stress at work essay

16 Causes of Workplace Stress & How to Prevent Its Effects

• Are you falling behind with your work commitments?
• Snappy with loved ones and having trouble sleeping?
• Are you working long hours yet not getting enough done?

If your job demands more than you can deliver, you could be experiencing workplace stress (Schwartz & McCarthy, 2014). According to the American Psychological Association (2018), “everyone who has had a job has, at some point, felt the pressure of work-related stress.”

While seemingly inevitable, we can do much to prevent stress and reduce its effects. This article explores many of the causes and introduces practical measures that help.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Stress & Burnout Prevention Exercises (PDF) for free . These science-based exercises will equip you and your clients with tools to better manage stress and find a healthier balance in your life.

This Article Contains:

The psychology of workplace stress, symptoms of workplace stress: 3 examples, 16 possible causes of stress at work, 5 negative effects of workplace stress, how to manage stress according to research, 9 tips to prevent workplace stress, our stress-relief resources & more, a take-home message.

“Stress is one of the major reasons employees cite for their absence from work, and stress-related absence is increasing.”

Neenan, 2018, p. 92

Unfortunately, chronic stress is all too common in the workplace. According to the American Psychological Association’s (2020) annual Stress in America survey , work is consistently cited as one of the top sources of stress in people’s lives.

What is stress?

It is important to begin by understanding what we mean by the term stress.

Definitions of stress typically fall into three categories (Gross, 2020, p. 199):

• “Stress as a stimulus. ”
• “Stress as a response. ”
• “Stress as an interaction between an organism and its environment.”

Each category is a good match for the three models of stress most often used in research (Gross, 2020):

• Engineering model Suggests that external stressors ( stimuli ) produce a stress reaction in the individual. Stress is what happens to the person, not within the person.
• Physiological model Focuses on what happens within the person in response to the stress.
• Transactional model A blend of the other two models concerned with the relationship between the person and the environment.

This article mainly focuses on the transactional model, looking at what causes workplace stress ,  its effects , and how we cope.

Workplace stress

According to former associate director of the Centre for Stress Management and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist Michael Neenan (2018), stress is the result of pressures exceeding our ability to cope with them.

If we experience too much stress in the workplace, we become psychologically overwhelmed and unable to avoid the tensions found in our jobs (American Psychological Association, 2018).

Resilience and stress

Psychology literature broadly agrees that resilience offers a buffer against stress (Rutter, 1985, 2012).

While the popular view of resilience concerns bouncing back from adversity or stressful situations, Neenan (2018) suggests that building resilience requires us to face adversity, handle it, and ultimately return stronger.

Most importantly, resilience and the capacity to handle stress are for everyone , not just the extraordinary few (Neenan, 2018). Crucially, resilience can be learned and grown using lessons from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

CBT’s strength in handling stress and difficult situations involves recognizing what can be changed and what cannot (yet), as follows (modified from Neenan, 2018):

• If you can change some, or all, of the situation, then take the required steps to do so.
• If you cannot change any aspect of the situation, then make every effort to change your emotional reaction to it.
• If you can change some or all of the situation, but your degree of emotional distress means you can’t see that as an option, then moderate that distress before taking practical problem-solving steps.

This CBT approach (along with other therapeutic treatments) has proven successful in managing difficult situations while handling and reducing stress.

After all, “you can’t always avoid the tensions that occur on the job. Yet you can take steps to manage work-related stress” (American Psychological Association, 2018).

With more people working remotely and able to work anytime and anywhere, there is even more spillover of workplace stress into our home lives (Stitch, 2020).

“A stressful work environment can contribute to problems such as headache, stomachache, sleep disturbances, short temper, and difficulty concentrating.”

American Psychological Association, 2018

Over time, the symptoms of workplace stress may become chronic, damaging physical and mental health.

Prolonged occupational stress resulting from extended, frequent, or intense stressors leads to distress, occurring in one or more of the following forms (Quick & Henderson, 2016).

Medical distress

The impact of long-term stress on the body is profound and well documented. Research has linked shift work, hazardous working conditions, and social hazards (all factors known to increase stress) with cardiovascular disease.

Other studies indicate that stress is an important factor in “the onset of cancers and having an indirect role in worsening the disease and limiting recovery” (Quick & Henderson, 2016, p. 3).

Surprisingly, an increased risk of physical injuries – the fourth leading cause of death – has also been linked to stress.

Psychological distress

Two of the leading and most severe psychological impacts of stress include the increased likelihood of anxiety and depression (Quick & Henderson, 2016).

Depression is ranked as one of the most significant factors in illness, disease, and loss of productivity in the workplace, affecting around 16% of adults (Quick & Henderson, 2016). Prolonged stress can also lead to anxiety disorders and burnout, with high costs to the individual and the organization.

Behavioral distress

Stress is also a significant factor in behavioral distress, increasing drug use, including reliance on tobacco, alcohol, and prescription and illicit drugs.

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Stress at work has many causes, often specific to the individual and the workplace. Common workplace stressors include (American Psychological Association, 2018; Neenan, 2018):

• Longer working hours impacting work–life balance
• Job insecurity
• Excessive and tiring commutes
• Increasing work demands
• Unrealistic deadlines
• Limited opportunities for growth, development, or advancement
• Challenging or difficult colleagues
• Too many meetings
• Email overload
• Incompetent or uncaring managers and supervisors
• Meaningless targets
• Constantly changing technology
• Lack of social support
• Insufficient control over job-related decisions
• Conflicting job demands and unclear performance expectations

In most cases, multiple stressors combine to produce our work-related stress, differing in severity through the day and even our career.

While the highest performers can often survive and thrive in stressful environments, stress remains overwhelming and damaging for the rest of us (Kovacs, 2007).

The adverse effects of workplace stress can take many forms, including the following (Contrada & Baum, 2011):

Unhealthy eating

Research shows that stress impacts not only our physiology, but also our behavior. High levels of stress can be associated with both increased (e.g., saturated fat consumption) and decreased (e.g., overall calories) food intake (Contrada & Baum, 2011).

Studies in adolescents and adults have also shown they consume more snacks when stressed (Contrada & Baum, 2011).

Recreational drug use

Stress is associated with a marked increase in recreational drug use – legal (e.g., alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine) and illegal (e.g., heroin and cocaine). While the exact reasons for the association may vary, they may include the belief that drug use can reduce stress. Further complicating matters, physical and psychological reactions to abstaining from previously self-administered drugs can increase stress as a symptom of withdrawal (Contrada & Baum, 2011).

Burnout & workplace stress

Prolonged stress in the workplace often leads to burnout and is particularly likely in suppliers of critical services to the public. During natural disasters or health crises, healthcare and emergency service workers often work long hours over many days and weeks, reporting severe psychological distress (Moss, 2021).

Can workplace stress cause depression?

Workplace stress has a significant impact on the incidence and duration of depression. However, research has found that improving workers’ ability to cope and manage stressful situations through stress management programs (including cognitive-behavioral approaches) reduces absence rates due to sickness and staff turnover, and eases depressive symptoms (Mino, Babazono, Tsuda, & Yasuda, 2006).

Negative effects at the company level

While stress can be harmful to the employee, it also has the potential to damage the company due to increased staff absence due to sickness, poor productivity, high turnover, low morale, poor motivation, and increased employee complaints (Attridge, 2017).

The American Institute of Stress estimates the cost of stress to U.S. industry to be over $300 billion annually.

The cost of workplace stress – and how to reduce it – Rob Cooke

The American Psychological Association (2018) offers several research-based techniques for managing stress, at work and beyond:

• Track your stressors. Keep a journal and track situations that create the most stress over several weeks and how you handle them. What are you thinking? How does it feel? In what environments do the stressors (people, circumstances, physical) appear? You are looking for patterns in what is causing stress and how you react.
• Develop healthy, helpful, and positive responses. We often rely on unhealthy choices to cope with stress: fast food, alcohol, or a cigarette. Look for healthy ways to de-stress, such as exercising (even a fast walk will help), getting into nature, meeting with friends, meditation, or yoga. Good sleeping habits are also essential.
• Establish boundaries. In our always available online world, it is increasingly important to set clear work–life boundaries. Don’t check emails after your evening meal or over the weekend. Agree to only talk (or vent) about work for 30 minutes when at home .
• Recharge and switch off. We need time to reach our pre-stress balance. Walking after work (whether working remotely or in the office) or using the commute to listen to music or an audiobook can encourage the transition between work and home life. Such practices can help by bookending the workday, disconnecting, and focusing on non-work activities.
• Learn how to relax. While it sounds easy, learning to relax may take practice until it becomes a habit. Find ways to experience the present moment, perhaps using breathing exercises, mindfulness techniques, savoring a meal , or listening to music.
• Talk to your supervisor. It is in your boss’s interest for you to be happy, healthy, and in a positive and productive working environment. Talk to your manager to develop a realistic plan for managing or removing stressors. Being given more meaningful tasks may help.
• Seek support. Support is often all around us when we look. Friends, family, and employee support programs can help you manage stress and adopt more healthy coping mechanisms.

Stress doesn’t always need to be bad. By encountering stress and learning how to cope, we can grow and develop greater resilience to make future situations less difficult. Remember, “resilience is about managing emotions, not suppressing them” (Neenan, 2018, p. 9).

The following tips help reduce the likelihood of feeling overloaded and overwhelmed (modified from Halvorson, 2014):

• Practice self-compassion , permitting yourself to make mistakes. Rather than dwell on the past, learn from it and improve your performance.
• Picture the overall goal or purpose and reflect on the why behind your behavior. You will be more likely to stop and plan rather than burn too much energy on being busy.
• Use routines whenever possible. Each new task and choice takes time and creates mental tension, so find ways to reduce the number of decisions.
• Interesting activities replenish energy. Being curious and finding something that captivates you will help you recharge.
• Add when and where to every item on your task to avoid the week slipping away without getting everything done on time.
• Consider situations and events that trigger stress. Come up with a set of if–then plans (e.g., “ If X happens, I will do Y .”). Planning for the worst will leave you prepared and less stressed if it happens.
• Striving for perfection can lead to procrastination and even burnout. Focus on being good and on improving, rather than setting standards you can’t meet.
• Reflect on past successes and the progress you have already made. You have come a long way; give yourself the credit you deserve.
• Recognize what motivates you. Life is full of opportunities; find what excites you and apply yourself to the challenge.

17 Exercises To Reduce Stress & Burnout

Help your clients prevent burnout, handle stressors, and achieve a healthy, sustainable work-life balance with these 17 Stress & Burnout Prevention Exercises [PDF].

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Before looking at a sample of the many worksheets and exercises we have available, you might like to download our three Stress & Burnout Prevention Exercises (PDF) for free .

These science-based exercises were sourced from our Positive Psychology Toolkit© , an online collection of over 400 mindfulness-based exercises, interventions, and tests. They will equip you and your clients with tools to better manage stress and find a healthier balance in life.

For some additional free stress-relief tools to help you or your client better manage stress, check out the following:

• Squeeze and Release This group activity helps participants discover the energizing potential of positive stress, known as  eustress , which can help improve motivation, performance, and emotional wellbeing.
• Coping With Stress This two-part exercise invites clients to list experienced physiological and emotional symptoms of stress and brainstorm strategies to reduce, cope with, or eliminate these sources of stress.
• Coping: Stressors and Resources This worksheet helps clients identify past, present, and future stressors and link them with coping resources they can use to overcome them.
• Identifying Your Stress Resources This worksheet helps clients identify external resources they can connect with and draw strength from during stressful times.
• One Hour Stress Plan This worksheet provides a 60-minute action plan for dealing with intense demands, helping clients work systematically through a list of tasks that require their most urgent attention.

17 Stress & Burnout Prevention Exercises If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others manage stress without spending hours on research and session prep, check out this collection of 17 validated stress management tools for practitioners . Use them to help others identify signs of burnout and create more balance in their lives.

Stress affects us all. While a certain amount of pressure in the workplace can be invigorating and even exciting, too much for too long can damage our physical and mental wellbeing.

Increased stress potentially leads to cardiovascular disease, cancer, poor sleep, difficulty concentrating, damage to relationships, and more (American Psychological Association, 2018; Quick & Henderson, 2016).

Psychological distress is also a significant factor in burnout and can lead to depression and other mental health issues.

For employers, having a stressed staff results in lost productivity, absenteeism, and the risk of accidents and legal proceedings.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Stress can be managed and even become positive by addressing, reducing, or removing some of the causes; establishing boundaries between work and life outside; and allowing staff to recharge.

Review the theoretical background to stress, understand its causes (for you or your client), and adopt tools and techniques that reduce feelings of being overloaded and overwhelmed. Over time, it is possible to form helpful habits, discard old negative ones, and change our relationship to stress.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Stress & Burnout Prevention Exercises (PDF) for free .

