The United States’ eminent “competitive spirit” is a major characteristic that differentiates the U.S. workforce from other countries. This competitiveness is a key component in American society as it pushes workers to not only produce more but to increase his/her standard of living (Nixon). While competitiveness can lead to a flourishing society, oftentimes this competitiveness burdens workers, raising the amount of stress on a person. A study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health reported that out of 2,505 respondents, 53% felt a “great deal of stress in the past month” was a result of work affirming the correlation between stress and work (“The Burden of Stress in America”). As job markets are drastically becoming more competitive, …show more content…
Many Americans in today’s society are subject to workaholism, an addiction that can alter a person’s personality and values. Hauk and Chodkiewicz, both part of the Institute of Physcology and University of Lódź, Łódź, Poland, conducted a study analyzing the the role of occupational stress in workaholism and family relationships. They concluded that occupational stress was mediator in this relationship leading to the conclusions that stress, a symptom of workaholism, was influencing relationships outside of work. As more work means more stress, workaholics are burdened with large accumulation of stress they cannot escape, since they are driven by the desire to constantly work. This desire, as Hauk and Chodkiewicz point out, isolates a worker and leads to a work-family conflict (WFC) because all of the laborer’s resources are consumed by work. A WFC, according to Greenhaus, Drexel University, and Beurell, Seton Hall University, is defined as a conflict in which “participation in the work (family) role is more difficult by virtue of participation in family (work) role” meaning that full participation in one role came at the expense of another (Greenhaus) . Li-Chaun Chu, School of Health Policy and Management, states that “WFC commonly appear as an antecedent for psychological distress and mental health problems”. Poor mental health does not increase productivity in work, and workers with poor mental health will actually tend to have more absences and eventual job burnout. In order for society to prosper, proper relationships need to be established between people to have a healthy, communal society. Under pressure to perform and to produce at a great volume, workers will begin to change and alter their relationships. In Summary , stress will push workaholics to work until they break, but the trade off is not
It is vital to determine who is affected by job stress. It seems as though most people are affected by job stress at one time or another. Job stress is on the rise. People all over the world are beginning to suffer from job stress. Job stress doesn't occur in just one profession but it tends to occur more in streamlined countries. Job stress can affect an employee's personal life. Job stress can cause anxiety, depression, ulcers, chronic disease, and heart disease. In most job stress related cases, individuals are distressed by trying to combine occupational and family demands, such as caring for their children or sick and aging parents (Wiersma & Berg, 1991, p.1210). According to Lazarus (1991), employees who are not able to control their lives at their working place are more likely to suffer occupational stress and thus, can experience impaired health (p.4). Numerous studies have shown that low control, heavy job demands may cause mental strain, job dissatisfaction, cardiovascular disease, etc. (Locke & Taylor, 1990, p. 160). Family responsibilities also became a source of stress. It usually occurs in single parent families or in those which both parents work. This
The date is March twelfth, seventeen-seventy. In the week prior, eleven Americans had been shot by several British soldiers, Three were killed instantly, one died the next morning, two more are expected to die soon, and the final five are expected to make a decent recovery. Looking at this event, one might wonder what was going on at the time that could cause such a horrific event. What sort of stress and provocation could possibly lead to
Imagine having a boss that is always expecting more from you that you can handle or having three kids that are always quarreling at home and getting in trouble at school or the most stressful of all, having a teacher that never fails to assign large packets for homework. All of these situations cause immense amounts of stress within an individual. These are all situations Americans face quite commonly. Stress is a naturally occurring reaction to events or expectations that are beyond one’s capability. Stress is becoming more and more common in the lower socioeconomic class, because they are not able to afford appropriate treatment for stress. Members of the lower socioeconomic class in society should stop viewing stress so negatively,
Everyday Living can take a toll on the mind of any individual. Constant interaction with society can bring the mind to a state of panic when over loaded. A primary concern is the consequences of these sociological stressors. Sociological stressors can involve inadequate relationship, school stress, unhappy living situation and unhealthy work habits. All of these inevitably correlate with the mental health of individuals who may not be able to cope comfortably, causing mental illness symptoms to worsen. Being able to cope effectively with stressful situations can minimize the effects of stress on individuals. Life events that interrupt an individual's usual activities and require some adjusting can be considered a beginning stage of a mental
It is evident that the relationship between work stress and mental health has been established by numerous research studies. As discussed in Koesky (1993), the fact that all jobs involve some degree of stress makes it all the more alarming as to the level of stress experienced by individuals working in the human services. That is, given that these individuals are heavily involved in the lives of others, they often develop mental health symptoms that are characteristic of work-related stressors. In fact, “This involvement, which requires caring commitment and empathic responding, places workers at risk for a special type of strain commonly referred to as 'burnout'” (Koesky, 1993, p. 319).
