Causes and Effects of Work Related Stress

At the psychological level, stressful and poor working conditions can cause continuing feelings of humiliation, insecurity and worthlessness. Not having a secure understanding of the future can cause large amounts of anxiety and futility that roots high levels of fatigue from day-to-day life, therefore making everyday coping difficult. Individuals who experience high levels of prolonged stress often attempt to relieve these pressures by adopting unhealthy coping behaviours; for example, the excessive use of alcohol, smoking, and

Work related stress develops because a person is unable to cope with the demands being placed on them. Stress, including work related stress, can be a significant cause of illness and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other issues such as more errors.

In this paper, I expect to discuss factors which lead to stress in the workplace. Are individuals stressed in the workplace? What causes stress in the workplace? Who is mostly stressed: men or women? Are individuals being exposed to stress management techniques? By recognizing stress in the workplace, employers can act appropriately to reduce stress. The outcome can benefit social and family relationships, as well as preserve ones health and make people more productive in organizations.

There are numerous challenges that organizations are faced with in order for them to survive and grow. These challenges are mainly faced by people who are tasked with making decisions on a daily basis within the organizations because a majority of the challenges are human based. The employees working in an organization are likely to suffer from occupational stress depending on their work. Occupational stress comes along when an employee is faced with demands within the workplace, and they are not able to complete or carry out these demands. The failure to complete the demands placed upon them would cause the employee mental and physical strain as their body would have a physiological reaction. According to research there are various factors that contribute to stress in the workplace. These factors include isolation, extensive working hours, negative workloads, unhealthy working environments, harassment, bullying by management, and lack of motivation or advancement opportunities. The factors mentioned are not exhaustive as there might be other causes to occupational stress depending on the individual or employees.

According to Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (2013), stress in general is a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation (Full definition of stress, 1c.). Job stress may involve the type of work your do, your boss, or co-workers or your hours you work. When it comes to job stress, it can take a toll on your productivity, as well as your physical and emotional health.

Stress can be caused by many different things within an organisation but the main causes of stress can be broken down into “six management standards” Anon (2009) how to tackle work related stress http://www.hse.gov.uk/ I used these areas to construct the chart below and discussed stress at a team meeting and asked my team to complete a Circle of influence around areas over which they felt they had no control Appendix 1 we also discussed what we / I could do to manage the six main causes of stress

Stress related factors that interfere with work and other parts of day to day living

Currie, D (2010). Introduction to Human Resource Management. 2nd ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. 293

Work related stress has been emerging as one of the main causes of adverse symptoms of mental health in today’s industrial societies. The direct result of excessive pressures and/or demands placed on individuals at work, work-related stress has caused some people to develop symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other adverse mental health effects. While it might be possible that other co-factors contribute to the development of anxiety and depression in some population groups, evidence suggests that pressure from works is more likely to trigger adverse reactions in some people. In fact, positive correlations have been established between symptoms of work stress and mental health problems. That is, it is not uncommon to witness loss of

I would like to conclude on a few points that we have discussed. The term stress was coined by Dr. Hans Selye from the University of Montreal and the basic definition of stress is the body’s response to any demand placed on it, pleasant or unpleasant (Cunningham, 2000). Some major causes of stress are “high physical, mental and or emotional demands, lack of variety, short work cycles, fragmented or meaningless work, underutilization and high uncertainty of work” (NOHSC, 2000, P. 29). There are also psychological stressors that affect workplace but that I will save that for another

By reviewing the opinions of the interviewees regarding the area of occupational stress, the authors of the thesis have analyzed potential improvement areas and future challenges for the case company. These changes are important for the company to ensure a healthy work climate and satisfied employees, who will retain a position within the company.

Thus, workplace stress occurs when the challenges and demands of work become excessive, the pressures of the workplace exceed the worker 's ability to handle them, and job satisfaction turns to frustration and exhaustion.(Lambert and Lambert, 2010).

Stress is a common issue that faces every human being in different times. Stress can be caused by many factors, but one of the main reasons is work which is called occupational stress or work-related stress. Job stress does not only affect the employees’ performance within an organization, but also it affects their general health. Stress has become a challenge for employers now because high level stress results in low productivity, increased absenteeism and other problems like alcoholism, drug abuse and hypertension (Ahmad, Mohamed. 2017). It became a major problem for employers especially in developing countries where they don’t realize the importance of work-life balance and the impact of stress on the productivity level and the job

There may be many causes for increased stress levels, including perceived injustices or unfairness, lack of timely communication by management or fear of future changes.

INTRODUCTION Today workplace stress is becoming a major issue and a matter of concern for the employees and the organizations. It has become a part of life for the employees, as life today has become so complex at home as well as outside that it is impossible to avoid stress. Selye [1936] defines stress as “a dynamic activity wherein an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint or demand”. Organisational stress arises due to lack of person- environment fit. When organizational stress is mismanaged, it affects the human potential in the organization. It further leads to reduced quality, productivity, health as well as