Subject: Stress Management

Unit:1

Definition of stress
: a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc.
: something that causes strong feelings of worry or anxiety
: physical force or pressure.

Definition by Merriam webster

a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc. : something that
causes strong feelings of worry or anxiety. : physical force or pressure.

Definition of Stress
1.Stress is defined as “a state of psychological and physiological imbalance resulting from
the disparity between situational demand and the individual's ability and motivation to meet
those needs.”

2.Stress can be defined as a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation.
Stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our
lives. Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought
that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous.

Stress is a normal part of life, and it may manifest itself in different ways. However, stress is not
always bad; in fact, it can be a motivator, which helps the body prepare to prepare for
potentially dangerous and life-threatening situations.

What is Stress?
Stress, from a biological perspective, is defined as a reaction to change or a process of
responding to any kind of perceived threat.

Usually, stress stimulates the release of hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and
noradrenaline, which in turn, induces several changes in the body that prepare it for fight or
flight situations.

We experience stress from different factors, including our environment, our body, and even our
thoughts.

Stress can be positive or negative:

Stress is good when the situation offers an opportunity to a person to gain something. It acts as
a motivator for peak performance.

Stress is negative when a person faces social, physical, organizational and emotional problems.
Factors that are responsible for causing stress are called stressors.

Signs and symptoms of chronic stress or stress overload

1.Cognitive symptoms
Memory problems
Inability to concentrate
Poor judgment
Seeing only the negative
Anxious or racing thoughts
Constant worrying

2.Emotional symptoms
Depression or general unhappiness
Anxiety and agitation
Moodiness, irritability, or anger
Feeling overwhelmed
Loneliness and isolation
Other mental or emotional health problems

3.Physical symptoms
Aches and pains
Diarrhea or constipation
Nausea, dizziness
Chest pain, rapid heart rate
Frequent colds or flu
Muscle tension and pain
Low energy
Headaches Changes
in appetite
Shortness of breath or difficulty
breathing

4.Behavioral symptoms
Eating more or less
Sleeping too much or too little
Withdrawing from others
Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities
Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax
Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)
5.Psychological symptoms of stress can include:
Sleep disturbances
Difficulty
concentrating Lack of
confidence Depression
Difficulty relaxing
Difficulty with decision making
Irritability

Main Areas of Stress

1. Career Concern: If an employee feels that he is very much behind in the corporate

ladder, then he may experience stress. If he seems that there are no opportunities for

self-growth, he may experience stress. Hence, unfulfilled career expectations are the

significant source of stress.

2. Rotating Work Shifts: Stress may occur in those individuals who work on different work

shifts. Employees may be expected to work on day shift for some days and then on the

night shift. That may create problems in adjusting to the shift timings, and it can affect

not only personal life but also family life of the employee.

3. Role Conflict: It takes place when people have different expectations from the person

performing a particular role. It can also occur if the job is not as per expectation, or when

a job demands a certain type of behavior that is against the person's moral values.

4. Work Underload: In this, case, too little work or very easy work is expected on the part

of the employee. Doing less work or jobs of routine and simple nature would lead to

monotony and boredom, which can lead to stress.

5. Work Overload: Excessive workload leads to stress as it puts a person under tremendous

pressure. Work overload may take two different forms:

1) Qualitative work overload implies performing a job that is complicated or beyond

the employee's capacity.

2) Quantitative work overload is a result of many activities performed in a prescribed

time.
 Types of Stress

1. Acute stress

Acute stress is the most common type of stress. It’s your body's immediate reaction to a new
challenge, event, or demand, and it triggers your fight-or-flight response. As the pressures of a
near-miss automobile accident, an argument with a family member or a costly mistake at work
sink in, your body turns on this biological response.

Acute stress isn't always negative. It's also the experience you have when riding a rollercoaster or
having a person jump out at you in a haunted house. Isolated episodes of acute stress should not
have any lingering health effects. In fact, they might actually be healthy for you, as these stressful
situations give your body and brain practice in developing the best response to future stressful
situations.

Severe acute stress such as stress suffered as the victim of a crime or life-threatening situation
can lead to mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress
disorder.