• American Psychological Association. (2018). Coping with stress at work . http://www.apa.org/topics/healthy-workplaces/work-stress
• American Psychological Association. (2020). Stress in America: A national mental health crisis.  Retrieved August 26, 2021, from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/sia-mental-health-crisis.pdf
• Attridge, D. (2017). Effects of work-related stress . University of Cambridge Human Resources. Retrieved August 26, 2021, from https://www.hr.admin.cam.ac.uk/policies-procedures/managing-stress-and-promoting-wellbeing-work-policy/policy-statement/effects
• Contrada, R. J., & Baum, A. (2011). The handbook of stress science: Biology, psychology, and health . Springer.
• Gross, R. D. (2020). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour . Hodder and Stoughton.
• Halvorson, H. (2014). Nine ways successful people defeat stress. In HBR guide to managing stress at work (pp. 1–11). Harvard Business Review Press.
• Kovacs, M. (2007). Stress and coping in the workplace . The British Psychological Society. Retrieved August 25, 2021, from https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-20/edition-9/stress-and-coping-workplace
• Mino, Y., Babazono, A., Tsuda, T., & Yasuda, N. (2006). Can stress management at the workplace prevent depression? A randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics , 75 (3), 177–182.
• Moss, J. (2021). Rethinking burnout. In HBR guide to beating burnout (pp. 1–13). Harvard Business Review Press.
• Neenan, M. (2018). Developing resilience: A cognitive-behavioural approach . Routledge.
• Quick, J., & Henderson, D. (2016). Occupational stress: Preventing suffering, enhancing wellbeing. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , 13 (5), 459.
• Rutter, M. (1985). Resilience in the face of adversity: Protective factors and resistance in psychiatric disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry , 147 (1), 598–611.
• Rutter, M. (2012). Resilience as a dynamic concept. Development and Psychopathology , 24 (2), 335–344.
• Schwartz, T., & McCarthy, C. (2014). Manage your energy not your time. In HBR guide to managing stress at work (pp. 53–80). Harvard Business Review Press.
• Stitch, J. (2020). A review of workplace stress in the virtual office. Intelligent Buildings International , 12 (3), 208–220.

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When is workplace stress too much?

Stress at work warning signs, tip 1: beat workplace stress by reaching out, tip 2: support your health with exercise and nutrition.

• Tip 3: Don't skimp on sleep

Tip 4: Prioritize and organize

Tip 5: break bad habits that contribute to workplace stress, be proactive about your job and your workplace duties, look for satisfaction and meaning in your work, how managers or employers can reduce stress at work, stress at work.

Whatever your work demands, there are steps you can take to protect yourself from the damaging effects of stress, improve your job satisfaction, and bolster your well-being on and off the job.

Stress isn’t always bad. A little bit of stress can help you stay focused, energetic, and able to meet new challenges in the workplace. It’s what keeps you on your toes during a presentation or alert to prevent accidents or costly mistakes. But in today’s hectic world, the workplace too often seems like an emotional roller coaster. Long hours, tight deadlines, and ever-increasing demands can leave you feeling worried, drained, and overwhelmed. And when stress exceeds your ability to cope, it stops being helpful and starts causing damage to your mind and body—as well as to your job satisfaction.

You can’t control everything in your work environment, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless, even when you’re stuck in a difficult situation. If stress on the job is interfering with your work performance, health, or personal life, it’s time to take action. No matter what you do for a living, what your ambitions are, or how stressful your job is, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce your overall stress levels and regain a sense of control at work.

Common causes of workplace stress include:

• Fear of being laid off
• More overtime due to staff cutbacks
• Pressure to perform to meet rising expectations but with no increase in job satisfaction
• Pressure to work at optimum levels—all the time!
• Lack of control over how you do your work

When you feel overwhelmed at work, you lose confidence and may become angry, irritable, or withdrawn. Other signs and symptoms of excessive stress at work include:

• Feeling anxious, irritable, or depressed
• Apathy, loss of interest in work
• Problems sleeping
• Trouble concentrating
• Muscle tension or headaches
• Stomach problems
• Social withdrawal
• Loss of sex drive
• Using alcohol or drugs to cope

Speak to a Licensed Therapist

BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours.

Sometimes the best stress-reducer is simply sharing your stress with someone close to you. The act of talking it out and getting support and sympathy—especially face-to-face—can be a highly-effective way of blowing off steam and regaining your sense of calm. The other person doesn’t have to “fix” your problems; they just need to be a good listener.

Turn to co-workers for support. Having a solid support system at work can help buffer you from the negative effects of job stress. Just remember to listen to them and offer support when they are in need as well. If you don’t have a close friend at work, you can take steps to be more social with your coworkers. When you take a break, for example, instead of directing your attention to your smartphone, try engaging your colleagues.

Lean on your friends and family members. As well as increasing social contact at work, having a strong network of supportive friends and family members is extremely important to managing stress in all areas of your life. On the flip side, the lonelier and more isolated you are, the greater your vulnerability to stress.

[Read: Social Support for Stress Relief]

Build new satisfying friendships. If you don’t feel that you have anyone to turn to—at work or in your free time—it’s never too late to  build new friendships . Meet new people with common interests by taking a class or joining a club, or by  volunteering your time . As well as expanding your social network,  helping others—especially those who are appreciative—delivers immense pleasure and can help significantly reduce stress.

When you’re overly focused on work, it’s easy to neglect your physical health. But when you’re supporting your health with good nutrition and exercise, you’re stronger and more resilient to stress.

Taking care of yourself doesn’t require a total lifestyle overhaul. Even small things can lift your mood, increase your energy, and make you feel like you’re back in the driver’s seat.

Make time for regular exercise

Aerobic exercise—activity that raises your heart rate and makes you sweat—is a hugely effective way to lift your mood, increase energy, sharpen focus, and relax both the mind and body. Rhythmic movement—such as walking, running, dancing, drumming, etc.—is especially soothing for the nervous system. For maximum stress relief, try to get at least 30 minutes of activity on most days . If it’s easier to fit into your schedule, break up the activity into two or three shorter segments.

And when stress is mounting at work, try to take a quick break and move away from the stressful situation. Take a stroll outside the workplace if possible. Physical movement can help you regain your balance.

Make smart, stress-busting food choices

Your food choices can have a huge impact on how you feel during the work day. Eating small, frequent and healthy meals, for example, can help your body maintain an even level of blood sugar. This maintains your energy and focus, and prevents mood swings. Low blood sugar, on the other hand, can make you feel anxious and irritable, while eating too much can make you lethargic.

Minimize sugar and refined carbs. When you’re stressed, you may crave sugary snacks, baked goods, or comfort foods such as pasta or French fries. But these  “feel-good” foods quickly lead to a crash in mood and energy, making symptoms of stress worse, not better.

Reduce your intake of foods that can adversely affect your mood, such as caffeine, trans fats, and foods with high levels of chemical preservatives or hormones.

Eat more Omega-3 fatty acids to give your mood a boost. The  best sources are fatty fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines), seaweed, flaxseed, and walnuts.

Avoid nicotine. Smoking when you’re feeling stressed may seem calming, but nicotine is a powerful stimulant, leading to higher, not lower, levels of anxiety.

Drink alcohol in moderation. Alcohol may seem like it’s temporarily reducing your worries , but too much can cause anxiety as it wears off and adversely affect your mood.

Tip 3: Don’t skimp on sleep

You may feel like you just don’t have the time get a full night’s sleep. But skimping on sleep interferes with your daytime productivity, creativity, problem-solving skills, and ability to focus. The better rested you are, the better equipped you’ll be to tackle your job responsibilities and cope with workplace stress.

Improve the quality of your sleep by making healthy changes to your daytime and nightly routines . For example, go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, be smart about what you eat and drink during the day, and make adjustments to your sleep environment. Aim for 8 hours a night—the amount of sleep most adults need to operate at their best.

• Make sure your bed is comfortable. Experiment with different mattresses, toppers, pillows, or an adjustable base .
• Turn off screens one hour before bedtime. The light emitted from TV, tablets, smartphones, and computers suppresses your body’s production of melatonin and can severely disrupt your sleep.
• Avoid stimulating activity and stressful situations before bedtime such as catching up on work. Instead, focus on quiet, soothing activities, such as reading or listening to soft music, while keeping lights low.

Stress and shift work

Working night, early morning, or rotating shifts can impact your sleep quality, which in turn may affect productivity and performance, leaving you more vulnerable to stress.

• Adjust your sleep-wake cycle by exposing yourself to bright light when you wake up at night and using bright lamps or daylight-simulation bulbs in your workplace. Then, wear dark glasses on your journey home to block out sunlight and encourage sleepiness.
• Limit the number of night or irregular shifts you work in a row to prevent sleep deprivation from mounting up.
• Avoid frequently rotating shifts so you can maintain the same sleep schedule.
• Eliminate noise and light from your bedroom during the day. Use blackout curtains or a sleep mask, turn off the phone, and use ear plugs or a soothing sound machine to block out daytime noise.

When job and workplace stress threatens to overwhelm you, there are simple, practical steps you can take to regain control.

Time management tips for reducing job stress

Create a balanced schedule.  All work and no play is a recipe for burnout. Try to find a balance between work and family life, social activities and solitary pursuits, daily responsibilities and downtime.

Leave earlier in the morning.  Even 10-15 minutes can make the difference between frantically rushing and having time to ease into your day. If you’re always running late, set your clocks and watches fast to give yourself extra time and decrease your stress levels.

Plan regular breaks.  Make sure to take short breaks throughout the day to take a walk, chat with a friendly face, or practice a relaxation technique . Also try to get away from your desk or work station for lunch. It will help you relax and recharge and be more, not less, productive.

Establish healthy boundaries. Many of us feel pressured to be available 24 hours a day or obliged to keep checking our smartphones for work-related messages and updates. But it’s important to maintain periods where you’re not working or thinking about work. That may mean not checking emails or taking work calls at home in the evening or at weekends.

Don’t over-commit yourself. Avoid scheduling things back-to-back or trying to fit too much into one day. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the “shoulds” and the “musts.” Drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.

Task management tips for reducing job stress

Prioritize tasks.  Tackle high-priority tasks first. If you have something particularly unpleasant to do, get it over with early. The rest of your day will be more pleasant as a result.

Break projects into small steps.  If a large project seems overwhelming, focus on one manageable step at a time, rather than taking on everything at once.

Delegate responsibility.  You don’t have to do it all yourself. Let go of the desire to control every little step. You’ll be letting go of unnecessary stress in the process.

Be willing to compromise. Sometimes, if you and a co-worker or boss can both adjust your expectations a little, you’ll be able to find a happy middle ground that reduces the stress levels for everyone.

Many of us make job stress worse with negative thoughts and behavior. If you can turn these self-defeating habits around, you’ll find employer-imposed stress easier to handle.

Resist perfectionism. When you set unrealistic goals for yourself, you’re setting yourself up to fall short. Aim to do your best; no one can ask for more than that.

Flip your negative thinking. If you focus on the downside of every situation and interaction, you’ll find yourself drained of energy and motivation. Try to think positively about your work, avoid negative co-workers, and pat yourself on the back about small accomplishments, even if no one else does.

Don’t try to control the uncontrollable.  Many things at work are beyond our control, particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control, such as the way you choose to react to problems.

Look for humor in the situation. When used appropriately, humor is a great way to relieve stress in the workplace. When you or those around you start taking work too seriously, find a way to lighten the mood by sharing a joke or funny story.

Clean up your act. If your desk or work space is a mess, file and throw away the clutter; just knowing where everything is can save time and cut stress.

When we feel uncertain, helpless, or out of control, our stress levels are the highest. Here are some things you can do to regain a sense of control over your job and career.

Talk to your employer about workplace stressors. Healthy and happy employees are more productive, so your employer has an incentive to tackle workplace stress whenever possible. Rather than rattling off a list of complaints, let your employer know about specific conditions that are impacting your work performance.

[Read: Mental Health in the Workplace]

Clarify your job description. Ask your supervisor for an updated description of your job duties and responsibilities. You may find that some of the tasks that have piled up are not included in your job description, and you can gain a little leverage by pointing out that you’ve been putting in work over and above the parameters of your job.

Request a transfer. If your workplace is large enough, you might be able to escape a toxic environment by transferring to another department.

Ask for new duties. If you’ve been doing the exact same work for a long time, ask to try something new: a different grade level, a different sales territory, a different machine.

Take time off. If burnout seems inevitable , take a complete break from work. Go on vacation, use up your sick days, ask for a temporary leave-of-absence—anything to remove yourself from the situation. Use the time away to recharge your batteries and gain perspective.

Feeling bored or unsatisfied with how you spend most of the workday can cause high levels of stress and take a serious toll on your physical and mental health. But for many of us, having a dream job that we find meaningful and rewarding is just that: a dream. Even if you’re not in a position to look for another career that you love and are passionate about—and most of us aren’t—you can still find purpose and joy in a job that you don’t love.

Even in some mundane jobs, you can often focus on how your contributions help others, for example, or provide a much-needed product or service. Focus on aspects of the job that you do enjoy, even if it’s just chatting with your coworkers at lunch. Changing your attitude towards your job can also help you regain a sense of purpose and control.

Employees who are suffering from work-related stress can lead to lower productivity, lost workdays, and a higher turnover of staff. As a manager, supervisor, or employer, though, you can help lower workplace stress. The first step is to act as a positive role model. If you can remain calm in stressful situations, it’s much easier for your employees to follow suit.

Consult your employees.  Talk to them about the specific factors that make their jobs stressful. Some things, such as failing equipment, understaffing, or a lack of supervisor feedback may be relatively straightforward to address. Sharing information with employees can also reduce uncertainty about their jobs and futures.

