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1. Stress management: -
It is the amelioration of stress and especially chronic stress often
for the purpose of improving everyday functioning.
Stress produces numerous symptoms which vary according to
persons, situations, and severity. These can include physical
health decline as well as depression.
2. Types of Stress Management: -
(A)Acute Stress
Acute stress is usually for short time and may be due to work pressure,
meeting deadlines pressure or minor accident, over exertion, increased
physical activity, searching something but you misplaced it, or
similar things.
Symptoms of this type of tension are headaches, back pain, stomach
problems, rapid heartbeat, muscle aches or body pain.
(B)Acute Stress
Acute stress is common in people who take too many responsibilities
and are overloaded or overworked, disorganized, always in a hurry and
never in time. These people are generally in positions of importance at
their workplace and stressful lifestyle is inherent in them.
Symptoms of this type of stress are prolonged tension headaches,
hypertension, migraines, chest pain and heart disease.
(C)Chronic Stress
This type of stress is the most serious of all the 3 stress types. Chronic
stress is a prolonged stress that exists for weeks, months, or even years.
This stress is due to poverty, broken or stressed families and marriages,
chronic illness and successive failures in life. People suffering from this
type of stress get used to it and may even not realize that they are under
chronic stress. It is very harmful to their health
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3. Causes of Stress Management: -
Whenever our body feels something not favorable, then it tries to defend
itself. If this situation continues for a long time, then our body is
working overtime.
There are several causes of stress. For example, you are under stress
when you are worried about something, worried about your children,
worried about the illness of your father, worried about your job security,
or worried about your loans or similar things.
You may be under stress due to several causes. Look at the following
causes of stress.
1. Causes of Stress at Home
o Death of spouse, family, near relative or friend.
o Injury or illness of any family member.
o Marriage of self or son or daughter or brother or sister.
o Separation or divorce from partner.
o Pregnancy or birth of a new baby.
o Children's behavior or disobedience.
o Children's educational performance.
o Hyperactive children.
o Sexual molestation.
o Argument or heated conversations with spouse, family
members or friends or neighbors.
o Not sufficient money to meet out daily expenses or
unexpected expenditure.
o Not sufficient money to raise your standard of living.
o Loss of money in burglary, pick-pocketed or share
market.
o Moving house.
o Change of place or change of city or change of country.
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2. Causes of Stress at Work
o To meet out the demands of the job.
o Your relationship with colleagues.
o To control staff under you.
o To train your staff and take work from them.
o Support you receive from your boss, colleagues and
juniors.
o Excessive work pressure.
o To meet out deadlines.
o To give new results.
o To produce new publications if you are in research area.
o Working overtime and on holidays.
o New work hours.
o Promotion or you have not been promoted or your junior
has superseded you.
o Argument or heated conversations with co-workers or
boss.
o Change of job.
o Work against will.
o Harassment.
o Sexual molestation.
3. Other Causes of Stress
o Fear, intermittent or continuous.
o Threats: physical threats, social threats, financial threat,
other threats.
o Uncertainty.
o Lack of sleep.
o Somebody misunderstands you.
o Setback to your position in society.
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4. Stress Management in Work Place: -
There is no doubt that stress is one on of the leading factors in
illness and absenteeism among employees. Besides lowering a
person's immune response, stress makes us want to avoid whatever
is causing it. If there is stress at work, workers who feel mildly off
will feel even worse and resist coming to work. This costs many
hours of productivity, especially when key personnel or production
workers are absent-in fact, it's estimated that $300 billion is lost on
stress-caused illnesses and absenteeism.
A workplace that supports stress management through workplace
wellness programs not only helps their employees to handle
pressure better and stay healthier during times of stress, it also
sends a message that their company cares about them. This
provides emotional support as well as physical support for fighting
the effects of stress.
How a Workplace Wellness Program Can Help
when your employees are stressed, very likely there is one primary
cause and several secondary causes. For instance, a worker may
suffer stress due to poor interpersonal relationships with other
workers and problems communicating. Addressing stress will help
the worker feel better and regain connections to other workers,
thereby reducing the stress in those areas.
