Stress Managemen Paper

8/12/2019 Stress Managemen Paper

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STRESS MANAGEMENTStress management refers to the wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed atcontrolling a person's levels of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of

improving everyday functioning.

In this context, the term 'stress' refers only to a stress with significant negative consequences, or

distress in the terminology advocated by Hans Selye, rather than what he calls eustress, a stress

whose consequences are helpful or otherwise positive.

Stress produces numerous symptoms which vary according to persons, situations, and severity.

These can include physical health decline as well as depression. The process of stress

management is named as one of the keys to a happy and successful life in modern society.Although life provides numerous demands that can prove difficult to handle, stress management

provides a number of ways to manage anxiety and maintain overall well-being.

Despite stress often being thought of as a subjective experience, levels of stress are readily

measureable using various physiological tests, similar to those used in polygraphs.

Many practical stress management techniques are available, some for use by health practitioners

and others for self-help, which may help an individual to reduce stress, provide positive feelings

of being in control of one's life and promote general well-being.

The effectiveness of the different stress management techniques can be difficult to assess, as fewof them have received significant attention from researchers. Consequently, the amount and

quality of evidence for the various techniques varies widely. Some are accepted as effective

treatments for use in psychotherapy, whilst others with less evidence favoring them are

considered alternative therapies. Many professional organizations exist to promote and provide

training in conventional or alternative therapies.

There are several models of stress management, each with distinctive explanations of

mechanisms for controlling stress. Much more research is necessary to provide a better

understanding of which mechanisms actually operate and are effective in practice.

Historical foundations

Walter Cannon and Hans Selye used animal studies to establish the earliest scientific basis for

the study of stress. They measured the physiological responses of animals to external pressures,

such as heat and cold, prolonged restraint, and surgical procedures, and then extrapolated from

these studies to human beings.


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Subsequent studies of stress in humans by Richard Rahe and others established the view that

stress is caused by distinct, measureable life stressors, and further, that these life stressors can be

ranked by the median degree of stress they produce (leading to the Holmes and Rahe Stress

Scale). Thus, stress was traditionally conceptualized to be a result of external insults beyond the

control of those experiencing the stress. More recently, however, it has been argued that external

circumstances do not have any intrinsic capacity to produce stress, but instead their effect is

mediated by the individual's perceptions, capacities, and understanding.

Models

Transactional model

Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman suggested in 1984 that stress can be thought of as resulting

from an imbalance between demands and resources or as occurring when pressure exceeds

one's perceived ability to cope. Stress management was developed and premised on the idea that

stress is not a direct response to a stressor but rather one's resources and ability to cope mediatethe stress response and are amenable to change, thus allowing stress to be controllable.

Among the many stressors mentioned by employees, these are the most common:

The way employees are treated by their bosses/supervisors or company Lack of job security Company policies Coworkers who don't do their fair share Unclear expectations Poor communication Not enough control over assignments Inadequate pay or benefits Urgent deadlines Too much work Long hours Uncomfortable physical conditions Relationship conflicts Coworkers making careless mistakes Dealing with rude customers

Lack of cooperation How the company treats coworkers

In order to develop an effective stress management programme it is first necessary to identify the

factors that are central to a person controlling his/her stress, and to identify the intervention

methods which effectively target these factors. Lazarus and Folkman's interpretation of stress

focuses on the transaction between people and their external environment (known as the

Transactional Model). The model contends that stress may not be a stressor if the person does


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not perceive the stressor as a threat but rather as positive or even challenging. Also, if the person

possesses or can use adequate coping skills, then stress may not actually be a result or develop

because of the stressor. The model proposes that people can be taught to manage their stress and

cope with their stressors. They may learn to change their perspective of the stressor and provide

them with the ability and confidence to improve their lives and handle all of types of stressors.

