Stress is usually the unseen enemy. It be gradual or sudden but overtime, stress can kill. It can cause problems with the mind, body and soul. It is important to understand the dangers of stress and how to properly cope.
While stress is very subjective it also has some universal aspects. A generally accepted definition refers to stress as “universal human (and animal) response resulting from the perception of an intense or distressing experience” (1) Stress can influence our behavior and responses and our ability to cope and react. Stress can gain a foothold in one’s life through an event but the event itself is not always universally stressful. Beyond the stressor itself, one must look at the person’s coping strategies, diet, exercise, genetic dispositions and daily schedules. Regardless, if stress is not properly coped with, it can cause a variety of diseases in the body, most notably heart disease.
With this danger of stress so apparent and modern humanity facing more stress than ever before, it is important to understand where stress originates in our lives. Ancient man dealt with stress at a basic level. Hunting, eating, gathering, and flight or fight responses. These needs were very much connected to the nature of man. However, humanity in the modern era faces many different types of challenges beyond the basic needs and these needs are rarely faced externally but allowed to internalize due to social norms and work.
Work is one of the biggest sources of stress but having a job is not necessarily the source of negative stress. One of the biggest issues at the job site is interpersonal relationships. The inability to deal with these issues leads to multiple problems. Work place violence is becoming a bigger issue in this nation as stress at work between employees continues to rise. The inability to properly work with others and deal with issues is a huge source of workplace stress.
In addition, on the job site stress can be related also to the work load. Work load is not always directly correlated to stress due to subjective reactions, but usually, overwork load can play a role in stress. Workload can be an issue due to quantity or quality of the work. Individuals with too much to do in a little time will experience work load stress, while others under trained to perform a task, may feel helplessly lost in fulfilling it.
Other issues can include, micromanagement. Individuals with less control and freedom to complete a task will experience higher levels of work stress. This dismisses the myth that higher level positions are more stressful. The fact is, lower level and moderate level positions have more stress due to a lack of freedom to complete tasks. Middle managers experience the most stress in being given tasks from higher management and then translating it to the floor workers.
Ultimately, most stress does come from work but it does not have to. Stress from work will exist at a healthy level but excessive stress is not usually due to the job itself, but more so the inability to work with relative freedom and in a non hostile environment with tasks conducive to skill set and time frame.
Without stress at work, ambition, motivation and completion of tasks would be impossible. With no stress at all, the mind would fall into disconnect and lack of interest, but it is important to avoid the other extreme where certain issues can lead to panic, anxiety and resentment. Unfortunately, for most, the natural level of needed stress in one’s life is not present. In work, it is either a lack of motivation or too much pressure.
In essence, it is not necessarily the job or the career, but the unneeded stresses that come with human interaction with job related tasks. Work is necessary and work is good but unfortunately it is also a leading cause of many people’s stress due to improper stress management and stress reducing policies in organizations.
How work and career is handled will greatly affect one’s health. Overworking, like anything in excess, can eventually cause health issues and death. In addition to over working, how one handles interpersonal drama as well as handling tasks is important to long term health. If interpersonal drama is minimal, and tasks are correlated with proper alignment of time and professional training, granting some autonomy to the employee, then less stress can be found at one of the leading places of stress.
Yet, stress is not only found in the work place. Stress is a very personal thing and can affect well beyond the work place but follow one with finances, health, family and loss of loved ones. These issues can accumulate and over time cause serious health issues.
Stress kills but it kills over time. It sends messages to the body to exert certain amounts of energy and hormones to face certain problems. While this is natural and important to achieve goals, chronic stress and intense situations can in fact hurt the body. Excessive tear on the body, internally and externally can create issues for the function of the body. Stress hence internally can affect heart health, cholesterol levels, stroke, as well as affect the body’s immune system through fatigue or tiredness. It can affect the digestive track, causing intestinal issues, as well as ulcers. Stress can also cause muscle aches, migraines and tightness in the muscles. Stress can also cause an array of emotional responses that can lead to anger, depression or anxiety. These in turn can lead to bad coping strategies through smoking or drinking and other drug abuse.
It is no wonder then that stress can kill.
In protecting oneself, no one answer suffices. One needs to have an overall holistic approach of body, mind and spirit when dealing with stress. And even then, genetic dispositions of bad health, or places in society or finances can still make it subjectively difficult for one to deal with stress better than the other. Regardless though, one needs to reduce the level of stress one faces in order to have a longer more healthy life.
If you would like to learn more about Stress Management techniques or would like to become Certified Stress Management Consultant, then please review AIHCP’s Stress Management Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.
- The Stress Management Source Book: Everything You Needt o Know” by J. Barton Cunningham, PH.D