We spend much of daily lives working. In fact, Americans spend about eight-times as many hours working as they do eating and drinking (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). Approximately seven in ten Americans report that they experience symptoms of stress (Anderson, Belar, Breckler, Nordal, Ballard, Bufka, Bossolo & Bethune, 2013). Stress is elicited by a variety of psychological stimulus associated with our jobs, our residences, our social interactions, and the activities we engage in (p. 249, Franken, 2007). Many Americans live with the burden of an unsatisfying job as well as a stressful workplace. An online survey of 1,848 people in the United States, conducted by the American Psychological Association, found that 74 percent of
Workaholism, according to Wikipedia can be described as an addiction to work and is not same as working hard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workaholic). Numerous studies have been conducted determining the effect of workaholism on a couple’s marriage, and their marital status. These studies have revealed that there is a direct correlation between negative effects of work stress on either spouse and their marital estrangement over a course of time due to loss of intimacy, commitment and belonging of the work stressed partner to their spouse. Workaholism continues to be the driving force for pragmatic decision making, mental health problems, anxiety and even severe depression amongst today’s generation, thereby becoming an idol and replacing
According to “The American Institute of Stress” there are numerous emotional and physical disorders that we have with our health. (The American Institute of Stress;IAS) Stress can overrule and overwhelm people's lives. The definition of stress for most people depend on the negative feelings and emotions they produce. Here in a few moments i’m going to explain how. There are so many gestures and indications that are with stress. People don’t think they could be stressed out so easily, dealing with work, school, working at home,feeding/supporting a family,and, animals to take care of. Most people get stressed to the max; because, they don’t have enough time to do all the chores they need to get done, in an amount of time that is needed.
Stress can always make your existing problems worse. There are many things that can cause stress. Stress can lead to diseases and mental health problems. A job is one of the most common cause that causes stress in the U.S, even minor stress can cause a lot of trouble to your well being. A recent study proved that people with emotional stress tend to trigger heart attacks and even sudden death.
METHODS: a cross-sectional study was conducted from January to July 2014, Participants completed demographic, occupational and lifestyle questionnaire, and a self-reported work-related stress symptoms instrument.
Every action executed by human beings involves positive and negative aspects and work is not an exception. Ever since work turned out to be a "source of money" people started to care more about the remuneration rather than the work they will like to perform. The obsession to work, created by the ambition of humans has changed people from hard workers into workaholics. "Work hard and get ahead”, that’s what Americans learn growing but for millions it’s getting harder to tell the difference between working hard and being a workaholic. Work also involves employers. In America employers sometimes takes advantage of their labors; whether they are illegal or have a low-level of education they are being exploited, getting little
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
According to Elkin and Rosch (1990) workplace related stress in a major problem in the U.S. and it creates a major expense for corporations. Koeske, Kirk, and Koeske (1993) indicate that all jobs have some level of stress but jobs that are in the human services have additional stressors because they “derive from intense involvement in the lives of others”. (p.319). They also refer to the type of stress experienced by individuals working in human services as “burnout” (Koeske, Kirk, and Koeske, 1993, p.319). Another factor that can influence our stress level is how we handle life’s demands. There are different ways of reacting to the situations we face every day of our lives. We have all heard of expressions such as ‘road rage’ and ‘going postal’. These are terms that we have come to identified with violent reactions to stressors caused by situations all of us face every day. How many of us have experiences in the road that
Stress is a killer. There is doubt that stress can cause health problems. Daily stressors lead into major health problems. Therefore if you can manage your daily stress you can promote a healthier life. The American Medial Association defines stress, as being any disruptions of a person’s mental and physical well being. (4.) My position is that if you balance the stress in your life you can live healthier and prevent certain sicknesses.
One of the many reasons why people work is to make money. As the cost of living increases, people need to keep up with their earning. Since it is not always possible to keep earning more through promotion, people decide to get second or third jobs in their free time to make extra money to support their life and family. Even though making extra money is beneficial to everyone, people give up on their free time, take more responsibility, and spend more energy. As a result, their stress level increases exponentially. In order to earn more money in the short term, people end up getting more stressed because it is accumulated in the long term (Matteson & Ivanceivch, 1987, 40).