How Can Effective Stress Management Help to Develop Healthy Response to Given Tasks.

Deborah Angelic Leong-Ikin

Master Minds

CT0247977

How can effective stress management help to develop healthy response to given tasks.

Stress can be defined as the experience of a perceived threat that can be either real or imagined to one’s well being which results in a series of physiological responses and adaptation. (Donatelle, 2009, p. 62) According to the national institute for occupational safety and health (NIOSH) in the United States, small doses of stress are manageable and not deemed to be harmful, however when faced with situations in which stress is very high or constant, it can create serious problems. High levels of stress not only can affect the work produced but also affect one’s well-being. Studies have suggested that high stress in a work environment can play a large role in chronic illnesses when it persist for a long period of time and researchers have indicated that stress can increase an employee’s risk of developing illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal disorders. With proper stress management, one can produce effective results at work and better quality of life.

Today, most people believe that they do not have the capability or capacity to overcome the high level of stress that they are faced with that results in an increase in illnesses and decrease in morality, which is also known as the “illness of the century”. (Ramezan Jahanian, 2012) Stress is a mental feeling when a person is task with jobs that are beyond their capabilities, these feelings results in tension and anxiety, which are the common symptoms of stress. (RUSSELL CROPANZANO, 1997, p. 164)

There are consequences of stress, which can be classified into three general categories, individual, organizational and personal-organizational. Individual consequences affect a person directly, in terms of behavior, mental and physical changes due to high levels of stress. Although it directly affects an individual, it can also impact an organization directly or indirectly. Organizational consequences have a direct impact on the organization. When an individual is faced with high level of stress, functional consequences that is the lack of proper and correct function, lower motivation level, which results in poor work attitude and higher possibility of absence or resignation of an employee. The last type of consequence of stress would be exhaustion; it is the feeling of fading when an individual is faced with very high levels of stress and little satisfaction. This affects both an individual and organization directly. (Moorhead, 1999)

According to the president of the American Institute of Stress, Paul J Rosch, M.D, he has agreed with the national institute for occupational safety and health (NIOSH) that there are a list of common causes for stress in a working environment. Factors such as task design, management style, interpersonal relationships, work roles and career concerns are the fundamental origins of workplace stress. Fresh graduates or employees that are new to a work environment may find it hard to adapt which could lead to a higher stress level compared to people that have an extensive work proficiency. When faced with heavy workload or back to back deadlines, lack of support from co-workers, job insecurity, conflicting job expectations and little participation in making decisions, these individual factors can build up a person’s stress level and result in adverse outcomes.