Health realization/innate health model

The health realization/innate health model of stress is also founded on the idea that stress does

not necessarily follow the presence of a potential stressor. Instead of focusing on the individual's

appraisal of so-called stressors in relation to his or her own coping skills (as the transactional

model does), the health realization model focuses on the nature of thought, stating that it is

ultimately a person's thought processes that determine the response to potentially stressful

external circumstances. In this model, stress results from appraising oneself and one's

circumstances through a mental filter of insecurity and negativity, whereas a feeling of well-

being results from approaching the world with a "quiet mind".

This model proposes that helping stressed individuals understand the nature of thought

especially providing them with the ability to recognize when they are in the grip of insecure

thinking, disengage from it, and access natural positive feelingswill reduce their stress.

Types of stress

Acute stress

Acute stress is the most common form of stress among humans worldwide. Acute stress deals

with the pressures of the near future or dealing with the very recent past. This type of stress isoften misinterpreted for being a negative connotation. While this is the case in some

circumstances, it is also a good thing to have some acute stress in life. Running or any other form

of exercise is considered an acute stressor. Some exciting or exhilarating experiences such as

riding a roller coaster is an acute stress but is usually very fun. Acute stress is a short term stress

and in result, does not have enough time to do the damage that long term stress causes.

Chronic stress

Chronic stress is the exact opposite of acute stress. It has a wearing effect on people that can

become a very serious health risk if it continues over a long period of time. Chronic stress can

lead to memory loss, damage spacial recognition and produce a decreased drive of eating. The

severity varies from person to person and also sex difference can be an underlying factor.

Women are able to take longer durations of stress than men without showing the same

maladaptive changes. Men can deal with shorter stress duration better than women can but once

males hit a certain threshold, the chances of them developing mental issues increases drastically.


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Stress in the workplace

Stress in the workplace is a commonality throughout the world in every business. Managing that

stress becomes vital in order to keep up job performance as well as relationship with co-workersand employers. For some workers, changing the work environment relieves work stress. Making

the environment less competitive between employees decreases some amounts of stress.

However, each person is different and some people like the pressure to perform better.

Salary can be an important concern of employees. Salary can affect the way people work because

they can aim for promotion and in result, a higher salary. This can lead to chronic stress.

Cultural differences have also shown to have some major effects on stress coping problems.

Eastern Asian employees may deal with certain work situations differently from how a Western

North American employee would.

In order to manage stress in the workplace, employers can provide stress managing programs

such as therapy, communication programs, and a more flexible work schedule.

Medical Environment Stress

A study was done on the stress levels in general practitioners and hospital consultants in 1994.

Over 500 medical employees participated in this study done by Dr. R.P Caplan. These results

showed that 47% of the workers scored high on their questionnaire for high levels of stress. 27%

of the general practitioners even scored to be very depressed. These numbers came to a surprise

to Dr. Caplan and it showed how alarming the large number of medical workers becomes

stressed out because of their jobs. Managers stress levels were not as high as the actual

practitioners themselves. An eye opening statistic showed that nearly 54% of workers suffered

from anxiety while being in the hospital. Although this was a small sample size for hospitals

around the world, Caplan feels this trend is probably fairly accurate across the majority of

hospitals.

EFFECTS OF STRESS ON HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE

Stress is proven beyond doubt to make people ill, and evidence is increasing as to number of

ailments and diseases caused by stress. Stress is now known to contribute to heart disease; it

causes hypertension and high blood pressure, and impairs the immune system. Stress is alsolinked to strokes, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), ulcers, diabetes, muscle and joint pain,

miscarriage during pregnancy, allergies, alopecia and even premature tooth loss.

Various US studies have demonstrated that removing stress improves specific aspects of health:

stress management was shown to be capable of reducing the risk of heart attack by up to 75% in

people with heart disease; stress management techniques, along with methods for coping with


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anger, contributed to a reduction of high blood pressure, and; for chronic tension headache

sufferers it was found that stress management techniques increased the effectiveness of

prescribed drugs, and after six months actually equaled the effectiveness of anti-depressants. The

clear implication for these ailments is that stress makes them worse.

