Stress ( sumber website WHO)

Stress can be defined as a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. Stress is a
natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives. Everyone
experiences stress to some degree. The way we respond to stress, however, makes a big difference
to our overall well-being.

Stress affects both the mind and the body. A little bit of stress is good and can help us perform daily
activities. Too much stress can cause physical and mental health problems. Learning how to cope
with stress can help us feel less overwhelmed and support our mental and physical well-being.

Stress makes it hard for us to relax and can come with a range of emotions, including anxiety and
irritability. When stressed, we may find it difficult to concentrate. We may experience headaches or
other body pains, an upset stomach or trouble sleeping. We may find we lose our appetite or eat
more than usual. Chronic stress can worsen pre-existing health problems and may increase our use
of alcohol, tobacco and other substances.

Stressful situations can also cause or exacerbate mental health conditions, most commonly anxiety
and depression, which require access to health care. When we suffer from a mental health
condition, it may be because our symptoms of stress have become persistent and have started
affecting our daily functioning, including at work or school.

Work-related stress is the response people may have when presented with work demands and
pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to
cope. Stress occurs in a wide range of work circumstances but is often made worse when employees
feel they have little support from supervisors and colleagues, as well as little control over work
processes. There is often confusion between pressure or challenge and stress, and sometimes this is
used to excuse bad management practice.

Pressure at the workplace is unavoidable due to the demands of the contemporary work
environment. Pressure perceived as acceptable by an individual may even keep workers alert,
motivated, able to work and learn, depending on the available resources and personal
characteristics. However, when that pressure becomes excessive or otherwise unmanageable it
leads to stress. Stress can damage an employees' health and the business performance.

Work-related stress can be caused by poor work organization (the way we design jobs and work
systems, and the way we manage them), by poor work design (for example, lack of control over
work processes), poor management, unsatisfactory working conditions and lack of support from
colleagues and supervisors.

Research findings show that the most stressful type of work is that which values excessive demands
and pressures that are not matched to workers’ knowledge and abilities, where there is little
opportunity to exercise any choice or control, and where there is little support from others.

Workers are less likely to experience work-related stress when demands and pressures of work are
matched to their knowledge and abilities, control can be exercised over their work and the way they
do it, support is received from supervisors and colleagues, and participation in decisions that
concern their jobs is provided.
Stress related hazards at work can be divided into work content and work context.

Work contents includes job content (monotony, under-stimulation, meaningless of tasks, lack of
variety, etc); work load and work pace (too much or too little to do, work under time pressure, etc.);
working hours (strict or inflexible, long and unsocial, unpredictable, badly designed shift systems);
and participation and control (lack of participation in decision-making, lack of control over work
processes, pace, hours, methods, and the work environment).

Work context includes career development, status and pay (job insecurity, lack of promotion
opportunities, under- or over-promotion, work of low social value, piece rate payment schemes,
unclear or unfair performance evaluation systems, being over- or under-skilled for a job); the
worker’s role in the organization (unclear role, conflicting roles); interpersonal relationships
(inadequate, inconsiderate or unsupportive supervision, poor relationships with colleagues,
bullying/harassment and violence, isolated or solitary work, etc.); organizational culture (poor
communication, poor leadership, lack of behavioural rule, lack of clarity about organizational
objectives, structures and strategies); and work-life balance (conflicting demands of work and home,
lack of support for domestic problems at work, lack of support for work problems at home, lack of
organizational rules and policies to support work-life balance).

Judul Jurnal : The Influence of Long Working Hours, Occupational Stress, and Well-Being on
Depression Among Couriers in Zhejiang, China

Several studies have found an association between depression and long working hours.Working
more than 34 h per week, 55 h per week , and 48 h per week increased the chance of experiencing
depression and anxiety. A recent study by Ogawa et al. investigated the effects of long working
hours on depression symptoms for Japanese residents and found that compared with the residents
working less than 60 h per week, those working 80 to 99.9 h per week and more than 99.9 h per
week had a 2.83 and 6.96, respectively, greater risk of experiencing depression. By contrast, other
studies have found that working 41 to 55 h per week and 41 to 52 h per week was associated with a
decreased risk of suffering from depression and anxiety compared with those working less than 41 h
per week. Further, it has been reported that female workers have a higher risk of experiencing
depression and anxiety than male workers when working the same number of hours. Apart from
when working long hours, the results about the effect of long work hours to depression and anxiety
are not entirely clear.

Some studies have demonstrated that long work hours contribute to psychological stress and work
stress. Working 10 or more hours per day, 40 or more overtime hours per month , and 60 or more
hours per week tended to create stressful feelings. Lee et al found that working more than 45 h per
week decreased the risk of psychological stress. The relationship between working long hours and
work stress requires more investigation.

Long working hours is defined as overtime per week beyond regular working hours. There are many
jobs that require workers to work overtime, so long working hours is common all over the world. As
the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in its report, more than 488 million workers
(approximately 7%) had to work over 55 h a week all over the world
Long working hours will not only deprive people of their break time but also cause serious harm to
their health. It is known that long working hours have a negative effect on health, such as
hypertension, cardiovascular diseases , and diabetes. In addition, poor mental health such as job
burnout, occupational stress, and depression are also associated with long working hours. Therefore,
long working hours have become one of the important factors affecting the physical and mental
health of work population

Long working hours is associated with occupational stress, well-being, and depression. One of
studies confirmed that working hours, occupational stress, and well-being were strong predicators of
depression. Working hours had a significant indirect effect on depression via occupational stress.

Occupational stress is the process by which workplace psychological experiences and demands in
mental and physical health. In the current society, inadequate working conditions always lead to
occupational stress . The mismatch between the individual and workplace such as terrible
environment and overtime working are risk factors for occupational stress. Some studies have
shown that long working hours will increase the risk of the job stress response, so occupational
stress increases during long working hours.