Effects Of Occupational Stess

The Effects of Occupational Stress

To measure something as subjective as stress is difficult to do. Stress is an issue that we must all deal with throughout our lives. Some people think of it as an illness, and others think that it only affects CEOs or executives of large companies - or that only weak people suffer from it. People often confuse stress with pressure, but the two have very different identities. Stress is what is caused by excess pressure and it makes no difference if the "stressor" is real or perceived. Stress can also be long term or short term depending on the person and their unique situation. "Workplace stress costs U.S. employers an estimated $200 billion dollars a year in increased absenteeism, lower productivity, staff turnover, workers' compensation, medical insurance claims, and other stress related expenses" (Maxon, 1999). It has been reported as overtaking the common cold as the biggest cause of absenteeism from the workplace. Therefore, it is safe to say that occupational stress is a serious issue that must be dealt with on national, if not global level.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines stress as the "adverse reaction that people have to excessive pressures or other types of demands placed upon them; it arises when they feel they cannot cope" with the stressor in their current situation (Atkinson, 2000). A stressor is defined as any agent that causes stress to an organism. Stress occurs when there is a mismatch between what an individual wants and/or is capable of doing and what their environment offers and demands of them. Two employees doing the same job are two completely different people, with different stressors from family, friends, lifestyle, and beliefs. What would be perceived as a stressor by one may not be by the other. Therefore, it is important that you take the time to get to know your employees and what makes them tick. This may give you an inside look at their lives and under what kind of possible stress conditions they may be working under. That insight may be able to help you as a manger mitigate some conflict before it begins. One thing is certain; a stressed employee working in a customer relation's job can quickly lead to customer dissatisfaction, potentially leading to loss of business and a decline in profits.

Due to the severe problem of stress many agencies are looking into possible treatments of stress related illnesses and stress management techniques. Many studies point out however that many stress management techniques only attempt to tackle the effects, not the causes of stress and employers should focus on tackling the problem using simple measures like good management and regard for people as an approach, which may well be as effective as a high-profile approach and is certainly not as costly. One of the best ways to effectively attack occupational stress is to identify the stress points in a business at the employees' and employers' level and focus on reducing them. Another way to counter stress is to learn about the adverse affects of occupational stress and be on the look out for them. Some of the emotional effects are anger, depression, fear, paranoia, anxiety, guilt, insomnia, and aggression. Some of the physical symptoms include arrhythmia of the heart, muscle tension, headaches, nausea, fatigue, and weight loss. The behavioral effects due to these physical symptoms are increased smoking and drinking or drug use, hyper or hypo activity, trouble with or too much sleeping, violence, or truancy from work. Psychological problems can also occur due to occupational stress such as poor concentration, decreased memory retention, short attention span, daydreaming, etc. The bottom line is stress, if left untreated or not attended to at the workplace, can lead to serious chronic illnesses such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stomach ulcers, and musculoskeletal problems.

Stress has not been one of my favorite emotions to deal with. I have dealt with it on many levels throughout my life beginning as a child. You start with sports, school, and pressure that can lead to stress and move on to family problems and larger life issues as you grow up. I started working when I was about 15 years old and didn't really know what occupational stress was at that age. My menial part time job didn't create much occupational stress and then came graduation from high school.

Upon graduation from high school I joined the Air Force and went to boot camp. That experience alone created enough occupational stress that I was pushed to the max, or so I thought. The stressors at that point in time were the training instructors and they loved to stress you out. There were instances where a couple of Airman buckled under the pressure and had to be sent to the mental hospital for evaluation. One of the Airman had become so stress out that his bi-polar disease revealed itself and he was held and evaluated at Wilford Hall Air Force Medical Center in San Antonio, TX for further treatment and evaluation. A study was conducted on occupational stress and mental illness among military personnel using the mental health patients, at this medical center, as the subjects of the study. "The results revealed that this population of military mental health clinic outpatients perceived that work stress had a strong negative effect on their emotional health. These results raise the possibility that work stress could be a significant occupational health hazard in the U.S. military, a possibility that warrants further investigation" (Pflanz, 2001). The additional data on the relationship between occupational stress and the emotional health in the military by conducting further studies would allow interventions to be planned to mitigate the effect of stress caused by the military work environment on the mental health of military personnel.

After graduation from basic training, I was sent to the Security Police Academy to become a Security Police Officer. My first duty assignment was Rhein Main AB, Germany. There were many stressors attached to this assignment, my first experience living away from home for an extended period of time, missing my family and friends, cultural differences with living in another country, and a new roommate to get used to. A source of significant stress was the occupational stress that came along with being a police officer. The operations tempo alone was hard enough to get used to, let alone the shift changes, the combat deployments, and the physical stress of having to physically restrain people. I've been on rape busts, club riot busts, prostitution ring busts, foreign dignitary bodyguard duty, Joints Chief of Staff guard duty, Vice President guard duty, and many other assignments and busts. There is a large amount