Stress significantly reduces brain functions such as memory, concentration, and learning, all ofwhich are central to effective performance at work. Certain tests have shown up to 50% loss of

performance in cognitive tests performed by stress sufferers. Some health effects caused by

stress are reversible and the body and mind reverts to normal when the stress is relieved. Other

health effects caused by stress are so serious that they are irreversible, and at worse are terminal.

Stress is said by some to be a good thing, for themselves or others, that it promotes excitement

and positive feelings. If these are the effects then it's not stress as defined here. It's the

excitement and stimulus derived (by one who wants these feelings and can handle them) from

working hard in a controlled and manageable way towards an achievable and realistic aim, which

for sure can be very exciting, but it ain't stress. Stress is bad for people and organizations, it's athreat and a health risk, and it needs to be recognized and dealt with, not dismissed as something

good, or welcomed as a badge of machismo - you might as well stick pins in your eyes.

Measuring stress

Levels of stress can be measured. One way is through the use of psychological testing: the

Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale is used to rate stressful life events, while the DASS contains a

scale for stress based on self-report items. Changes in blood pressure and galvanic skin response

can also be measured to test stress levels, and changes in stress levels. A digital thermometer can

be used to evaluate changes in skin temperature, which can indicate activation of the fight-or-flight response drawing blood away from the extremities. Cortisol is the main hormone released

during a stress response and measuring cortisol from hair will give a 60-90 baseline stress level

of an individual. This method of measuring stress is currently the most popular method in the

clinic.

Stress Management Programs in Workplace

Many businesses today have begun to use Stress Management Programs for employees who are

having trouble adapting to stress at the workplace or at home. Many people have spill over stress

from home into their working environment. There are a couple of ways businesses today try to

alleviate stress on their employees. One way is individual intervention. This starts off by

monitoring the stressors in the individual. After monitoring what causes the stress, next is

attacking that stressor and trying to figure out ways to alleviate them in any way. Developing

social support is vital in individual intervention, being with others to help you cope has proven to

be a very effective way to avoid stress. Avoiding the stressors all together is the best possible

way to get rid of stress but that is very difficult to do in the workplace. Changing behavioral

patterns, May in turn, help reduce some of the stress that is put on at work as well.


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Employee Assistance Programs can include in-house counseling programs on managing stress.

Evaluative research has been conducted on EAPs that teach individual stress control and

inoculation techniques such as relaxation, biofeedback, and cognitive restructuring. Studies show

that these programs can reduce the level of physiological arousal associated with high stress.

Participants who master behavioral and cognitive stress-relief techniques report less tension,

fewer sleep disturbances, and an improved ability to cope with workplace stressors.

Another way of reducing stress at work is by simply changing the workload for an employee.

Some may be too overwhelmed that they have so much work to get done, or some also may have

such little work that they are not sure what to do with themselves at work. Improving

communications between employees also sounds like a simple approach, but it is very effective

for helping reduce stress. Sometimes making the employee feel like they are a bigger part of the

company, such as giving them a voice in bigger situations shows that you trust them and value

their opinion. Having all the employees mesh well together is a very underlying factor which can

take away much of workplace stress. If employees fit well together and feed off of each other,

the chances of lots of stress are very minimal. Lastly, changing the physical qualities of the

workplace may reduce stress. Changing simple things such as the lighting, air temperature, odor,

and up to date technology.

Intervention is broken down into three steps: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary. Primary deals

with eliminating the stressors all together. Secondary deals with detecting stress and figuring out

ways to cope with it and improving stress management skills. Finally, tertiary deals with

recovery and rehabbing the stress all together. These three steps are usually the most effective

way to deal with stress not just in the workplace, but overall.

Techniques

High demand levels load the person with extra effort and work. A new time schedule is worked

up, and until the period of abnormally high, personal demand has passed, the normal frequency

and duration of former schedules is limited.

