Stress

Stress  can be considered as human’ response to an energy demand. Stress can occur

when there is  negative or positive events   in our life. Stress in the workplace is very

pervasive. Canadian  Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (2000) claimed that  

some kind of stress is ok , but when  it occurs in huge amount, then it can create

physical and mental change in individuals. Workplace stress can result from

discrimination,  insulting behavior from supervisors, unsafe work environment, and  

lacking compatibility with organization’s goal, etc. People deal with stress in different

manners. Some people  prefer to escape from stress, and others want to fight against it

(Cannon, 1929). Such  reactions called episodic, meaning that  they occur suddenly  

and are  considered to be   short term. When the stress lasts for longer time, it is called  

chronic stress. Chronic  stress  in the workplace is more damaging for body  and mind

health. Such reactions  are  automatic, and we can not control them. Each individual  

experiences stress  differently, and are affected by different stressors. Stressor is  

anything that leads to  increasing stress. For example, interpersonal conflicts,  

workload, noisy sound, and  even  a notification sound of the phone or computer  can

be considered as a stressor in  the work place.  Strains, on the other hand, are

individuals’ responses to such  stressors.  Job burnout,  heart disease,  and  anxiety

can be good examples for it.

      There are two categories of stressors: psychological stressors and  physical

stressors. Psychological stressors include  uncontrollable  noise, which results in low

level of motivation,    and task  performance (Szalma & Hancock, 2011). Workload

can also be considered as psychological stressor. Actually, there is a relationship

between  back disorder  and the amount of job required  to be done (Sprigg, Stride,

Wall, Holman, & Smith , 2007). Likewise, both physical and psychological stressors

have impact on employee health. Psychological stressors have influence on job

performance,  job satisfaction, and turnover.  Interpersonal conflicts, lack of