| The Workplace stress
In today's workplace, stress is as much a part of modern life as breathing. How you handle stress can improve your situation or make matters worse. Stress at work can affect performance, memory and health.
Stress response is the set of physical and emotional changes the human body makes in response to a threat. It sometimes is called the "fight-or-flight" response. Stress can be good (called "eustress") when it helps us perform better, or it can be bad ("distress") when it causes upset or makes us sick. When people refer to stress they generally mean distress.
The Key reason - U.S Work-style:
"The stress tsunami is coming over from the U.S.," said Cary Cooper, a professor of organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School in England.
Psychologists point to several reasons: Globalization and downsizing are putting ever more pressure on service workers, who are expected to do more as managers and shareholders push to lift profits.
Another problem is mobility. Workers are now more willing and able to relocate for a job. This brings with it a series of strains and the loss of a social support system that can exacerbate stress.
According to Stephen Palmer, professor of psychology at City University, London, too many companies are also rewarding bad behavior by encouraging staff, either overtly or indirectly, to work longer hours or more intensively.
"In industries like oil and banks you have companies that are making billions," he said. "There's no excuse for them to treat their staff like this."
Companies are also suffering
Data collated in 2005 and 2006 in Britain for the Health and Safety Commission, the body responsible for regulating this issue, showed that self-reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for an estimated 10.5 million reported lost working days per year.
In an earlier study, the European Commission estimated that work-related stress affected at least 40 million workers in the 15 countries that were EU members before the recent enlargements, at a cost of at least €20 billion, or $26 billion, annually.
Some recent polls have also highlighted the links between work-related stress, violence at work, the abuse of drugs and alcohol and tobacco consumption. A study released in February by a British charity, the Samaritans, found that a third of those questioned drank to help them feel less stressed, compared with 23 percent in 2003.
How to Manage Workplace Stress?
Companies can hold so-called stress audits, where experts look at their practices and suggest ways of alleviating the burden. Managers can also encourage stress workshops, or one-on-one employee assistance programs and counseling, then act on the findings. Email and time-management training are particularly important, experts say. Bosses should also endorse flexible working hours and working from home as much as possible.
Employees need to talk to their bosses to try to arrange ways that might alleviate pressure. They should rest and recuperate by taking breaks during the working day and spending as much time as possible with family or doing something away from the office, and from office politics. They should also minimize commuting time. Then of course there are the staples of a healthy diet, good exercise and less alcohol and tobacco.
Stress Management techniques
Effective stress prevention and management provides a mean of improving national health thereby dramatically lowering healthcare costs and enhancing productivity. Stress management options available range from relaxation techniques to Pharmacotherapy
Prescription medicines, OTC and natural alternatives are options available to address individual symptoms like headache, muscle pains, anxiety, insomnia, GI symptoms etc.
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