Communicate with your employees one-on-one. Listening attentively face-to-face will make an employee feel heard and understood. This will help lower their stress and yours, even if you’re unable to change the situation.

Deal with workplace conflicts in a positive way. Respect the dignity of each employee; establish a zero-tolerance policy for harassment.

Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions that affect their jobs. Get employee input on work rules, for example. If they’re involved in the process, they’ll be more committed.

Avoid unrealistic deadlines. Make sure the workload is suitable to your employees’ abilities and resources.

Clarify your expectations. Clearly define employees’ roles, responsibilities, and goals. Make sure management actions are fair and consistent with organizational values.

Offer rewards and incentives. Praise work accomplishments verbally and organization-wide. Schedule potentially stressful periods followed by periods of fewer tight deadlines. Provide opportunities for social interaction among employees.

More Information

• STRESS… At Work - Causes of stress at work and how to prevent it. (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health)
• Stress at Work - Help and advice for dealing with job and workplace stress. (Acas)
• Coping with Stress at Work - Common sources and the steps you can take. (American Psychological Association)
• Workplace stress management strategies for business managers - Actions you can take to relieve stress for your staff. (Bupa)
• Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders. (2013). In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . American Psychiatric Association. Link
• Maulik, Pallab K. “Workplace Stress: A Neglected Aspect of Mental Health Wellbeing.” The Indian Journal of Medical Research 146, no. 4 (October 2017): 441–44. Link
• Bhui, Kamaldeep, Sokratis Dinos, Magdalena Galant-Miecznikowska, Bertine de Jongh, and Stephen Stansfeld. “Perceptions of Work Stress Causes and Effective Interventions in Employees Working in Public, Private and Non-Governmental Organisations: A Qualitative Study.” BJPsych Bulletin 40, no. 6 (December 2016): 318–25. Link
• Wang, Wei, Kiroko Sakata, Asuka Komiya, and Yongxin Li. “What Makes Employees’ Work So Stressful? Effects of Vertical Leadership and Horizontal Management on Employees’ Stress.” Frontiers in Psychology 11 (2020): 340. Link
• Choi, Dong-Woo, Sung-Youn Chun, Sang Ah Lee, Kyu-Tae Han, and Eun-Cheol Park. “Association between Sleep Duration and Perceived Stress: Salaried Worker in Circumstances of High Workload.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15, no. 4 (April 2018): 796. Link
• Can, Yekta Said, Heather Iles-Smith, Niaz Chalabianloo, Deniz Ekiz, Javier Fernández-Álvarez, Claudia Repetto, Giuseppe Riva, and Cem Ersoy. “How to Relax in Stressful Situations: A Smart Stress Reduction System.” Healthcare 8, no. 2 (April 16, 2020): 100. Link
• Saleh, Dalia, Nathalie Camart, Fouad Sbeira, and Lucia Romo. “Can We Learn to Manage Stress? A Randomized Controlled Trial Carried out on University Students.” PLOS ONE 13, no. 9 (September 5, 2018): e0200997. Link
• “Stress, Social Support, and the Buffering Hypothesis. – PsycNET.” Accessed November 15, 2021. Link
• Salmon, P. “Effects of Physical Exercise on Anxiety, Depression, and Sensitivity to Stress: A Unifying Theory.” Clinical Psychology Review 21, no. 1 (February 2001): 33–61. Link
• Toussaint, Loren, Quang Anh Nguyen, Claire Roettger, Kiara Dixon, Martin Offenbächer, Niko Kohls, Jameson Hirsch, and Fuschia Sirois. “Effectiveness of Progressive Muscle Relaxation, Deep Breathing, and Guided Imagery in Promoting Psychological and Physiological States of Relaxation.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2021 (July 3, 2021): e5924040. Link

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9 Ways to Cope With Work Stress and Avoid Burnout

Elizabeth Scott, PhD is an author, workshop leader, educator, and award-winning blogger on stress management, positive psychology, relationships, and emotional wellbeing.

Rachel Goldman, PhD FTOS, is a licensed psychologist, clinical assistant professor, speaker, wellness expert specializing in eating behaviors, stress management, and health behavior change.

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Create a Pre-Work Ritual

• Understand Expectations
• Avoid Conflict

Plan Ahead to Stay Organized

Create a comfortable work environment, choose chunking over multitasking, walk at lunch.

• Do Your Best
• Listen to Music

Research has indicated that the percentage of Americans who are stressed at work is high—and it’s only getting higher. According to a survey of more than 2,000 full-time U.S. employees, ages 18-79, more than half of employees find themselves stressed during at least 60 percent of the workweek.

Work stress has significant health consequences that range from relatively benign (like getting more colds and flus) to potentially serious (such as heart disease and metabolic syndrome).

While stress at work is common, finding a low-stress job is hard (if not impossible). A more realistic approach is to adopt effective coping strategies to reduce stress at your current job. You can take steps to manage work stress by sticking to a positive morning routine, getting clear on requirements at work, adopting smarter time management techniques, and other strategies outlined in this article.

On May 19, 2022, Verywell Mind hosted a virtual Mental Health in the Workplace webinar, hosted by Amy Morin, LCSW. If you missed it, check out this recap to learn ways to foster supportive work environments and helpful strategies to improve your well-being on the job.

After scrambling to get the kids fed and off to school, dodging traffic and combating road rage , and gulping down coffee in lieu of a healthy breakfast, many people arrive to work already stressed. This makes them more reactive to stress in the workplace.

You might be surprised by how affected by workplace stress you are when you have a stressful morning. When you start off the day with planning, good nutrition, and a positive attitude , you might find that the stress of your job rolls off your back more easily.

Get Clear on Your Expectations for the Day

A factor known to contribute to job burnout is unclear requirements for employees. If you don’t know exactly what is expected of you, or if the requirements for your role keep changing with little notice, you might become extremely stressed.

If you find yourself never knowing if what you are doing is enough, it may help to have a talk with your supervisor. You can take the time to go over expectations and discuss strategies for meeting them. This can relieve stress for both of you!

Avoid or Reduce Conflict With Colleagues

Interpersonal conflict takes a toll on your physical and emotional health. Conflict among co-workers can be difficult to escape, so it’s a good idea to avoid conflict at work as much as you can.

Don’t gossip, don’t share too many of your personal opinions about religion and politics, and steer clear of "colorful" office humor.

When possible, try to avoid people who don’t work well with others. If conflict finds you anyway, make sure you know how to handle it appropriately.

Even if you’re a naturally disorganized person, planning ahead to stay organized can greatly decrease your stress at work. Being organized with your time means less rushing in the morning to avoid being late as well as less hustling to get out at the end of the day.

Keeping yourself organized can also mean avoiding the negative effects of clutter, and being more efficient with your work.

Another surprising stressor at work is physical discomfort, often related to where you perform most of your daily tasks (such as your desk).

You might not notice you're stressed if you're sitting in an uncomfortable chair for just a few minutes, but if you practically live in that chair when you’re at work, you might have a sore back and be more reactive to stress because of it.

Even small things like office noise can be distracting and cause feelings of low-grade frustration. Do what you can to create a quiet, comfortable, and soothing workspace.

Multitasking was once heralded as a fantastic way to maximize one’s time and get more done in a day. However, people eventually began to realize that if they had a phone to their ear and were making calculations at the same time, their speed and accuracy (not to mention sanity) often suffered.

There is a certain "frazzled" feeling that comes from splitting your focus and it doesn’t work well for most people. Instead of multitasking to stay on top of your tasks, try another cognitive strategy like chunking .

Many people feel the ill effects of leading a sedentary lifestyle. You can combat the physical and mental effects of work stress by getting some exercise on your lunch break .

If your schedule allows for it, you might try taking short exercise breaks throughout the day. This can help you blow off steam, lift your mood, and get into better shape.

Do Your Best and Reward Yourself

Being a high achiever might make you feel good about yourself and help you excel at work, but being a perfectionist can create problems for you (and those around you).

You might not be able to do everything perfectly, every time—especially in a busy, fast-paced job. A good strategy to avoid the perfectionism trap is always striving to just do your best and making time to congratulate yourself on your efforts. You may find that your results are better and you’ll be much less stressed at work.

Listen to Music on the Drive Home

Listening to music offers many benefits and can be an effective way to relieve stress before, during, and after work. Playing an uplifting song while you make breakfast can help you start the day off feeling better prepared to interact with the people in your life. Likewise, combating the stress of a long day with your favorite music on the drive home can help you wind down and feel less stressed when you get there.

Press Play for Advice on Coping With Stress

Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how you can change your mindset to cope with stress in a healthy way.

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Paychex. Work more or stress less?

Li J, Loerbroks A, Bosma H, Angerer P. Work stress and cardiovascular disease: a life course perspective .  J Occup Health . 2016;58(2):216–219. doi:10.1539/joh.15-0326-OP

By Elizabeth Scott, PhD Elizabeth Scott, PhD is an author, workshop leader, educator, and award-winning blogger on stress management, positive psychology, relationships, and emotional wellbeing.

Recognizing and Reducing Stress in the Workplace

4.13.22   •   by National Fund for Workforce Solutions   •   Employers, Job Quality, Worker Success

At the individual level, stress not only makes people feel fragile and overwhelmed, but also alone. This is especially true at work, where employees feel pressured to be productive and professional regardless of what’s happening in their personal lives. Now, in addition to individual stressors, workers around the world have a major source of stress in common: the collective trauma of a pandemic. Added to this universal trauma are ongoing inequities, political division, climate change-related disasters, economic insecurity, global ramifications of the war in Ukraine, and more.

April is Stress Awareness Month , and now more than ever, it’s essential to be aware of how trauma and major events outside of work as well as pressures within it can cause stress in the workplace . Ultimately, employees can’t be productive, engaged, or innovative if they’re burned out or have poor mental health. Here are some ways employers can help their workers cope with and recover from collective trauma and workplace stress .

How Can Employers Reduce Stress in the Workplace?

The good news is that there are plenty of ways employers can offer healthy strategies for managing stress in the workplace . Here are just a few ideas:

• Prioritize employees’ emotional well-being and sense of safety and comfort. Check in with your employees regularly to see how they’re doing (without being intrusive). An easy way to do this is to kick-off meetings by asking people to share a personal update before moving on to business. You can also get a pulse on their outlook in one-to-one and small-group meetings. Business leaders can show their own vulnerability to encourage authentic conversations about stress and mental health among employees.
• Encourage employees to make time for self-care. Provide workers with healthcare and wellness benefits to every extent possible and encourage them to take advantage of these resources. You can also point them in the direction of free apps and services related to self-care. Ensure that employees are as physically comfortable in their workspace as possible and, if possible, let them work from home at least some of the time. You can find more self-care ideas for employees here .
•   Offer opportunities and strategies for work/life balance. When possible, allow for flexible schedules that accommodate employees’ preferences (morning people vs. night owls, extroverts vs. introverts) and personal lives. Create ways for workers to take time off (such as “ 4/10 ” work weeks) for whatever will help them feel well and rejuvenated — even if it’s a trip to the spa or a day of doing nothing. Encourage people to take breaks and vacations and set boundaries for completely “unplugging” from work.
• Provide or direct employees to mental health resources. It’s time to normalize conversations around mental health, and one way to do this is to emphasize its importance in company messaging. Leaders and managers should take time to educate themselves about the causes and effects of stress. If your company offers health benefits that cover mental health services, remind your employees of this fact. You can also highlight free related resources and apps for everyone to try.
• Foster a kind and inclusive work culture. Although there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for stress, whether it stems from the workplace or not, consciously fostering a kind and inclusive workplace culture can go a long way toward preventing and reducing tension of all kinds. Consider strategies for implementing such a culture. It’s not just good for employees: it’s also helpful for team building, strengthening company loyalty, reducing turnover, and improving operations.
• Proactively prevent and address toxic aspects of work culture. Between the tight labor market and the number of employer review sites now available, a toxic work culture will harm your reputation. It’s crucial to proactively assess and address sources of unhealthy behaviors in order to keep your employees happy, maintain your company’s reputation as a great place to work, and boost your recruiting efforts.

Reduce Stress in the Workplace with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions invests in a dynamic national network of communities tackling critical workforce issues. To achieve our vision of an equitable future where workers, employers, and communities thrive and prosper, we recognize that workers are human beings with full and complex lives and promote a wide range of skills development and support to make sure workers can truly thrive.

Read more about how the universal human stress test of the pandemic presents an opportunity to bring the issues of stress, burnout, and mental health to conversations about workplaces and the broader workforce system. Subscribe to the National Fund email list to stay up to date with the latest in workforce development across the country.

