C = Control
What can you do to help yourself combat the
negative effects of stress?
Stress management Techniques

• Change your thinking

• Change your behavior
• Change your lifestyle
Change Your Thinking
• Re-framing
• Positive Thinking
Re-framing
• Reframing is a technique to change the way you
look at things in order to feel better about them.
• There are many ways to interpret a situation and
it is up to us to choose how we deal with it.
• Re-framing does not change the external reality,
but helps you view things in a different light and
less stressfully.
Positive Thinking
• Forget powerlessness, dejection, despair,
failure
• Stress leaves us vulnerable to negative
suggestion so focus on positives
• Focus on your strengths
• Learn from the stress you are under
• Look for opportunities
• Seek out the positive – make a change
Change Your Behavior
• Be Assertive
• Get Organized
• Ventilation
• Humour
• Diversion and Distraction
Be Assertive
• Assertiveness helps to
maintain to manage
stressful situations, and
will, in time, help to
reduce their frequency
• Lack of assertiveness
often shows low self-
esteem and low self –
confidence.
Be Assertive
• The key to assertiveness
is verbal and non- verbal
communication
• Extending our range of
communication skills will
improve our
assertiveness
Equality and Basic Rights
• The right to express my feelings
• The right to express opinions/ beliefs
• The right to say ‘Yes/No’ for yourself
• The right to change your mind
• The right to say ‘I don’t understand’
• The right to be yourself, not acting for benefit
of others
Equality and Basic Rights
• The right to decline responsibility for other
people’s problems
• The right to make reasonable request of
others
• The right to set own priorities
• The right to be listened to and taken
seriously
Being Assertive
• Being assertive involves
standing up for your
personal rights and
expressing your thoughts,
feelings and beliefs directly,
honestly and spontaneously
in ways that don’t infringe
the rights of others
Assertive People
• Respect themselves and others
• Take responsibility for actions and
choices
• Ask openly for what they want
• Disappointed if want denied
• Self- confidence remains intact
• Not reliant on the approval of others
Assertive Skills
• Establish good eye contact / don’t
stare
• Stand or sit comfortably – don’t fidget
• Talk in a firm, steady voice
• Use body language
• ‘I think/ I feel’
• ‘What do you think?’ ‘ How do you
feel?’
• Concise and to the point
Benefits
• High self-esteem
• Less self-conscious
• Less anxious
• Manage stress more
successfully
• Appreciate yourself and others
more easily
• Feeling of self control
Get Organized
• Poor organization is one of the most common
causes of stress
• Structured approaches offer security against ‘out of
the blue’ problems
• Prioritizing objectives, duties and activities makes
them manageable and achievable
• Don’t overload your mind
• Organization will help avoid personal and
professional chaos
Time Management
• Make a list
• What must be done
• What should be done
• What would you like to do
• Cut out time wasting
• Learn to drop unimportant activities
• Say no or delegate
Time Management
• Plan your day
• Set achievable goals
• Don’t waste time making excuses for not
doing something
Ventilation
• “A problem shared is a problem halved.”
– Develop a support network through friends or
colleagues to talk with. It’s not always events
that are stressful but how we perceive them.
– Writing a diary or notes may help release
feelings but do not re-read what has been
written
Humour
• Good stress – reducer
• Applies at home and work
• Relieves muscular tension
• Improves breathing
• Pumps endorphins into
the bloodstream – the
body’s natural painkillers
Diversion and Distractions
• Take time out
• Get away from things that bother you
– Doesn’t solve the problem
• Reduce stress levels
• Calm down
• Think logically
Change Your Lifestyle
• Diet
• Smoking and Alcohol
• Exercise
• Leisure
• Relaxation
DIET
Smoking and Alcohol
Exercise,
Sleep and
Leisure
Exercise
• Uses up excess energy released
by the ‘Fight and Flight’ reaction
• Improves blood circulation
• Lowers blood pressure
• Clears the mind of worrying
thoughts
• Improves self image
• Makes you feel better about
yourself
• Increase social contact
Sleep
• Good stress reducer
• Difficult to cope when
tired
• Wake refreshed after
nights sleep
• Plenty of daytime
energy
Leisure
• Interest
• Gives you a ‘break’
from stresses
• Provides outlet for relief
• Provides social contact
Benefits of Relaxation
• Lowers blood pressure
• Combats fatigue
• Promotes sleep
• Reduces pain
• Eases muscle tension
Benefits of Relaxation
• Decreases mental
worries
• Increases
concentration
• Increases productivity
• Increases clear
thinking
Alternatives
• Counseling and Psychotherapy
• Relaxation
• Meditation
• Massage
• Yoga
• Acupuncture
• Aromatherapy
Alternatives
• Herbalism
• Biofeedback
• Homeopathy
• Hypnotherapy
• Osteopathy
• Pet Therapy
• Reflexology
How We Deal With Stress
• Negative Copers • Positive Copers
– Smoking – Exercising
– Drinking – Support groups
– Illegal Drugs – Yoga
– Blaming others – Meditation
– Other self – Good Eating
destructive Habits
behaviors – Changing a
negative attitude
In Summary:
• Stress can be a major factor
in our ability to cope with our
working life. It is often thought
of in a negative way as
something to be avoided,
something harmful, but stress
cannot always be avoided
and its effects are harmful
only when it is handled badly.
Thank You.