Many techniques cope with the stresses life brings. Some of the following ways induce a lower

than usual stress level, temporarily, to compensate the biological tissues involved; others face the

stressor at a higher level of abstraction:

Autogenic training Social activity Cognitive therapy Conflict resolution Cranial release technique Getting a hobby Meditation Mindfulness (psychology)


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Deep breathing Yoga Nidra Nootropics Reading novels Prayer Relaxation techniques Artistic expression Fractional relaxation Physical exercise Progressive relaxation Spas Somatic training Spending time in nature Stress balls

Natural medicine Clinically validated alternative treatments Time management Planning and decision making Listening to certain types of relaxing music Spending quality time with pets

Techniques of stress management will vary according to the philosophical paradigm.

Stress prevention & resilience

Although many techniques have traditionally been developed to deal with the consequences ofstress considerable research has also been conducted on the prevention of stress, a subject closely

related to psychological resilience-building. A number of self-help approaches to stress-

prevention and resilience-building have been developed, drawing mainly on the theory and

practice of cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Effectiveness of stress management

Stress management has physiological and immune benefits.

Positive outcomes are observed using a combination of non-drug interventions

Treatment of anger or hostility,

Autogenic training

Talking therapy (around relationship or existential issues)

Biofeedback


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STRESS MANAGEMENT TOOLS AT ORGANISATION

First one is STRESS RISK ASSESSMENT whichis a preventive measure taken by

organization management to prevent work related stress in organization.

The second one is HEALTHAND SAFETY EXECUTIVE

HEALTH AND SAFTEY EXECUTIVE (HSE)

The UKs Health & Safety Executive has guidelines for employers to help them understand and

meet their legal obligations.

The HSEs stress Management Standards set out a structure that employers can follow, showing

how to risk-assess a company for stress, and how to tackle any problems identified as needing

action. The Standards look at several areas:

i. the demands made on employees;ii. the level of control employees have over their work;

iii. the support employees receive from managers and colleagues;iv. the clarity of an employee's role within the organization;v. the nature of relationships at work;

vi. And the way that changes is managed.The Standards are designed to build a structure that lets employers take care

of stress at work. They let you easily identify current performance, judge

how this differs from benchmark standards, and develop solutions to close

the gap

The Health & Safety Executive Stress Management Standards (Note onthe Management Standards)

The descriptions in each of the standards shown as What should be happening/states to be

achieved define a desirable set of conditions to work towards. You can use the data from the

HSE indicator and analysis tools to define the gap between where you are now and where you

want to get to. The analysis tool will provide a set of data on your performance on each of the six

standard areas. Also provided are representative data on current performance in the UK

workforce. You will probably find that you are good on some things and less good on others.

Together with any existing data you may have (for example, on sickness absence or staff

turnover), this information can be used in focus group discussions with employees To determinewhat is happening locally and what should be done to close the gap.

Demands

Includes issues like workload, work patterns, and the work environment

The standard is that:


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Employees indicate that they are able to cope with the demands oftheir jobs; and

Systems are in place locally to respond to any individual concerns.What should be happening / states to be achieved:

The organization provides employees with adequate and achievabledemands in relation to the agreed hours

of work Peoples skills and abilities are matched to the job demands; Jobs are designed to be within the capabilities of employees; and Employees concerns about their work environment are addressed.

Control

How much say the person has in the way they do their work


Employees indicate that they are able to have a say about the waythey do their work; and


Where possible, employees have control over their pace of work; Employees are encouraged to use their skills and initiative to do their

work;

Where possible, employees are encouraged to develop new skills tohelp them undertake new

and challenging pieces of work; The organization encourages employees to develop their skills; Employees have a say over when breaks can be taken; and Employees are consulted over their work patterns.

Support

Includes the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the

organization, line management and colleagues



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Employees indicate that they receive adequate information andsupport from their colleagues and superiors; and


The organization has policies and procedures to adequately supportemployees;

Systems are in place to enable and encourage managers to supporttheir staff

Systems are in place to enable and encourage employees to supporttheir colleagues;

Employees know what support is available and how and when toaccess it;

Employees know how to access the required resources to do theirjob; and

Employees receive regular and constructive feedback.Relationship

Includes promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with

unacceptable behavior


Employees indicate that they are not subjected to unacceptablebehaviors, e.g. bullying at work; and


The organization promotes positive behaviors at work to avoidconflict and ensure fairness;

Employees share information relevant to their work; The organization has agreed policies and procedures to prevent or

resolve unacceptable behavior;

Systems are in place to enable and encourage managers to deal withunacceptable behavior; and

Systems are in place to enable and encourage employees to reportunacceptable behavior.