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Stress at work

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This article has a correction. Please see:

• Errata - June 29, 2017
• Thomas Despréaux , chief resident 1 2 3 ,
• Olivier Saint-Lary , general practitioner , senior lecturer 4 5 ,
• Florence Danzin , psychiatrist 1 6 ,
• Alexis Descatha , occupational/emergency practitioner , professor 1 2 3
• 1 Occupational health unit, University hospital of Poincaré site, Garches, France
• 2 Versailles St-Quentin University, Versailles, France
• 3 CESP, U 1018 Inserm, Villejuif, France
• 4 Versailles Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, Faculty of Health sciences Simone Veil, Department of Family Medicine, Montigny le Bretonneux, France
• 5 Université Paris-Saclay, University Paris-Sud, Villejuif, France
• 6 Charcot Psychiatric Hospital, France
• Correspondence to O Saint-Lary olivier.saint-lary{at}uvsq.fr

What you need to know

Long working hours and strain at work contribute to stress, ill health, and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and mental illnesses

Explore occupational factors such as an imbalance between effort and reward, work overload, bullying, and job insecurity

Workplace interventions, a short period of leave from work, and psychological treatment can be considered, alongside regular follow-up to assess how the patient is coping

A 55 year old senior executive presents with low back pain. He appears anxious. A reorganisation within his company has increased his workload and he has been working more hours but receiving no recognition from management. Last week he felt humiliated by a colleague. Since then he has not been able to sleep for more than a couple of hours each day.

Stress accounts for more than a third of all cases of work related ill health and almost half of all working days lost due to illness. 1 Internationally, systematic reviews and meta-analysis of observational data suggest that job strain and poorly functioning work environments are associated with the development of depressive symptoms. 2 3 4 A longitudinal cohort study from Norway found workplace bullying to be associated with subsequent suicidal ideation. 5 Long working hours are also associated with increased risk of stroke, heart disease, 6 and diabetes, 7 and poor lifestyle including inactivity, 7 smoking, 7 and risky alcohol use. 8

Patients might present with unexplained somatic symptoms, such as odd aches and pains, palpitations, loss of appetite, and loss of sleep. 9 10 Explore their symptoms and discuss any contributing factors in their work and personal life. The consultation can be long and difficult, as the patient might not volunteer all the information or draw the association with work stress. The objective of this first consultation is to perform a quick risk assessment and explore factors in the patient’s job that are contributing to stress.

What you should cover

The following questions are based on systematic reviews, and the experiences of clinicians and patients.

• the nature and duration of the patient’s presenting symptoms

• associated depressive symptoms, such as

o feeling down, low, or sad

o loss of interest in activities

o tiring easily

o lack of concentration

o changes in sleep and appetite

• feelings of hopelessness, (eg, a belief that the situation cannot improve) 11

• occupation, working environment, and stressors at work (box 1)

• the chronology of events, how the patient has coped so far, and if things have changed recently in their workplace. Typically, three phases are described 13 :

an initial (“serene”) phase, where the patient reports no particular difficulty

a “problem” phase, when obstacles and conflicts gradually appear and the patient tries to deal with the situation

a “crisis” phase, where s/he comes to see you

• protective factors for severity of outcome include a supportive family environment and financial wellbeing. Aggravating factors are familial isolation, being a single parent with young children, having financial difficulties, or being bound by a particular type of employment contract that forces the patient to stay in the same job. The latter can delay diagnosis, and limit the range of remedial options available.

• thoughts of ending their life or causing harm to themselves or others

• other medical illnesses, including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular events, or psychiatric disorders

• smoking, alcohol, and drug abuse

• family history of depression or mental disorders, which could increase the risk of depression and suicide

Box 1: Occupational factors for stress 2 12 13

Conflict of values (being asked to do a poor quality job or cut costs for a person who likes to keep high standards in their work)

Feeling insufficiently rewarded compared with the person’s assessment of their efforts (“effort-reward imbalance”)

Inability to make decisions about when or how to stop work

Lack of support from colleagues and management

Isolation at work (no cooperation between teams)

Work overload (working after hours) or insufficient workload (nothing to do)

Discrimination, humiliation, violence, bullying, and harassment at work

Cases of work related stress in the same company

Company situation in terms of finances, organisational changes, and employee turnover

Job insecurity, temporary employment status

Patients come to their doctor primarily to address their symptoms, but some will also want assistance and advice on how to cope with the situation at work.

Examination

Assess general appearance and look for signs of psychomotor agitation such as restlessness, rapid talking, and racing thoughts, or of psychomotor retardation such as apparent exhaustion and visible slowing of physical activity. These might indicate a mental illness or organic cause, such as a thyroid disorder.

Perform a quick general examination to look for fever, tachycardia, hypertension, and signs of thyroid disorder (which can be a differential diagnosis). Examine thoroughly for reported pain, though somatisation is likely.

What you should do

Investigation and management of physical and mental health diagnoses —Offer usual management of conditions such as depression. Consider immediate referral to psychiatry if the patient describes suicidal or aggressive thoughts or intentions.

Make the connection between the patient’s experience and work stress —For patients with work related stress and a variety of symptoms, acknowledge their situation and validate their feelings with a phrase such as, “I understand that you are suffering and that this feeling is arising from a stressful work environment.”

Offer a supportive setting to discuss and make progress in dealing with work stress —High quality evidence and guidelines for interventions to manage work related adjustment issues and stress are lacking. 14 Cognitive therapy, stepwise reintegration planning, and relaxation training can all be considered. 15 16 Therapy needs to be supportive, active, flexible, goal directed, and time bound. 10 12 14

Consider offering a second appointment—for example, if there is too much to cover. You might suggest that the patient brings a family member to the next appointment for support.

In the interim, you might ask the patient to reflect on their job and personal situation, and possibly to write a short description of their problems at work, the chronology of these problems, and their relationship to the patient’s symptoms. In our experience, some patients find this helps them reflect on the events, and it can help you understand their situation better. This will help to initiate discussion on strategies that the patient might employ to navigate their workspace going forward. Making contact with the workplace to modify work or reduce workload in collaboration with the employer can be helpful. Discuss whether the occupational health services or human resources division at the patient’s company could be involved. In some circumstances, patients might wish to seek compensation or take legal action. Explore if these are important for your patient and direct them to appropriate agencies or lawyers who can help with these matters.

Consider whether the patient wants or might benefit from time away from work including a “sick note.”

Schedule a follow-up visit to assess how the patient is coping with symptoms and workplace issues, and modify the approach accordingly.

Education into practice

What factors would you typically explore in the patient’s history to understand their working environment and stress? Does this article offer you ideas on how to do so differently?

Sometimes, asking the patient to write down their problems at work, the times at which the problems occurred, and the patient’s symptoms, is helpful. Are there ways in which you might consider using this or other techniques to help patients better organise their thoughts or understand them yourself?

Do you offer a second appointment, if there is too much to cover, or if the patient wishes to include a friend or family member?

In difficult cases, do you work in collaboration with mental health professionals as well as occupational health professionals?

How patients were involved in the creation of this article

Patients in our practice reported a need to rethink what they had experienced at work and to share this in writing. This helped them identify and clearly communicate the chronology of events. Based on their feedback we recommend encouraging patients to write about their work environment and factors contributing to stress, though this need not be mandatory.

A patient reviewed this article and attested that writing a two page memorandum would have been enormously helpful to identify problems at work and how they had escalated over time, and to come to terms with the situation.

We would like to thank Richard Carter for helping us to improve the language of this document.

We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and declare that we have no competing interests.

Patient consent obtained.

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ .

• ↵ Statistics—Work related stress, anxiety and depression statistics in Great Britain (GB). http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress
• ↵ Theorell T, Hammarström A, Aronsson G, et al. A systematic review including meta-analysis of work environment and depressive symptoms. BMC Public Health 2015 ; 15 : 738 . doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1954-4 . pmid:26232123 . OpenUrl
• ↵ Rugulies R, Aust B, Madsen IE. Effort-reward imbalance at work and risk of depressive disorders. A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Scand J Work Environ Health 2017 ; 17 : 3632 . doi:10.5271/sjweh.3632 . pmid:28306759 . OpenUrl
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• ↵ Kivimäki M, Jokela M, Nyberg ST, et al. Long working hours and risk of coronary heart disease and stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished data for 603 838 individuals. Lancet 2015;386:1739-46. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60295-1
• ↵ Nyberg ST, Fransson EI, Heikkilä K, et al. Job Strain and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: Meta-Analysis of Individual-Participant Data from 47 000 Men and Women. Testa L, ed. PLoS ONE 2013;8:e67323. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067323
• ↵ Virtanen M, Jokela M, Nyberg ST, et al. Long working hours and alcohol use: systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data. BMJ 2015;350:g7772. doi:10.1136/bmj.g7772
• ↵ American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Publishing 2013.
• ↵ van der Klink JJL, van Dijk FJH. Dutch practice guidelines for managing adjustment disorders in occupational and primary health care. Scand J Work Environ Health 2003 ; 29 : 478 - 87 . doi:10.5271/sjweh.756 pmid:14712856 . OpenUrl
• ↵ Fraser L, Burnell M, Salter LC, et al. Identifying hopelessness in population research: a validation study of two brief measures of hopelessness. BMJ Open 2014 ; 4 : e005093 . doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005093 . pmid:24879829 . OpenUrl
• ↵ Nieuwenhuijsen K, Bruinvels D, Frings-Dresen M. Psychosocial work environment and stress-related disorders, a systematic review. Occup Med (Lond) 2010 ; 60 : 277 - 86 . doi:10.1093/occmed/kqq081 . pmid:20511268 . OpenUrl
• ↵ Mediouni Z, Garrabé H, Jaworski F, et al. Initial evaluation of patients reporting a work-related stress or bullying. J Occup Environ Med 2012 ; 54 : 1439 - 40 . doi:10.1097/JOM.0b013e31827942e0 . pmid:23222476 . OpenUrl
• ↵ Joosen MCW, Brouwers EPM, van Beurden KM, et al. An international comparison of occupational health guidelines for the management of mental disorders and stress-related psychological symptoms. Occup Environ Med 2015 ; 72 : 313 - 22 . doi:10.1136/oemed-2013-101626 . pmid:25406476 . OpenUrl
• ↵ West CP, Dyrbye LN, Erwin PJ, Shanafelt TD. Interventions to prevent and reduce physician burnout: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet 2016 ; 388 : 2272 - 81 . doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31279-X . pmid:27692469 . OpenUrl
• ↵ Van den Broeck K, Remmen R, Vanmeerbeek M, Destoop M, Dom G. Collaborative care regarding major depressed patients: A review of guidelines and current practices. J Affect Disord 2016 ; 200 : 189 - 203 . doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.04.044 . pmid:27136418 . OpenUrl

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A Synthesis of the Evidence for Managing Stress at Work: A Review of the Reviews Reporting on Anxiety, Depression, and Absenteeism

Kamaldeep s. bhui.

Centre for Psychiatry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London E14NS, UK

Sokratis Dinos

Stephen a. stansfeld, peter d. white.

Background. Psychosocial stressors in the workplace are a cause of anxiety and depressive illnesses, suicide and family disruption. Methods. The present review synthesizes the evidence from existing systematic reviews published between 1990 and July 2011. We assessed the effectiveness of individual, organisational and mixed interventions on two outcomes: mental health and absenteeism. Results. In total, 23 systematic reviews included 499 primary studies; there were 11 meta-analyses and 12 narrative reviews. Meta-analytic studies found a greater effect size of individual interventions on individual outcomes. Organisational interventions showed mixed evidence of benefit. Organisational programmes for physical activity showed a reduction in absenteeism. The findings from the meta-analytic reviews were consistent with the findings from the narrative reviews. Specifically, cognitive-behavioural programmes produced larger effects at the individual level compared with other interventions. Some interventions appeared to lead to deterioration in mental health and absenteeism outcomes.Gaps in the literature include studies of organisational outcomes like absenteeism, the influence of specific occupations and size of organisations, and studies of the comparative effectiveness of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Conclusions. Individual interventions (like CBT) improve individuals' mental health. Physical activity as an organisational intervention reduces absenteeism. Research needs to target gaps in the evidence.

1. Introduction

Although work provide a range of benefits such as increased income, social contact, and sense of purpose, it can also have negative effects on mental health, particularly in the form of stress. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in the US (NIOSH) [ 1 ] estimate the following:

• 40% of American workers reported their job was very or extremely stressful,
• 25% view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives,
• three fourths of American employees believe that workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago.

Given the global recession, financial strain, and job losses, greater work stress might have adverse consequences in UK. The most recent data from the NHS information centre in UK suggest an increase in the suicide rate for the first time since 1998. The number of people committing suicide rose by 329 to 5,706 in 2008. The rate among men increased from 16.8 per 100,000 in 2007 to 17.7 per 100,000 in 2008. This increase is being interpreted by politicians and the public as a consequence of the global and national recession, increased job insecurity, risk of loss of jobs, and also stress at work, where the demands on the existing workforce have increased (The Independent, 18th November, 2010).

Approximately 11 million people of working age in UK experience mental health problems. 11.4 million working days were lost in UK in 2008/2009 due to work-related stress, depression, or anxiety [ 2 ]. There are also indirect costs, for example, through “presenteeism” when employees are at work but are too unwell to function fully [ 3 ]. Stress at work also can lead to physical illness, psychological distress and illness, and sickness absence [ 3 , 4 ]. Stress, depression, or anxiety accounts for 46% of days lost due to illness and are the single largest cause of all absences attributable to work-related illness [ 5 ]. Psychosocial work stressors such as job strain, low decision latitude, low social support, high psychological demands, effort-reward imbalance, and high job insecurity have all been implicated as causes of work stress-related anxiety and depressive illnesses [ 6 ]. However, psychosocial work stressors can only be tackled by organisational and systemic strategies and policies.