Because it is short term, acute stress doesn't have enough time to do the extensive damage
associated with long-term stress.

2. Episodic acute stress

When acute stress happens frequently, it’s called episodic acute stress. People who always seem
to be having a crisis tend to have episodic acute stress. They are often short-tempered, irritable,
and anxious. People who are “worry warts” or pessimistic or who tend to see the negative side of
everything also tend to have episodic acute stress.

Negative health effects are persistent in people with episodic acute stress. It may be hard for
people with this type of stress to change their lifestyle, as they accept stress as a part of life.

3. Chronic stress

If acute stress isn't resolved and begins to increase or lasts for long periods of time, it becomes
chronic stress. This stress is constant and doesn’t go away. It can stem from such things as:
 1. poverty
2. a dysfunctional family
3. an unhappy marriage
4. a bad job

Chronic stress can be detrimental to your health, as it can contribute to several serious diseases
or health risks, such as:

1. heart disease
2. cancer
3. lung disease
4. accidents
5. cirrhosis of the liver
6. suicide

Potential Source of Stress

If you poll a group of individuals about what their biggest stressors are, they’re likely to give you
these four answers:

 Money
 Work
 Family responsibilities
 Health concerns

In most surveys on stress and its causes, these four responses have been at the top of the list for
quite a long time, and I’m sure you weren’t surprised to read them. But managers should take
pause when they realize that all four of these are either directly or indirectly impacted by the
workplace.

Still, there are so many differences among individuals and their stressors. Why is one person’s
mind-crippling stress another person’s biggest motivation and challenge? We’re going to attempt
to answer this by looking at the three sources of stress—individual, organizational, and
environmental.
1.Individual Factors

Let’s start at the top. The first of three sources of stress is individual. Individuals might experience
stressful commutes to work, or a stressful couple of weeks helping at a work event, but those
kinds of temporary, individual stresses are not what we’re looking at here. We’re looking for a
deeper, longer-term stress. Family stress—marriages that are ending, issues with children, an
ailing parent—these are stressful situations that an employee really can’t leave at home when he
or she comes to work. Financial stress, like the inability to pay bills or an unexpected new
demand on a person’s cash flow might also be an issue that disturbs an employee’s time at work.
Finally, an individual’s own personality might actually contribute to his or her stress. People’s
dispositions—how they perceive things as negative or positive—can be a factor in each person’s
stress as well.

2.Organizational Factors

There’s a plethora of organizational sources of stress.

 Task or role demands: these are factors related to a person’s role at work, including
the design of a person’s job or working conditions. A stressful task demand might be
a detailed, weekly presentation to the company’s senior team. A stressful role
demand might be where a person is expected to achieve more in a set amount of
time than is possible.
 Interpersonal demands: these are stressors created by co-workers. Perhaps an
employee is experiencing ongoing conflict with a co-worker he or she is expected to
collaborate closely with. Or maybe employees are experiencing a lack of social
support in their roles.
 Organizational structure: this refers to the level of differentiation within an
organization, the degree of rules and regulations, and where decisions are made. If
employees are unable to participate in decisions that affect them, they may
experience stress.
  Organizational leadership: this refers to the organization’s style of leadership,
particularly the managerial style of its senior executives. Leaders can create an
environment of tension, fear and anxiety and can exert unrealistic pressure and
control. If employees are afraid, they’ll be fired for not living up to leadership’s
standards, this can definitely be a source of stress.
 Organizational life stage: an organization goes through a cycle of stages (birth,
growth, maturity, decline). For employees, the birth and decline of an organization
can be particularly stressful, as those stages tend to be filled with heavy workloads
and a level of uncertainty about the future.

3.Environmental Factors

Finally, there are environmental sources of stress. The economy may be in a downturn, creating
uncertainty for job futures and bank accounts. There may be political unrest or change creating
stress. Finally, technology can cause stress, as new developments are constantly making
employee skills obsolete, and workers fear they’ll be replaced by a machine that can do the same.
Employee are also often expected to stay connected to the workplace 24/7 because technology
allows it.