Stress Management

Stress

 Stress: The
human reaction
to events in our
environment
 Dr. Han Selye
says “stress is a
constant feature
of our daily life”
 Eustress
 Distress
STRESS !!!
 Eustress: Good Stress

– Getting into college

– Getting engaged
– Winning the lottery
– Getting promoted
STRESS !!!
 Distress: Stress from
bad sources

– Difficult work
environment

– Overwhelming sights
and sounds

– Threat of personal injury

STRESS !!!
 General Adaptation
Syndrome

- Defensive reaction
designed to cope up
with the environmental
demand perceived as
threatening
GAS
 Three stages

– Alarming

– Resistive

– Exhaustive
 General Adaptation
Syndrome
 Stage I - Alarm Reaction
– The “fight or flight” response which
causes you to be ready for physical
activity

– However, it decreases the effectiveness

of the immune system which makes you
more susceptible to illness
 General Adaptation
Syndrome
 Stage II – Stage of adaptation/resistance

– If stress continues, the body adapts to the

stressors it is being exposed to

– If the stressor is starvation, the person

experiences a reduced desire for physical
activity to conserve energy, and the absorption
of nutrients from any food intake is maximized
 General Adaptation
Syndrome
 Stage III – Stage of Exhaustion

– Stress persists for a long time

– The body’s resistance may be reduced or

collapse quickly

– People who experience long-term stress may

have heart attacks, severe infections, or chronic
pain or illness
FOUR TYPES OF
STRESS
1. General Stress:

– Everyone has this

kind of stress

– It resolves itself
within a day or two

– No intervention is
necessarily required
FOUR TYPES OF
STRESS
2. Cumulative Stress:
– Stress builds up in your
body
– It becomes more difficult
to alleviate your
symptoms
– You may have more
serious physical
symptoms
– You may have more
serious mental anguish
FOUR TYPES OF
STRESS
3. Acute Traumatic
Stress:

– Critical Incident Stress

– Produces considerable
psychological distress

– A normal reaction to
abnormal events
FOUR TYPES OF
STRESS
4. Post Traumatic Stress:

– Severe stress produced

by severe psychological
trauma

– Created by unresolved
Critical Incident Stress

– Produces lasting
changes
Causes of Stress

• Extra organizational
Stressors

• Organizational Stressors

• Group Stressors

• Individual Stressors
Extra Organizational
Stressors
• Social & Technological
Changes
• Family Problems
• Relocation
• Economic & Financial
Condition
• Race & Class
• Residential &
Community Conditions
Organizational
Stressors
• High-Stress Jobs
• Job Role
• Poor Working
Conditions
• Organizational Politics
• Poor Work Relationships
Other Organizational
Stressors
• Downsizing
• Rotating Work Shifts
• Only Downward
Communication
• Centralized Decision
Making
• Autocratic &
Bureaucratic Style of
Leadership
GROUP STRESSORS

• Absence of group
cohesiveness
• Absence of support
from other members
• Conflicts related to
the group
 Absence of Group
Cohesiveness
 Defined as “the degree to which group members are
attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the
group” Cohesiveness
High Low

High Moderate
High Product Productiv
ivity ity
Performance
Norms
Low Moderate
to Low
Low Product Productivi
ivity ty
 Absence of
Support from
Others

 Conflicts

Related to the
Group
INDIVIDUAL
STRESSORS
1) Role conflict and
ambiguity
2) Type A characteristics
3) Locus of control
4) Learned helplessness
5) Self-efficacy
6) Psychological
hardiness
 Role Conflict and
Ambiguity
 Role conflict - An individual confronted by
divergent role expectations
 Causes of Ambiguity
1) Incomplete information or knowledge
2) Lack of Proper Training
3) Poor Communication
4) Intentional Withholding of Information
Type A Characteristics

 Always moving, walking and

eating rapidly
 Feel impatient with the rate at
which most events take place
 Strive to think or do two or
more things at once
 Cannot cope with leisure time
 Obsessed with numbers,
measuring their success in
terms of how much of
everything they acquire
 Locus of Control
 The degree of control that an individual exercises over his
work environment
 Types of locus of control
1) Internal 2) External
 Learned Helplessness
 Discovered by Martin E P Seligman and his
colleagues

 Explains the behavior of certain individuals

who become helpless in a stressful situation and
do not attempt to change things
 Self-Efficacy
 Defined as “the self-perceptions of how well a
person can cope with situations as they arise”
 Four ways to increase self-efficacy :

1) Enactive Mastery
2) Vicarious Modeling
3) Verbal Persuasion
4) Arousal
 Psychological Hardiness
 Defined as “a person’s ability to cope with
stress”
 Higher the psychological hardiness, higher the

ability to cope with a tremendous amount of

stress
 Internal locus of control
 Effects of Stress
 Mild Stress:
• Positive Influence on employees

• Working under a different supervisor improves the

performance

• Energizes them

 High Level Stress:

• Have adverse effect on the performance

• An individual may have physical, psychological or

behavioral problems
 Physical Problems
 Early Symptoms of stress:
• Headaches
• Increase in Blood Pressure
• Sweating
 Prolonged exposure to high level stress
• High Blood Pressure
• High Level of Cholesterol
• Ulcer, Heart Diseases
 Losing huge sums of money on resultant problems
 Psychological
Problems
 High level of stress can make a person:
• Angry
• Anxious
• Bored, etc.

 Individuals are not able to concentrate for

extended periods

 These problems lower the self esteem of

Employees resulting in poor performance
 Behavioral Problems
 Gradual change in behavioral pattern
 Symptoms that appear:
• Sleep disorder
• Increase in smoking or consumption of
alcohol
• Rude behavior
 Researchers say that moderate amount of
stress is necessary to improve a person’s
performance
Strategies to cope
with stress
“Grant me the courage to change
things that I can change, the
serenity to accept those I
cannot change and the wisdom
to know the difference”
 Problem focused- either eliminate or modify the
stressor
 Emotion focused- controlling emotions so that not
affected by stress
 Individual strategies
 Problem focused-

1. Time management

2. Requesting others for help

3. Shifting to another job

 Emotion focused-

1. Relaxation

2. Exercise

3. Psychological strategies

4. Recreation

5. companionship
Organizational strategies
 Problem focused-

1. Redesigning the job

2. Proper selection and placement

3. Training

4. Team building

5. Providing various day care facilities

* Emotion focused -

 Promoting open
communication within
organization
 Employee assistance
programs
 Mentoring
 Wellness programs
and personal time off
Solve Problems
• Find them
• List them
• Look at them in all possible
angles
• Identify solutions
• Consider solutions
• Plan
• Rehearse
• Execute
• Take feed back
• Repeat if necessary
Relationships at work –
Handle it!
If you are a subordinate
– Confront your boss if
you have a problem
– Explain your side of
the story
– Learn to say no
A final word
• There is no short cut to manage stress there are some
guide lines shape it according to your need!
STRESS MANAGEMENT

 Questions?????