2. The Conceptualisation of Occupational Stress

In order to consider the evidence base, there needs to be some agreement on the meaning of work stress. A popular model of stress considers “inputs” such as job characteristics; for example, excess demands, low control, poor social support, adverse life events such as bereavement or divorce, and additional demands outside of work such as carer responsibilities for a dependent relative or spouse [ 7 – 10 ]. Stress has also been recognised by symptoms or “outputs” such as tension, frustration, or emotional distress. An alternative approach is to theorise that stress is a manifestation of the poor fit between a person and their environment [ 11 ]. Stress is then seen to arise due to a discrepancy between the inputs and outputs and the mediating appraisal of stress, personal skills to manage it, and environmental demands and rewards. Transactional models, as those proposed by Lazarus [ 12 ] and Cox and Ferguson [ 13 ], conceptualise stress as something that unfolds over time within a series of transactions between the person and their environment. Stress is, therefore, elicited and maintained by the individual's actions and perceptions as well as the characteristics of their work environment.

The specific conceptualisations of stress adopted influence the way interventions are constructed to tackle specific mechanisms in order to alter stress and its manifestations. Cahill [ 14 ], Cooper et al. [ 15 ], and Marine et al. [ 16 ] describe categories of stress management interventions that target the individual or the organisation and specify actions at primary, secondary, or tertiary preventive levels (see Table 1 ) [ 17 ]. Individual interventions include stress awareness training or cognitive behavioural therapy for psychological and emotional stress. Organisational interventions are those that affect whole populations or groups of people and include workplace adjustments or conflict management approaches in a specific organisation. Some interventions target both the individual and organisation, for example, policies to secure a better work-life balance and peer-support groups. Primary interventions aim to prevent the causal factors of stress, secondary interventions aim to reduce the severity or duration of symptoms, and tertiary or reactive interventions aim to provide rehabilitation and maximise functioning among those with chronic health conditions [ 18 ].

Model for categorising stress management interventions (adapted from de Jonge and Dollard) [ 17 ].

Although preventive interventions are often advocated, what is the evidence of benefit? The evidence of effective interventions to protect individual mental health and reduce organisational absenteeism rates is difficult to summarise in a manner that is of practical relevance. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to take the highest level of research evidence (systematic reviews providing narrative synthesis or meta-analyses) and synthesise this evidence to identify the key findings and gaps in the literature on the effectiveness of different stress management interventions for preventing anxiety and depression as the main cause of absenteeism. Consequently, this review of systematic reviews focuses on common mental health problems (anxiety, depression) and absenteeism.

Undertaking a review of systematic review is challenging methodologically for two reasons; there is not a conventional accepted process to produce a meta-review or meta-synthesis across different types of systematic reviews, for different outcomes, and different complex interventions which may defy drawing a singular scientific conclusion that requires all sources of heterogeneity be overlooked [ 19 ]. Secondly, the ambition of the review and the form the findings take have, in part, to reflect the subject matter and the types of interventions that are being reviewed. So, for complex interventions for managing stress at work, there will be organizational and individual interventions, and different disciplinary approaches to the task of meta-synthesis of narrative findings. The notion of a meta-synthesis of narrative findings is itself contested by different qualitative research disciplines from which such approaches have evolved [ 20 , 21 ]. The purpose of this paper is then to draw together literature and findings which are consistent across reviews and methodologically variant studies, where this is possible in order to demonstrate the strength of the findings. However, given the complex nature of interventions to tackle stress at work and that stress itself and mental health are so ill-defined in studies, we also wish to highlight findings that emerge from a critical comparison of reviews; we also wish to highlight the findings that are pertinent to well-defined common mental disorders (anxiety and depressive states); we also wish to acknowledge that narrative synthesis (or meta-synthesis, as it is sometimes called) may reveal complexities in the field of study such that the findings cannot be neatly expressed as a single statement of efficacy or effectiveness, but that interventions might need to be developed to target specific subpopulations. The findings can, thus, signal the methodological issues that future research must tackle.

The review identified all systematic reviews of evidence on stress management interventions in the workplace and summaries, tabulated extracted, and then synthesized the evidence for the relative merits of different interventions. Consistent with previous work, we restricted the review to papers published since 1990, as recency in the literature is important to ensure the evidence is related to contemporary concepts of stress and work, and to ensure the current work conditions are represented in the evidence synthesis, rather than historical work conditions. The databases searched are listed in Table 2 .

Databases searched.

The search terms used were:

• “psychological ill health or anxiety or stress or distress or burnout,”
• “stress management or intervention or rehabilitation or prevention,”
• “work or job or employee or sick leave or occupation or workplace adjustments or employee assistance programmes.”

3.1. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

The criteria used for inclusion were

• english language articles,
• reviews published from 1990 to July 2011,
• systematic reviews,
• reviews with data/narrative synthesis,
• meta-analyses.

The articles excluded were

• theoretical and educational reviews,
• those published prior to 1990.

3.2. Types of Reviews

The total number of reviews initially retrieved after excluding duplicates was 7845 (see Table 1 ). Twenty three reviews that met the inclusion criteria included 499 primary studies/publications. Data were extracted using the headings set out in Table 3 by two researchers working independently. A third researcher checked for and resolved any discrepancies with reference to the original publications.

Summary of review papers.

RCTs = randomised controlled trials.

3.3. Outcome Domains

The reviewed studies included many outcomes which ranged from physical health measures (e.g., cardiovascular measures) to psychological and psychiatric measures (e.g., well-being, psychological distress, burnout, general mental health, anxiety, depression, stress, psychiatric symptoms, and psychosomatic symptoms) to organisational measures (e.g., employee satisfaction, motivation, absenteeism). In this paper, we focus only on articles reporting, (a) individual outcomes of symptoms of anxiety and depression (including severe stress if measured by a specific rating scale of anxiety and depression) or anxiety and depressive illness formally assessed using specific diagnostic or psychometric measures and (b) absenteeism as an important organisational outcome as this has an economic cost to the employer.

We included key words of anxiety and depression and severe stress as inclusion criteria, but many studies and reviews are not flagged on this basis, and the findings pertaining to these outcomes are often hidden in tables of results. Piloting showed that searches specifically for anxiety and depression did not easily permit us to identify all studies that might include anxiety and depression as outcomes; this was only possible after reviewing the full-text paper. Thus, we kept our original searches broad in order to be satisfied all such paper that met our inclusion criteria would be included.

3.4. Analysis

Table 3 presents descriptive information on the twenty three reviews including the dates of published studies/papers included in the reviews, the number of published studies/papers, the prevention level (i.e., primary, secondary, and tertiary), whether the interventions were targeting the individual (I) or the organisation (O) level, and which level the outcomes specified: individual mental health (I) and/or absenteeism (O).

Due to the heterogeneity of the published reviews in terms of the methodology used (i.e., meta-analyses versus narrative synthesis or meta-narratives), the analysis and synthesis of meta-analytic reviews is reported first (see Table 4 ; 11 reviews), then the narrative synthesis reviews ( Table 5 ; 12 reviews), each annotated to indicate individual and organisational interventions, and individual and organisational outcomes (see Table 3 ).

Effectiveness of SMIs by level and outcome of intervention (results based only on meta-analyses).

KEY: d = effect size, SMD = standardised mean difference, WMD = weighted mean difference, CI = confidence interval. *** P = 0.001, ** P = 0.01, * P = 0.05.

When intervention types are not specified the intervention summed in the respective cell are multiple and too many to list. Bold denotes a statistically significant outcome.

Studies of interventions reaching narrative conclusions without meta-analyses of effect sizes.

MH = mental health, including measures of depression, anxiety, stress, psychosomatic disorder and symptoms, psychiatric symptoms, GHQ; excluding emotional well being or not, and measures of capabilities.

A = absenteeism.

↑ evidence of improvement, ↓ evidence of deterioration, ↔ no evidence of change.

Including narrative reviews permitted evaluation of in-depth information that might be overlooked in meta-analytic reviews, as this information is important for constructing appropriate interventions and implementing them in order to prevent severe stress and anxiety and depression at work. For example, components of an appropriate organisational intervention will be difficult to capture in a meta-analytic review given these interventions will vary between organisations; only in-depth descriptions can capture the components that can then be considered for similar organisational contexts.

For meta-analyses, the effect sizes and original conclusions are presented, along with the outcomes used, where these were reported ( Table 4 ). For narrative reviews, we present the key narrative conclusions (or evidence summary statement), along with the number of studies finding improvement (↑), deterioration (↓), or no effect ( ↔ ). This was done for the same two outcomes: mental health and for absenteeism ( Table 5 ).

Judgements about the number of studies finding a positive, negative or no effect in the narrative synthesis were challenging, as many studies tended to use words such as stress, psychological distress, psychosomatic disorders interchangeably, and negative findings may not have been reported. We only rated studies as having effects on mental health (anxiety and depression), where it was clear they had used a specific measure of mental disorders or severe stress either alone or as part of a composite measure of mental health and well-being. Where there was doubt, we did not include the study in the data. This is an advance on existing reviews which tend to group all types of stress, including that associated with anxiety and depression, and other types of measures of stress such that the findings are interpreted with reference to a large number of emotional and health states. We felt this approach would not permit us to isolate the findings of relevance to the preventing common mental disorders which are the most important cause of sickness-related absenteeism.

Eleven reviews included meta-analyses [ 16 , 22 – 31 ]; 12 included a systematic or literature review [ 32 – 43 ] with meta-narrative conclusions (see Table 5 ).

As set out in Table 3 , of the twenty three reviews, four reported on individual interventions only (three with a meta-analysis) [ 26 , 27 , 31 , 36 ]; three of these assessed their impact on individual and organisational outcomes [ 26 , 31 , 36 ], whilst the other one assessed impact on individual outcomes only [ 27 ]. There were three reviews that examined the effectiveness of only organisational interventions [ 24 , 32 , 40 ]. Of these, Parkes and Sparkes [ 40 ] and Bond et al. [ 24 ] reviewed organisational outcomes, whereas Egan et al. [ 32 ] reported on individual outcomes.

Six reviews included studies that looked separately at individual and organisational interventions in the same studies [ 16 , 37 , 39 – 42 ]. Of these, Mimura and Griffiths [ 39 ] reported only on individual outcomes, the rest reported on both individual and organisational outcomes. The remaining seven reviews assessed interventions at both individual and organisational levels [ 23 , 25 , 29 , 30 , 33 – 35 ]. Of these, one looked only at organisational outcomes [ 34 ], and one looked at individual outcomes [ 28 ]. There were no studies that assessed interactions between the two levels of outcome.

4.1. Reviews Reporting Meta-Analysis of Effect Sizes

Eleven reviews [ 16 , 22 – 31 ] reported effect sizes from meta-analyses ( Table 4 ) on mental health and absenteeism. The overall impression from the meta-analytic reviews is that the effect size is greater at the individual level for individual interventions compared with organisational interventions, and that organisational or mixed interventions can also impact on the mental health of individuals.

4.2. Individual Outcomes: Mental Health

Of these eleven reviews, six showed that individual interventions lead to benefit on individual mental health outcomes [ 16 , 23 , 25 – 27 , 31 ]. Five reviews of organisational interventions [ 16 , 23 , 25 , 28 , 30 ] together showed mixed evidence of benefit on individual outcomes; thus Richardson and Rothstein [ 23 ] and van der Klink et al. [ 25 ] showed no benefit, whilst Marine et al. [ 16 ], Martin et al. [ 28 ] and van Wyk and Pillay-Van Wyk [ 30 ] showed some benefit. Richardson and Rothstein [ 23 ] and van der Klink et al. [ 25 ] also reviewed mixed interventions , both of which showed benefit at the individual level on mental health status.

4.3. Organisational Outcomes: Absenteeism

Four reviews found individual interventions did not impact on absenteeism [ 23 , 25 , 28 , 30 ]. There was mixed evidence of benefit from organisational interventions on absenteeism. Parks and Steelman [ 22 ] and Bond et al. [ 24 ] found some evidence of benefit, whereas Richardson and Rothstein [ 23 ] and van der Klink et al. [ 25 ] found no benefit. However, Conn et al. [ 29 ] showed clear benefit of organisational physical activity interventions on absenteeism. There were no studies of mixed individual-organisational interventions and impact on absenteeism.

4.4. Reviews Reporting Narrative Conclusions

The overall conclusions from the narrative reviews support the findings from the meta-analyses that individual interventions do provide benefit at an individual level and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression and stress, but individual interventions do not impact on absenteeism. However, organisational interventions impact at both individual and organisational levels. There are numerous studies of benefit on mental health outcomes, whereas benefit on absenteeism is mainly reported in one review [ 33 ] including a number of high quality studies ( Table 5 ). Worryingly, some interventions appeared to lead to deterioration in mental health [ 16 , 32 – 35 ] and absenteeism [ 33 , 36 ] outcomes (see Table 5 ). For example, Marine et al. [ 16 ] identifies smoking cessation to be associated with depression. Although not directly mapping on to absenteeism, preliminary evidence from Cancelliere et al. [ 43 ] suggested that some workplace health promotion programmes can reduce presenteeism (being at work whilst unwell). Presenteeism correlated with being overweight, a poor diet, a lack of exercise, high stress levels, poor relationships with coworkers and management.