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Role

Whether people understand their role within the organization and whether

the organization ensures that the person does not have conflicting roles


Employees indicate that they understand their role andresponsibilities; and


The organization ensures that, as far as possible, the differentrequirements it places upon employees

are compatible; The organization provides information to enable employees to

understand their role and responsibilities;

The organization ensures that, as far as possible, the requirements itplaces upon employees are clear; and

Systems are in place to enable employees to raise concerns about anyuncertainties or conflicts they have in

Their role and responsibilities.Change

How organizational change (large or small) is managed and communicatedin the organization


Employees indicate that the organization engages them frequentlywhen undergoing an organizational change;

and Systems are in place locally to respond to any individual concerns.

What should be happening / states to be achieved:

The organization provides employees with timely information toenable them to understand the reasons for

proposed changes; The organization ensures adequate employee consultation on

changes and provides opportunities for

employees to influence proposals;


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Where possible, employees are encouraged to develop new skills tohelp them undertake new

and challenging pieces of work; Employees are aware of the probable impact of any changes to their

jobs. If necessary, employees are given

training to support any changes in their jobs; Employees are aware of timetables for changes; Employees have access to relevant support during changes

STRESS RISK ASSESSMENT

This determines

The levels of stress Main sources of work related stress Steps to be taken to prevent stress in work place

There are 3 types of SRA they are:

o Task based SRAo Team based SRAo Future focused SRA

TASK BASED SRA

This identifies the stressors and hazardous situations to human efforts that arise from complex

and unusual situations. This is to be included in pre risk assessment. This links stress and safety

TEAM BASED SRA

This identifies stress in teams that do similar work in organization and finds local solutions to

them using employee involvement, this is very important in light of changes in HSE act 2002.

FUTURE FOCUSED SRA

Identifies stress in employees from future projects, tasks, organizational changes and planning

changes. This also involves employees for solution.

The stress risk assessment is considered by the organizations as the most effective stress

management technique because it gives importance to source rather than symptoms.it is a

proactive measure.


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THE INDIAN SENARIO

In NPL Chennai there different stress management techniques used at work place,Stressmanagement training is often presented in corporate training programs by non-psychologists.

While some of these programs are informational, they usually do not help one to make the life

changes needed to reduce stress substantially.

They at Jayakartha have proficient trained psychologists and acclaimed Yoga therapists combine

relaxation skill training, cognitive therapy techniques based on Neuro Linguistic Programming

and Yoga to assist individuals in managing their lives more effectively, and therefore reducing

life stress considerably. NLP therapy techniques help to reexamine the importance of life

stressors and to manage the outcome of stressful events better. Yoga blends itself as a traditional

method of relaxing the physiological self and allows replenishment of the mind, body and soul.

This comprehensive psychological and physiological approach to stress management results in

significant life management changes and reduced stress symptoms. This will be achieved by:

Identifying sources of stress Set goals to achieve specific targets - chunking long time goals Develop deep levels of rapport to establish relationships of trust and enjoy quality

relationship with people

Be motivated and stay motivated Understanding the Meta Model Anchoring Peace and relaxations Yoga exercises to lower and relax the physical self

Even though many organizations like NPL are using stress management techniques still a survey

by INTERNATIONAL STRESS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, INDIA says that 90% of

corporate employees feel stress every day at work.

This can be eliminated through fine relationships between management and employees.

CONCLUSION

So stress can be managed through commitment of management and employees and awareness in

both and also some of the tools and techniques mentioned above. However only good

relationships can solve such complex issues. Because:

STRESS MANAGEMENT = GOOD MANAGEMENT

AND

GOOD MANAGEMENT=STRESS MANAGEMENT


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Stress Managemen Paper