9 minute read
WORKPLACE STRESS
ARTICLE
WORKPLACE STRESS
– Neenan, 2018
If you are reading this article, I am certain that you will have experienced workplace stress. I know that I have. The phone rings, a long urgent email arrives, there is a deadline, workload is just too much to cope with, you aren’t being supported in the workplace, the list of stressors goes on.
Before I became a Psychotherapist, I had another career for over 20 years. Having gained a law degree I qualified as solicitor and joined the Crown Prosecution Service in1992. I became a District Crown Prosecutor firstly responsible or the City of Wolverhampton and then running the Magistrates Court Teams for Shropshire and Herefordshire.
I was always involved in people and victim and witness focussed projects for CPS, leading in The Community Prosecutor scheme, Anti-social behaviour and Domestic Violence initiatives as well as being a youth court and rape and child abuse specialist prosecutor. In all of these roles the impact on real people was always at the core of my decision making.
I had a Judicial appointment as Deputy Coroner for Worcestershire and engaged with bereaved families dealing with sensitive inquests and complex issues of law. I learnt so much about the effects of grief and about professional empathy and understanding.
What is stress?
Dimensional models of understanding mental distress remind us that we will all face distressing experiences in our lives and that stress is our reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure.
Definitions of stress typically fall into three categories. Stress as a stimulus. Stress as a response. Stress as an interaction between us and our environment.
Each category is a good match for the three models of stress most often used in research.
The 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. The physiological model focuses on what happens within the person in response to the stress. The 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. That dovetails with The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines work-related stress as: ‘The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work’.
Fight or Flight
Stress puts us in to the fight-or-flight response (also known as the acute stress response). The fight-or-flight response is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare your body to either stay and deal with a threat or to run away to safety.
The term “fight-or-flight” represents the choices that our ancient ancestors had when faced with danger in their environment. They could either fight or flee. In either case, the physiological and psychological response to stress prepares the body to react to the danger.
In the 1920s, American physiologist Walter Cannon was the first to describe the fight-or-flight response. Cannon realized that a chain of rapidly occurring reactions inside the body helped to mobilize the body’s resources to deal with threatening circumstances.
In response to acute stress, the body’s sympathetic nervous system is activated by the sudden release of hormones. The sympathetic nervous system then stimulates the adrenal glands, triggering the release of catecholamines (including adrenaline and noradrenaline).
This chain of reactions results in an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. After the threat is gone, it takes between 20 to 60 minutes for the body to return to its pre-arousal levels. Repeated fight or flight can affect is physically, psychologically, and behaviourally.
We aren’t all the same
Stress does not affect everyone in the same way! We need to appreciate that we aren’t all the same.
There are many potential Physical reactions:
Gastrointestinal problems
Headaches
Fatigue or tiredness
Elevated heart rate
Psychomotor agitation (e.g., feeling fidgety or restless)
Sleep difficulties.
A considerable number of psychological effects:
Heightened emotions
Irritability/mood swings
Feelings of helplessness or worthlessness
Disconnection or withdrawal from colleagues and others
Concentration / memory difficulties
Problems with decision-making.
And many behavioural issues:
Taking frequent leave from work (absenteeism)
Attending work but producing a low output (presenteeism)
Procrastination
Making avoidable errors at work, or performing below the usual standard
Ruminating about the job outside the workplace
Avoiding family/social engagements
Having a short temper
Tearfulness
Eating too much or too little
Drinking more alcohol than usual or smoking more than usual
Do you recognise any of these feelings and behaviours on yourself or your team? I expect that you do.
The statistics
According to the National Institute of Statistics in 2019-20, 828,00 workers suffered from work-related stress, depression, and anxiety and 17.9 million working days were lost.
An HSE study in 2020/21 found that stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 50% of all work-related ill health Another 2020 workplace stress survey reveals, on a weekly basis, 25-34 year olds are feeling the most work-related pressure.31% of this age group experience work-related stress on a weekly basis. A big cause for concern. As this age group are generally at the point in their working lives where they have chosen a career and are working towards their development.
In terms of occupation, higher than all jobs average rate of stress, depression or anxiety were found in Professional occupations such as working in the law.
One of the biggest developments in the business world between 2018 and today was the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognising ‘burnout’ as an ‘occupational phenomenon’ in April 2019.
They describe burnout as ‘a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive or prolonged stress that can leave people feeling exhausted and unable to cope with the demands of life.’
There will be people in your firm experiencing stress and burnout now. It could be you.
Lead by example if you are a manager or partner. Under UK health and safety legislation and common law, employers have a duty to take care of employees. This includes a responsibility to protect employees from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it.
It’s well recognised that excessive or sustained work pressure can lead to stress. Occupational stress poses a risk to businesses and can result in higher sickness absence, lower staff engagement and reduced productivity. According to the HSE, 17.9 million working days were lost to stress, anxiety or depression in 2019/20.
Identify your stress response and that of your colleagues
Internally, we all respond the same way to the “fight-orflight” stress response: your blood pressure rises, your heart pumps faster, and your muscles constrict. Your body works hard and drains your immune system. Externally, however, people respond to stress in different ways.
The best way to quickly relieve stress often relates to your specific stress response:
Overexcited stress response: If you tend to become angry, agitated, overly emotional, or keyed up under stress, you will respond best to stress relief activities that quiet you down.
Under excited stress response: If you tend to become depressed, withdrawn, or spaced out under stress, you will respond best to stress relief activities that are stimulating and energizing.
An evidence based wellbeing strategy
An evidence based cognitive wellbeing strategy means you utilising the practical guidance you need to create conditions that support resilience, and to be able to identify the signs of poor wellbeing.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the primary treatment for work-related stress and all forms of anxiety. CBT is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle. CBT aims to help you deal with overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts.
You’re shown how to change these negative patterns to improve the way you feel. Unlike some other talking treatments, CBT deals with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past.
It looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind daily.
What do I do
I deliver the practical guidance you need to create conditions that support resilience, and to be able to identify the signs of poor wellbeing using evidence based psychological CBT techniques. Training for partners, training for team managers, training for teams. Practical, commonsense , evidence based psychoeducation, wellbeing, resilience, and mental health focussed you to achieve individual and team stress management and resilience building.
Takeaway technique
“Bensons One”: The term “Relaxation Response” was coined by Dr. Herbert Benson, professor, author, cardiologist, and founder of Harvard’s Mind/Body Medical Institute.
Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing. As you breathe out, say the word “one” silently to yourself. For example, breathe in, and then out, and say “one”, in and out, and repeat “one.” Breathe easily and naturally.
This helps to slow down the fight or flight response for a short time.
Try it when the phone rings, when that email lands, as you read your case papers … it’s a very simple easy quick technique to have in your toolbox.
Marguerite Elcock
Marguerite Elcock is a Shropshire based Psychotherapist, a member of the National Council of Integrative Psychotherapists and is currently completing an MSc degree in the Psychology of Mental Health and Wellbeing. She is a trained trainer, and you can hear her very Friday on WCR101.8FM and she appears on Talk TV discussing mental health.
www.insynchypnotherapy.co.uk
enquiries@insynchypnotherapy.co.uk
07411 313132