4.5. The Effectiveness of Specific Interventions

The different types and components of interventions, and whether they are primary, secondary, or tertiary preventive interventions, are set out in Table 3 . The majority of studies were of primary prevention. The meta-analytic reviews found that cognitive behavioural programmes consistently produced larger effects at the individual level compared to other types of interventions (e.g., relaxation). Cognitive behavioural programmes were also suggested to be more effective by some of the narrative reviews [ 27 , 31 , 34 – 36 ] as well as by some of the meta-analyses [ 23 , 25 ].

Murphy [ 36 ] found that multimodal interventions (or combination strategies), which involved CBT produced the most consistent, significant results; a result which was not supported by one meta-analytic review [ 25 ]. Overall, the reviews suggested that organisational level interventions are too scarce and there is also a lack of studies that assess organisational-level outcomes. However, two meta-analytic reviews [ 22 , 29 ] found that participation in organisational wellness programmes was associated with decreased absenteeism and increased job satisfaction. These were the only meta-analytic reviews of organisational based interventions and organisational-level outcomes. Finally, there are insufficient studies to comment on the potential complementarity of interventions that operate at primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention levels [ 33 ]. Four studies investigated both primary and secondary prevention but not their interaction [ 23 , 27 , 33 , 34 ].

5. Discussion

As anticipated, the evidence was in complex form. Our methods of isolating findings related to anxiety and depression, and partitioning the tabulation and extraction and synthesis by individual/organisational interventions and outcomes provides a rich, complex but authentic picture of the evidence base. There are indications for which interventions are effective and also gaps in the evidence. Reviews had to take account of many interventions that differed by their components, mode of delivery and whether they targeted individuals or organisations. This made it difficult for all of the reviews to compare benefits from any single intervention across a number of studies, except for CBT or physical activity. There were also many different outcome measures for assessing anxiety and depression, and many proxy measures of mental health, sometimes without clarity about which outcomes were used in the meta-analyses. In part, these were not specified due to the way multiple outcomes were handled in the analysis. The reviews used standardised differences including mean differences and mean effect sizes, and standardised differences and means. Using a consistent set of outcomes to measure anxiety and depression in future primary studies will ensure that future reviews and meta-analyses can overcome these challenges, such that different intervention, of varying complexity and modes of delivery, might be compared more directly for impacts on absenteeism and on anxiety and depression and interactions between the individual and organisational impacts.

Overall, individual interventions show larger effects compared with organisational interventions or mixed interventions; benefits are seen mainly at the individual level although some studies do show organisational benefits. Given that anxiety and depression are common, and mostly account for sickness absence, it is important to develop an evidence base that is specific to these manifestations of mental distress and illness, with an agreed range of acceptable outcome measures and for interventions that prevent and treat anxiety and depression promptly, as well as encourage early return to work. A small improvement in sickness absence statistics might yield substantial benefits for business viability and provision of services. Standardised methods to measure presenteeism [ 43 ] are needed. The only organisational intervention to show convincing effects on absenteeism was physical activity programmes [ 29 ], but mental imaging, CBT, and in vivo exposure, each have a useful role, especially in secondary prevention. Although better quality studies should be given greater weight, the quality of individual primary studies was selectively reported, making it difficult to know whether the positive findings reflected better quality studies; certainly, CBT and physical activity interventions are more well defined than say stress management standards or management practices or stress inoculation. Even counselling can take many forms, and there is not a standardised process. Similarly, the duration of the interventions and timing of measurement of outcomes was not a characteristic on which reviews drew conclusions; we were unable to draw any metaevidence about timing unless we had looked at primary studies. Strikingly, although many reviews on face value were reviewing the same evidence, the reviews did not all identify the same primary studies, and therefore did not always reach the same conclusions; our meta-review, for the first time, brings together all of the strongest findings. We reviewed 23 reviews, after identifying 7845 potential publications for inclusion. These included 499 primary studies; the majority of reviews made the point that drawing metanarrative or meta-analytic conclusions was difficult because of this diversity in outcomes, intervention, and methods. Had we undertaken a review of 499 primary studies, it is likely we would draw the same conclusions.

Management skills training, and support for staff, along with methods to cope with work stress all seem relevant components, but the review was not convincing about a positive benefit of these and where positive impacts were seen at individual levels [ 16 , 28 ]; the effect could not entirely be attributed to improved management standards or working relationships. There has been insufficient research on organisational interventions. These studies are difficult to design and implement and require further research. On the other hand, more and more interest has been generated towards health promotion in the workplace (e.g., exercise) and encouraging individuals to take ownership of health risk behaviours and decisions about health, well-being, and family outside of work. This may be promising, as it requires the workforce to maintain healthy lifestyles generally and within that context to consider work stress rather than consider work as the only venue for health interventions. Organisational measures to increase physical activity show promising results [ 43 ].

This review suggests that there is lack of evidence in comparing the relative effectiveness of stress management interventions that operate at both individual and organisational levels, or interventions that encourage an interactive or systemic effect, yet this might yield greater benefits at both levels.

However, there are still a number of evidence gaps. More research is needed in the private sector and in smaller companies as well as research comparing different job types such as education and healthcare to examine whether they respond to the same or different intervention techniques. Similarly, research needs to take into account factors such as socioeconomic status, duration of any effects of interventions, and cost effectiveness. Selection bias may be an important explanation for our findings. For example, organisations with the most stressful work environments are less likely to participate in research as opposed to organisations with little stress amongst employees. Consequently, organisations with low baseline stress levels would make any effects from targeted interventions more difficult to capture. However, preliminary support was found in one meta-analytic review that interventions conducted with employees at high levels of baseline stress appeared to be at least as effective as interventions conducted with employees at low levels of baseline stress [ 25 ]. What works for whom and the maintenance of these effects need further research [ 32 ].

Finally, there is a relative lack of studies with clinically referred employees. We did find more of these in more recent years (since 2008) and also reviews of health care workers and law enforcement officers who perhaps need specific attention given the unique circumstances and stressors to which they are exposed at work. The few methodologically rigorous studies that have been conducted with patients have not included nontreatment control groups but have compared 2 treatment types. More work might, therefore, be undertaken on populations at risk using secondary and tertiary prevention interventions.

6. Conclusions

CBT was the most effective individual targeted intervention for individual outcomes. Encouragement of physical activity at an organisational level seems to reduce absenteeism. Interventions need to be developed that can provide consistent and stronger effects on organisational outcomes such as absenteeism. There were a number of gaps in the literature, particularly studies investigating the influence of specific occupations, and different sized organisations, different sectors of organisations (public, private, and not for profit). Studies of management practices seemed not to show strong effects, but there are still insufficient studies in this area. There were few studies of secondary and tertiary prevention.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Authors' Contribution

K. S. Bhui conceived of the study, was the principal investigator, provided day-to-day management, and along with SD read the reviews, extracted and tabulated the data and codrafted the paper. S. A. Stansfeld and P. D. White were the coinvestigators to the project, and commented on and edited all drafts of the paper. All authors contributed equally to this work.

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Department of Health in UK to K. S. Bhui.

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What is stress?

10 physical and psychological effects of workplace stress, how can workplace stress affect your family dynamics, how to identify stress at work, how to prevent stress at work, 7 common stressors at work, what affects your coping skills, how does stress affect your performance at work, bottom line: don't normalize stress.

We all know what stress is — especially in the workplace.

In 2020, Gallup found that the COVID-19 pandemic brought workers’ daily stress levels from 38% to 43% . 

And according to a 2022 survey by the American Institute of Stress, only 5% of Americans said that they have low stress levels , and 76% report that stress harms their productivity. Studies have shown that higher stress often indicates lower productivity , which makes the effects of workplace stress everyone’s problem. Workplace stress impacts employees, managers, and the entire business. 

Plus, we can't forget that our job stress doesn't exclusively stay at work. Work-related stress follows us home and interferes with our personal lives.

But let's talk about what we can do about workplace stress. We can learn the impact of workplace stressors on our mental and physical health, how to identify them, and how to prevent them.

We feel stressed when our body responds to a threat of any kind . These threats are internal or external and can appear at any time. They make us overwhelmed, nervous, irritated, and on edge. And even though everyone reacts to stress differently, we generally feel distracted and have faulty decision-making abilities.

Our brains aren’t great at determining which stressors are life-or-death, either. That’s why an encounter with a grizzly bear triggers the same reaction as making a mistake in an important presentation. 

And there are various types of stress that can impact our well-being. Yes, different types of stressors — financial, workplace, familial — can interfere with every area of our lives. 

While we know that stress can have negative implications for us, it's important to highlight that good stress and bad stress exist. Good stress, known as eustress , motivates us to take action, increases our focus, and helps improve our work performance.

However, eustress is still a stress response, and too much eustress causes a problem. Stress can be acute stress or chronic stress, and both can have detrimental health effects.

As for workplace stress, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines job stress as a harmful physical and emotional response that happens when job demands don't match the employee's needs, resources, or capabilities . NIOSH explains that sometimes it's confused with a challenge, which can be positiv e — but job stress leaves employees with poor health and low productivity and job satisfaction. 

Recognizing the effects of workplace stress isn't easy, but stress can have long-term effects on our health. It impacts nearly every inch of our bodies, both mentally and physically. Learning how to identify these impacts is how we start to manage our stress. Some of these effects can help us track our stress , like constant worrying , low morale, and trouble sleeping . 

Here are 10 effects of workplace stress that impact us physically and psychologically :

• Lowers our job satisfaction and meaningfulness of work
• Increases our risk of cardiovascular diseases 
• Gives us high blood pressure and blood sugar levels
• Promotes musculoskeletal disorders like muscle strains
• Disrupts our eating habits and digestive patterns
• Intensifies mental health issues like anxiety and depression
• Weakens our immune systems 
• Causes long-lasting migraines and routine headaches
• Shortens our temper and makes us feel irritated
• Makes it difficult to focus and concentrate on tasks

Stress’s impact on our well-being is serious — and we should treat it accordingly. At BetterUp , our coaches are here to help you recognize when workplace stress is taking a toll on your well-being and learn the skills you need to keep it healthy.

When we talk about the effects of workplace stress on employees, we have to talk about who else feels the impact of that stress. Our families, loved ones, and partners all feel it, too. All of the added tension leads to more fighting and strains relationships.

It's not just our well-being impacted by workplace stressors but our also families. This can lead to an unhealthy work-life balance and harm family dynamics. 

One study found tha t the pandemic is the most stressful time of their careers for more than two-thirds of surveyed Americans . It’s especially true for people who work remotely.

The Harvard Business Review explained that the added pressure that employees bring home because of their workplace stress leads to tension between partners . And one of the worst things that partners or family members can do is try to solve the other person's workplace stress. It causes even more stress.

Workplace stress doesn't disappear once you've logged off for the day or left the office — it lingers and contributes to your financial stress , emotional stress, and more. It follows you everywhere until it's managed.

Perhaps, until now, you hadn’t thought about workplace stress. Your stress triggers could be right in front of you, but you haven't connected the dots that it's workplace stress. It's OK, because identifying the effects of workplace stress isn't always obvious right away.

We've compiled a list of eight ways you might be experiencing workplace stress. Take a moment to review them:

• Your working conditions force you to work long hours without breaks
• In your personal life, you can't stop thinking about work worries
• You notice that other employees are experiencing burnout 
• Big changes have happened at work, and you're unsure of them
• You have high expectations for yourself and don't accept failure
• You make more plans and commitments than your calendar allows
• Things feel like they're out of control and moving too fast
• You don't know what to do or how to handle your situation

Stress management at work is also about learning how to prevent stress — not just manage it. Although we can't always avoid stress or eliminate it from our lives, it’s possible to prevent it from becoming an overwhelming issue. We can learn how to prevent stress at work in various ways. 

Here are four ways to prevent workplace stress:

1. Don't be afraid to take time off

We need to be mindful of the negative energy and levels of stress we experience. Tracking our stress over time helps us do that. If exhaustion is catching up, you’ll probably need more than just the weekend to recuperate. Taking time to rest and recharge your body helps you return to work with better mental health.

2. Make an effort to learn new things

One study found that focusing on learning new things, either by picking up new skills or acquiring new information, helps us manage the effects of stress . Researchers have found that finding new learning opportunities helps us deal with negative emotions and burnout from stress. It even teaches us new perspectives on our work.

3. Stay as organized as you can

We can feel stressed because we lose our sense of control. Our responsibilities will remain clear if we stay organized. Try listing your tasks in order of priority and leaving detailed notes for yourself about what you need to do. Schedule what you need to do, including downtime or time for self-care , to better prioritize your well-being.

4. Talk about your stress levels with others

Employees who feel unsupported experience more stress. Reach out to your manager about your concerns through an employee assistance program (EAP) or human resources. 

Stressors come from other people, unexpected life events, traumatic memories, and more. 

The American Psychological Association (APA) has found that workplace stress is consistently a significant source of stress for many Americans , with seven common workplace stressors:

• Low salaries that don't pay enough
• Heavy workloads to manage
• Little opportunity to grow or advance
• Work that doesn't challenge or engage
• Work environments lacking social support
• Not enough control over decision-making 
• Unclear or conflicting performance expectations

You might have a handy toolbox full of stress management techniques for much-needed stress relief, but some days, what you know might not cut it. Sometimes, stress can limit the efficacy of your coping skills. If that’s happening to you, it might be time to get inventive or try something new.