Although a workplace wellness program can't de-stress everything
a worker faces-like layoffs, cutbacks, firings, etc.-it can help with
the physical effects of stress and help the worker cope when
getting the pink slip. A healthy employee will have enough energy
to move on and find another job but the unhealthy employee may
suffer even more physical maladies from stress and plunge into
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depression. An employee who is watching others get fired or laid
off will always be thinking, "When am I going to get the axe?"
There are several steps you can take to reduce job stress.
Get a clear job description to avoid miscommunications that cause
stress, and to make sure you are doing tasks within your sphere of
responsibility only.
Get a new job. While this is not always an ideal solution,
sometimes it's the only one-a workplace wellness program will
help with the stress of this change.
Find supportive agencies and programs to help you either deal with
the stress-such as the workplace wellness program-or find a new
position. Isolation is destructive.
Change positions within the company. Perhaps your training is not
in the field where you are working, or you are being asked by a
supervisor to do things far outside work hours and described
responsibilities. If you like the company you work for but hate
your job, this may be the answer.
See if your company has an employee assistance program, which is
sometimes part of a workplace wellness program, if there are
layoffs and firings going on around you. If so, use these services
even if you have been told you will remain at the company-things
change daily in the business world.
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5. Need of Stress Management: -
In the past decade, the news headlines have definitely made it clear
that the need for stress management should be one of the top
agendas in modern day society. The rages alone such as Road Rage
and the trends of violent acts in life today prove a lot of it well.
Living today is a lot tougher than it was even in the days of the
great depression. It's been coming out in many ways such as all
time occurrences of stomach and intestinal ulcers. Others find
sleep disorders and wind up zombies during their busy days.
Insomnia is growing in leaps and bounds.
Today stress management is important in everyone's lives. It's
necessary for long happy lives with less trouble that will come
about. There are many ways to deal with stress ranging from the
dealing with the causes of stress to simply burning off its effects.
6. Advantages of Stress Management: -
Business advantages of stress management:
Lessabsenteeism due to stress-related disorders
Lessworker's compensation loss due to stress-related illness or
accidents
Improved job performance
Lessstressful, more efficient workplace
Improved employee attitude
Improved employee overall health
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Health advantages of stress management:
Decreased stress-related symptoms
Improved slee
Decreased anxiety
Decreased use of medications
reduced pain, increased ability to manage pain
Increased ability to relax physiologically
Increased sense of control and improved self-esteem
"Research studies demonstrated that stress management techniques
can lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure independent of
diet."
-Dean Ornish, Reversing Heart Disease
Consumer advantages of stress management:
Noside-effects
Non-pharmacological
Non-surgical
Cost effective
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7. Disadvantages of Stress Management: -
Stress can be a motivator. For example, if you’re stressed out because
you have a big assignment due, this may motivate you to work on it
and complete it. The stress can help you to put in your very best
effort. If you're afraid of losing your job, stress may encourage you to
raise your own standards and make improvements you most likely
would not have made without the threat of unemployment.
Stress is a disadvantage because it can potentially raise your heart rate
and weaken your immune system. Also, it can be a factor in poor
decision making because under stress we may not think logically or
consider the consequences of the choices we make.
While we all experience stress frequently in our daily lives, not
everyone handles it in positive ways. The key for us all is to learn
what strategies and behaviors help us to cope with stress in a positive
manner.
Finding a friend or family member who'll listen as you vent about the
stresses in your life is a much better way to handle tension than
isolating yourself and worrying.
Going for a walk, listening to music or doing something you enjoy
are much better ways to clear your mind than drinking, eating,
smoking etc.
To me the key is realizing that some of the ways we choose to deal
with stress can make our situation worse than just weathering out the
hectic time.
Realizing that we always have choices when dealing with stress is the
first key to making stress work for us and not against us.