If you think stress is limiting your coping skills, here are five factors to consider:

• How we view change: Some people thrive off change, while others shrink back and wish things would stay the same. And some change is more overwhelming — like starting a new role at a new company in a new city. 
• Our experience with stress: This could be your first experience of job stress, and you don't know how to manage it. Or, you might be reminded of your former toxic workplace when you experience your first bad day at your new job.
• Talking it out or remaining silent: While some people aren't afraid to use their voice, others have issues with self-confidence and communication skills, and struggle to articulate their issues. This inconsistency across teams might increase tension.
• Experiencing stress elsewhere: Again, stress can stem from any part of your life. Job stress might be the type you’re experiencing, but you could be experiencing contributing stress in your personal life.
• How change impacts them directly: New work initiatives and changes affect everyone's roles differently. For some, it's pretty overwhelming, but for others, it doesn't involve them. A change in workflow might be the last straw for your coping abilities. 

Job stress does both positive and negative things to your work performance. 

Potential health problems might derail your work performance completely, and other work-related stress issues harm your productivity. Stress impacts how alert you are, your problem-solving abilities, and how well you work with others.

You can’t collaborate very well if your stress is overwhelming and making you irritable. Plus, if stress impacts your sleep, you won’t have enough energy to work , and headaches make it hard to focus during the long hours we work. 

But let’s highlight the positive effects of stress in the workplace from eustress. With eustress, your motivation and productivity is high, and you’re intently focused on your work.

Having an adequate challenge helps you enter a flow state , where you can get lost in your tasks. We have to be careful that eustress doesn’t become the norm, as that might shift into distress — but we can be grateful for the inspiration when it comes.

We said that stress is common, and it's true. But we shouldn’t normalize the effects of workplace stress on our lives. How stress affects the workplace is harmful to everyone on the team, and it needs addressing.

Everyone deserves to find stress relief . Whether we do shift work, contract work, or anything else, we need working conditions that value our health. That's why we need to demand that our employers prioritize our physical and mental health. There need to be resources available to manage stress and a company culture that prioritizes employee well-being.

Perhaps your workplace doesn't have anyone voicing those concerns yet. You could be the first. There's no time like the present to start advocating for stress relief.

Find someone to help you learn how to harness the power of your voice. BetterUp can help you strengthen your communication skills and build self-confidence to ensure that your workplace values stress relief and preventing stress.

Maggie Wooll, MBA

Maggie Wooll is a researcher, author, and speaker focused on the evolving future of work. Formerly the lead researcher at the Deloitte Center for the Edge, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Maggie is passionate about creating better work and greater opportunities for all.

What is workplace stress, and what are its effects?

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Essay on Work Place Stress

Introduction

Work place stress implies to harmful physical and emotional responses that usually occur when there exists a conflict between the demands at the work place on an employee and the control levels the employee has over meeting the demands. Work place stress can originate from a single event in the work place or from multiple sources but have a significant impact on the employee, and the employer alike. This essay is focused on utilizing different ways of thinking to find solutions for the stress in the work place setting.

Most business entities are molded on the value preposition canvas principle in organizations based on the value preposition canvas principles the customer is the most valuable assets and all organizational setting are based on market research to find the profiles of different customers and their value maps. With business profits being the key objective in the business entity, most of the institutional frameworks are focused of customer satisfaction with the interests of the workers being of lesser priority. Based on this business mentality, the employees are regarded as a means to an end in the institutional framework leaving them prone to work place stress.

Work place stress causes can be classified as into two main groups’ physical stressors such as noise, poor lighting, poor working conditions and ergonomic factors and physiological stressors high job demands, working hours inflexibility, poor job control, poorly designed work structure, job insecurity, harassment and bullying in the work place (Ahmad et al 2015). Of the two sources of stress in the work place research has demonstrated the though physical sources of stress have a significantly lower impact as compared to the physiological factors. Stress in the work place has significant impact on the employee, the employer and the overall performance of the business entity. The impacts of workplace stress occur in continuum, it starts with a worker feeling distressed in response to stressors in the work place, the distress lead to a workers mental and physical health problems, workers mental and physical health problems eventually result to reduced business performance and a reduction in the organizational revenue (Greeshma et al 2018).

Based on the fact that stress in the work place has negative impacts on the employee’s performance and the overall profitability of a business entity, all organizations should adopt a system of controlling workplace stress (Holman, Johnson, and O’Connor, 2018). The work place stress reduction policy should incorporate primary interventions such as redesigning the work place, increased employee participation in business decisions, matching the job demands with employee skills and level of training, creating a safe work environment, and developing clear promotion and reward systems (Holman, Johnson, and O’Connor, 2018). Secondary workplace stress reduction interventions such as developing employee workplace education and training programs, facilitating cognitive behavioral therapy for all members of the workforce and routine health surveillance sessions with the workers should also be incorporated in the organizational work place stress reduction policy (Jain, and Batra, 2015). As part of the organizational work place stress reduction policy, every organization should also have a tertiary intervention framework in place. The tertiary interventions will provide control solutions for employees who have already suffered different types of illnesses as a result of workplace stress (Lampech, 2017). By having an organizational policy framework for the reduction and control of work pace stress the physical and mental health implication of workplace stress will be reduced.

Work place stress implies to harmful physical and emotional responses that usually occur when there exists a conflict between the demands at the work place on an employee and the control levels the employee has over meeting the demands. Work place stress has negative impacts on the employee’s performance and the overall profitability of a business entity. All business entities should adopt an organizational policy for controlling workplace stress.

Ahmad, A., Hussain, A., Saleem, M. Q., & Qureshi, M. A. M. (2015).  Workplace Stress: A Critical Insight of Causes, Effects and Interventions . Technical Journal, University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Taxila, Pakistan, 20(II), 46, 48. Retrieved from:  https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Workplace-Stress%3A-A-Critical-Insight-of-Causes-%2C-Ahmad-Hussain/4552df3dc0a937dae2f2aa5e28d30561bae60e88

Greeshma, B., Priya, G. I., Aswathy, B., & Janani, S. (2018).  Stress Management in the Workplace- Challenges Faced By HR . Journal of Business and Management, 20(4), 33-36. Retrieved from:  http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol20-issue4/Version-3/F2004033336.pdf .

Holman, D., Johnson, S., & O’Connor, E. (2018).  Stress management interventions: Improving subjective psychological well-being in the workplace . In E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay (Eds.), Handbook of well-being. Salt Lake City, UT: DEF Publishers. 2. Retrieved from:  https://nobascholar.com/chapters/44/download.pdf .

Jain, P. & Batra, A. (2015).  Occupational Stress at Workplace: Study of the Corporate Sector in India. Journal of Business and Management,  17(1), 13-21. Retrieved from:  http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosrjbm/papers/Vol17-issue1/Version-3/B017131321.pdf .

Lampech, W. (2017).  HR Strategies to Manage Stress in the Workplace . Retrieved from:  https://theundercoverrecruiter.com/strategies-to-manage-stress/ .

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Work Stress and Its Effects on Individuals Essay

Introduction, the causes and effects of work stress, the effects of work stress, ways of managing stress in the workplace.

This paper aims to discuss such phenomenon as work stress and its effects on individuals and organizations. Overall, there are numerous definitions of this disorder; I would like to adopt the explanation provided by World Health Organization; it says that work stress is a negative emotional and physical response which is caused by the fact that a person cannot meet job demands, or thinks that he/she cannot cope with his/her work duties (WHO, as cited in Drenth et al, 1998, p 397).

This condition is normally accompanied by such symptoms as irritability, depression, the feeling of dissatisfaction, depression or even heart diseases (NIOSH, 2010, unpaged).

In some cases, job stress can lead to aggression and violence toward others (co-workers, family members, and even completely unknown people). Managers of leading companies have long realized that this phenomenon is dangerous to both employees and companies, and one of their priorities is to remove the causes of work stress and or at least minimize its aftereffects. These are the most important questions that we need to analyze in this paper.

The factors, leading to work stress

In order to eliminate stressful situations in the workplace, one should first examine their underlying causes. At the moment, both scholars and managers concur that it is connected with the personal traits of an employee, and with the managerial policies, established within the company.

One of the reasons why people can suffer from work stress is inadequate level of self-esteem (Resnick, 2004, p 15). For example, a person, who has a low level of self-esteem, usually regards any workplace problem as a sign of his/her inaptitude and inability to live up to the employer’s expectations.

Normally, such people experience extreme feeling of anxiety or depression which may eventually culminate into a nervous breakdown. There is also a reverse side of this coin, and it is high level of self-esteem. As a rule, these individuals believe that the senior management is biased against them and criticizes them unjustly. For them, any managerial criticism is a personal offence.

Excessive perfectionism is another character trait greatly contributes to work stress because a person, who usually sets high standards for himself, is more vulnerable to workplace stress. The thing is that such individuals usually dedicate too much time to some minor details that are not very relevant to their immediate duties, while their overall productivity remains at the same level (Corveleyn et al, 2005, p 116).

Furthermore, when they do not receive credit for their perfectionism, they begin to think that they are undervalued by the managers. When speaking about individual sources of work stress, we should also mention poor relations with family members and friends, health problems, sleep deprivation and so forth. They do not directly trigger aggression, violence or the feeling of anxiety, but they intensify the impact of any stress situation.

However, the cause of work stress should also be sought in the organizational and managerial policies of the organization, itself. These organizational factors are as follows:

• High turnover in the organization that leads to the feeling of job insecurity, which is widespread among people with low level of self-esteem;
• Lack of recognition and reward, in other words, the management does not notice or appreciate the efforts of the employees and their achievements;
• Continuous overtime that leads to fatigue and depression;
• Inability to participate in decision-making; 5) cognitive overload or the necessity to think about different assignments at the same time (Barling et al 2005).

Therefore, this discussion indicates that the management of stressful situation in the workplace requires joint collaboration of management and employers.

In the introduction we have already touched upon physical and psychological impacts of work stress, such as excessive irritability, aggression towards co-workers and relatives, the feeling of discontent, insomnia, or heart diseases (NIOSH, 2010, unpaged). It should also be mentioned that such a person normally alienates oneself from his colleagues whom he regards primarily as rivals or even enemies (Barling et al, 2005).

It should be borne in mind that such alienation can last for a very long time, and the actual outburst of anger or aggression very suddenly. Usually, it is provoked by some minor problem that can be quickly dealt with, for instance, malfunctioning of office computer, traffic jam, or some minor reprimand of the senior management. These irritants can a profound effect on the employee, suffering from job stress, though under normal circumstances, they would stir little or no reaction.

It stands to reason that the productivity of these people declines either in terms of quantity or in quality (Barling et al, 2005). One has to bear in mind that their attitude toward workplace duties differs significantly, for instance, some employees try to follow managers’ instructions to the letter; however, they lack any initiative. The thing is that they are too reluctant to take any responsibility due to the fear of losing one’s job.

Very often, the employees try to rush through the work in order to complete each of their assignments as quickly as possible and as a result, the quality of their work deteriorates. The organizations, in which stress situation occur on a regular basis, have to cope with a great variety of challenges. One of them is poor teamwork as the employees, who suffer from this stress, are disinclined to help others or take part in brainstorming.

Another issue, faced by the management of such organizations is poor customer service. The thing is that individuals, suffering from work stress, can be irritated by any complaint of the customer, even a small one. As we have pointed out before, these people are either afraid of taking any responsibility due to the fear of losing one’s job, or they can be negligent to their duties because of continuous overwork.

Both these attitudes are equally harmful for the functioning of customer service. It would not be an exaggeration to say that such companies cannot reach their strategic and short-term objectives. In the majority of cases, their financial and operational performance leaves much to be desired. Again, we have to stress an idea that the solution of this problem requires much effort from both employees and management.

At this point, we need to map out strategies of managing workplace; at first we need to describe how the employees should behave in order to avoid mental, emotional and physical strain.

It is of the crucial importance that they maintain positive attitude toward the management and colleagues (Stranks, 2005, p 76). They should not view them as their enemies or someone who deliberately does harm to them; otherwise they will conjure monsters out of thin air. They must understand that a good employer is interested in the retention of experienced workers.

This is the reason why the employees should not be afraid of airing their opinions and complaints to the senior managers. In the majority of cases, a good executive officer is always willing to keep employees satisfied, and he/she will always pay attention to their needs. A person, who feels some sort of strain, should at least talk to the manager and there is great likelihood that his concerns will be addressed. Unfortunately, many people avoid doing it in effort to look independent, self-sufficient, and strong.

Getting enough sleep is also important element of preventing work stress because sleep deprivation results in irritability and attention deficit (Stranks, 2005, p 80). Overall, a person should get at least seven hours of sleep to be productive at the workplace. Apart from that, one should not underestimate the importance of keeping appropriate diet.

These recommendations may appear to be truisms but a great number of people forget about them. In order to become an efficient employee, who can effectively overcome stress situations, a person should always spare a certain amount of time for his/her own needs that are entirely unrelated to the workplace duties.

The thing is that an individual, who does not do that, usually feels as though work were the only purpose of his existence, and this is certainly very depressing. Finally, one should re-evaluate one’s self-esteem and self-efficacy as sometimes people underrate their skills and competencies and think that they are performing poorly.

Still, without active support of the management even the most balanced and even-tempered individual can reach the breaking point. In their turn, the managers need to develop appropriate schedule and set reasonable timelines so that the employees did not have to continuously work overtime.

Secondly, they need to clearly define the duties and responsibilities of the subordinates. As it has been noted before, cognitive overload is one of the leading causes of job stress. A person, who has to think about a great number of things at a time, inevitably feels emotional and mental strain. This is one of things, which managers neglect due to some reason.

The development of new remuneration system is also an important part of work stress management. Senior officers must remember that virtually every employee needs to feel that he/she is being valued by the company, and that his/her successes and contributions do not go unnoticed.

More importantly, it is not always necessary to increase the amount of monetary compensation, paid to the worker. In many cases, non-monetary awards can also be very effective (Mathis & Jackson, 2007). For instance, the managers can present well-performing employees with brand products, provide them with opportunities for career development, or simply praise them, when they do deserve the praise.

Our general recommendation to the managers is to be more attentive to the needs of their behavior of their subordinates because work stress can be avoided or detected even at an early stage. Thus, it is possible for us to argue that sensitivity is one of the qualities the manager should possess in order to minimize work stress.

Job stress that poses so many threats to individuals and organizations originates from the inability or unwillingness of the management and employees to communicate with one another. Certainly, there are other causes of this phenomenon like the structure of the company, economic situation in the country, family, and health problems.

Nonetheless, lack of communication is the major factor: people, who seldom even talk to their colleagues, managers, or subordinates, usually do not think highly of others. Finally, we should say that fear of expressing one’s opinions, concerns and emotions also leads to work stress.

Barling J. Kelloway, E, & Frone M. 2005. Handbook of work stress. London: Sage.

Corveleyn. J. Luyten, P. & Blatt. S. 2005 The theory and treatment of depression: towards a dynamic interactionism model. London: Routledge.

Drenth. P J. Thierry H. & Wolff C. 1998. Handbook of Work and Organizational Psychology: Personnel psychology. NY: Psychology Press.

Mathis. R. & Jackson. J. 2007. Human resource management. NY: Cengage Learning.

National Institute of Occupational Safety. 2010. Work Organization and Stress-Related Disorders. Web.

Resnick B. 2004. Restorative care nursing for older adults: a guide for all care settings. NJ: Springer Publishing Company.

Stranks, J. 2005 Stress at work: management and prevention. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

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Stress at Work Essay Example

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Time , Employee , Human Resource Management , Family , Stress , Job , Workplace , Organization

Words: 2750

Published: 03/16/2021

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Stress at work refers to detrimental emotional and physical reactions that prevail when the conditions at work are not equivalent to the capabilities, needs or resources of the employee. Workers who are subjected to occupational stress at work do not perform their duties to full potential. Therefore it is vital that an organization should protect its employees from falling prey to work stress. This can be achieved by having a proper management team that plays its tasks of reviewing job descriptions (Landy, 73). This is to ensure that employees handle tasks which they can efficiently execute without any difficulties. When employees are subjected to stress while performing their jobs, it is important to know the source of such a stress. At times this occupational stress is brought about by employees’ conditions at home or any other factors that affects them while they are out of work. It is also possible that the stress at work is an organizational phenomenon especially if it is the conditions at work that cause employee stress. The rational of this paper is to determine the extent to which stress at work is an individual or organizational phenomenon.

Studies show that at least fifteen percent of all individuals who work are undergoing through stress in their jobs. Thus, stress is a major concern for many employees and this affects their performance at work adversely (Zedeck, 56). However, it is also evident that stress levels for employees have continued to fall significantly from the previous years. This can be attributed to the various stress management strategies that have been formulated to control this work scourge. There also exists a gender difference in dealing with stress at work. It is believed that women are more affected by stress at work than their men counterparts. This is mainly as a result of the fact that women are exposed to various stressors which prove to be difficult to handle by them. Some women are faced by multiple roles where they have to take care of their families and also provide for them. This makes them vulnerable to stress both at work and home (Linley, 46). Another reason that makes women to be more susceptible to stress is the fact that most women lack progress in their careers.

This is due to the responsibilities that they are tied upon which hinder them from furthering on their careers. Hence this makes some of them to feel as junior employees in an organization. Another major factor that brings the difference in work stress management between men and women is stereotyping and discrimination. Women have over a long time been discriminated especially in the workplace where men put themselves on top of everything. This makes women to be the weaker sex, a situation that also prevails in managing their stress. Even though men also experience a number of stressors in the workplace, their stress levels are lower compared to those of women (Johnson, 132). It is believed that men have a higher ability of managing stress than women hence they can withstand various conditions imposed on them. The stress coping strategies that are formulated have helped to manage and minimize stress in the workplace. However, most of these strategies only help to minimize the stress but do not concentrate in removing the stressors. Thus, as these strategies are put forward, people will continue to experience stress since the stressors have not yet been removed.

Organizations that focus in reducing stress among their employees should therefore focus on ways of getting rid of the factors that contribute to the stress. Failure to which, they will achieve very minimal results in dealing with stress at the workplace (Statt, 42). In the 21st century there have been a lot of issues which keep on affecting the well being of employees in the workplace and consequently result to stress. Issues ranging from the economic downturns, widespread layoffs and very little incomes are some of the factors which stress many employees. At the workplace workers are subjected to meeting strict deadlines and very high expectations from their managers (Deresky, 47). This presents a situation where striking the balance between the workplace tasks and out of work responsibilities becomes hard. Therefore, many workers are caught up in stress and other health issues as a result of these issues. It is also a fact that workers faced with stress are highly susceptible to making mistakes in their course of work while others may injure themselves. This means they would even be forced to be absent from work as a result of that. With the increased costs of healthcare this translates into lots of cost for them to maintain a healthy life. This is attributed to the emerging issues in the recent times which have left people with many responsibilities yet they earn meager incomes. People are therefore left with very little income for themselves (Storey, 28). Hence living a happy life becomes almost impossible to many workers. In the current times job insecurity is perceived as a very worst condition for many employees. It is even believed that most people would rather be unemployed than knowing that they are doing an insecure job (Drenth, 68). Being laid off from work is a stressful issue which many people find difficult to handle. Consequently, anticipating for this to happen even brings more stress to workers who suffer job insecurity. Many workers whose jobs are insecure are faced by great anxiety and end up being entangled in a lot of stress and other health issues as a result. It is even argued that prolonged effects of job insecurity would lead to heart complications to workers or even cancer in the worst scenarios (Schneider, 37). It is also evident that most workers would take up on substance abuse as a way of controlling their stress which results to adverse health effects.

Long working hours is a prime stressor to many workers and it is viewed that the set working hours are not the expectation of many workers. Employees expect that they should work within few hours which would give them an opportunity to conduct other personal issues and also rest. However, many jobs are characterized by longer working hours coupled with very little incomes. Studies show that working longer hours may result to deprived psychological performance, injuries in the workplace and a lot of sickness (Perle, 98). Working hours are supposed to be set in a way that they don’t deprive the performance of workers. Employees should be given enough time to rest from the hustle and bustle of their jobs. It is also vital to reward employees well especially in situations where there are longer working hours. This would create incentives for them to work without any stress. In the recent era, working has been made very efficient especially as a result of the new technology (Schultz, 118).

Many organizations are working towards achieving autonomy of their employees so as to enhance their organizational objectives. Therefore, control of work in organizations which embrace trends like autonomous work teams is mostly supported through technology (Barrick, 132). Managers can effectively control employees in these autonomous teams through the available technology. The manger does not need to hold a lot of meetings in order to control the teams. This is made possible by technology, for instance, communications can be achieved through various video conferences or via Skype. Employees’ autonomy is very vital in accomplishing the organizational goals. Workers who have autonomy are believed to perform much better due to that sense of independence that exists in their work. Hence, control becomes even much easier due to the fact that managers would be dealing with happier employees who know their job very well. Thus, control in such autonomous groups is in a way decentralized such that it is not a responsibility of a single person to control a group of workers.

In a situation where workers are subjected to stressful conditions at the workplace, justice comes in to play a mediating role. Justice can either be sought by the employees or by their employers though the latter is not so active on that. Employees who feel that their work is causing stress on them would seek justice from their managers (Arnold, 89). If employees are granted the justice they deserve then the whole issue becomes a settled matter of the past. However, if no considerations are made regarding the deplorable conditions at the workplace it is highly likely that employees would quit from work. Thus, justice plays a mediating function between employees facing stress at the workplace and the organization (Warr, 102). This means that employers should do justice to their employees to ensure that sanity prevails at the workplace.

In the first case study, the lorry driver is prone to some stresses in the workplace and also at home. To begin with, the income of the lorry driver is quite low and hence life has become difficult for him especially in taking care of the family. The driver also notes that there is over working in his organization. He goes further to say that there is even no time for fun, this means that the driver works for longer hours. The driver also recognizes that the organization does not provide social facilities such as social clubs or football teams to the employees. These are important incentives for employees to help divert their minds from the workplace environment. Another source of stress cited by the driver is the short contracts given by the organization which result to job insecurity for the workers. Lastly, the driver asserts that boredom, working in isolation and employee health and safety are some of the things that contribute to stress in the workplace.

This case can be associated with the stimulus theories of work stress. This is because of how the driver’s perceptions on the nature of his work. The driver believes this is an insecure job which has changed its conditions over time to the present stressful conditions that prevail. It is relevant that job security is a prime stressor for many workers. The driver worries he may not be aware of what tomorrow holds for him since his contract can be cut at any time. It is also a fact that organizations that do not avail social amenities to their employees increase their stress levels. This is because their employees do not get time off from the stressful working conditions. Thus, employees view such organizations as profit making entities which do not care about the welfare of employees. As a consultant for this organization I would urge the management to assure workers about their job security. This can be achieved by prolonging the contract period for the employees.

This would be vital if employees were sure about the security of their jobs. I would also propose that the organization provides some social activities for it workers. This would include things such as; employees’ fun day or provision of sporting activities for the workers. Furthermore, I would urge the management to encourage team work amongst the employees. This helps to get rid of boredom and isolation amongst the workers. The management would also be advised to raise the employee’s salary as a way of providing incentives for work. Lastly the company must also adopt a very comprehensive health and safety policy for its employees (Roberts, 134). These solutions are very feasible since they do not incur huge costs to the company except for the employees’ salaries which is core to the organization. Consequently, provision of social activities would be a way of the company to achieve corporate social responsibility.

In the second case study, the high flyer is exposed to stress at home than in her workplace. The sources of her stress include; providing for her family, spending little time with her son and also making sure that her employees are paid their salaries. The relevant theory for this case is the transaction theory of stress (James, 92). This is because it is the demands of her job that create stress on her. For instance, she would be stressed if the employees are not paid or if her job reduces the time she spends with her son. From this case, we are able to see how stress at home can impact on employees at work. Being the family breadwinner this woman is faced by many responsibilities which might affect her on the job. It is also evident of how longer working hours can create stress to employees. This woman is stressed because she thinks she is spending little time with her son. This is a peculiar case that depicts the life of an employer and the stress that she experiences in ensuring that the organization runs well. As a consultant, I would urge this lady to employ a director for the company. This would help her to create enough time for her family and also time to oversee the new business.

The director would also be left with the task of ensuring that employees are paid on time and every activity runs well. I would also propose to the lady to advice the husband to get a job so that they may share the family responsibility. This would help to minimize the stress related to her responsibilities. Based on the gravity of the issues stressing the lady, hiring a director would be a feasible solution. However, the salary for the director would be sensible considering the lady will not be stressed thereafter. Hence this is a workable approach which is low on costs and also does not take a lot of time. In conclusion, the study shows that workers in this era are undergoing through a lot of stress in their workplace. This is as a result of the detrimental working conditions that they are given by their organizations. The most significant causes of stress includes; longer working hours, low salaries, higher expectations from employers, increased work load and job insecurity. All these factors lead to stress which affects the employees’ performance and also their health. Organizations must therefore work to ensure that they provide better conditions so as to minimize the stress in the workplace.

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Work-Related Stress and Psychological Distress among Law Enforcement Officers: The Carolina Blue Project

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• Affiliation: School of Nursing
• Law enforcement is a stressful occupation that places significant psychological demands on those serving in this role. However, little is known about the severity of work-related stress and psychological distress among law enforcement officers (LEOs) in North Carolina (NC). This cross-sectional study examined the severity of work-related stress and psychological distress among 283 LEOs in NC. The Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Operational Police Stress Questionnaire, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist were used to assess burnout, operational police stress, depression, anxiety, stress, and PTSD among LEOs. Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, one-way ANOVA, and Kruskal–Wallis tests were performed. Rural and male LEOs reported higher burnout levels related to depersonalization (i.e., increased mental distance from one’s job) compared with their urban and female counterparts. LEOs exposed to toxic materials or performing patrol duties exhibited higher operational police stress levels than those who did not. Caucasian LEOs exhibited higher depression, anxiety, and stress than their African American counterparts. Rural LEOs and LEOs who were exposed to toxic materials displayed higher levels of PTSD than their counterparts. Our findings highlight the need for increased mental health support and better working environments for LEOs.
• police force
• operational police stress
• toxic materials
• rural county
• North Carolina
• https://doi.org/10.17615/dz8r-5y54
• https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12060688
• In Copyright
• Attribution 4.0 International

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