Stress management techniques and applications

Stress Management

The President of the American Institute of Stress says that stress is difficult to define because it is so subjective. It causes fear and anxiety in some, yet is highly pleasurable for others. It increases productivity up to a point, but a high level of stress causes deterioration of the ability to function. Trying to win a race or a game is a pleasant kind of stress, but the kind of stress that creates heart attacks and problems is destructive. (Rosch 2)

Whether a person is trying to do the best they can at finishing a project on the job, or is trying to win a war under adverse circumstances, if it is for the right motives, there is a transformation of the personality that brings one strength. As David wrote in Psalm 46: 7-9:

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress....He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God;" (The Bible)

And in Psalm 94: 18-19: "When I said, "My foot slippeth," thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul." (The Bible)

In the late 20th Century a group of top management moved into power. These managers, raised by parents who taught a mixture of depression-avoiding economics and Victorian work ethic, were a high motivated, but Type A group. They were loyal only to their careers. Looking out for themselves and caring less about their employees and the corporations that they managed, they succumbed to selfishness and self-centeredness in the name of Success. Along with a decline in ethical standards there appears to be a decline in business ethics beginning in the late 1970s. (Robbins 1)

This decline, it appears, is signaled by increasing stress on the part of employees. Employees are succumbing to illnesses and mental problems at an alarming rate. Stress on the job is an indicator that something is dreadfully wrong in the job place. An employee will spend 40 hours of 80 waking hours per work week on the job. If these hours are filled with stress, the job becomes a detriment rather than a benefit to the employee, as far as his or her mental health is concerned.

Stress on the job is different from stress from a divorce, or the stress created by going on a vacation (which is one of the big stressors). There are lists of stress-inducing events in our lives. This list includes most life-altering events, such as the birth or death of a family member, illness or a car accident. Each may be an occasion for happiness or great sadness. As Dr. Rosch explained, there are good stressors and bad stressors.

On the job, a boss that micro-manages creates a bad kind of stress, versus a boss that pushes his or her employees to constantly do their best in a positive way. The pride in accomplishment may be the difference in the two kinds of stress. A good stress results in a win-win situation, where, even though you may not have won the game, you have accomplished a lot in the preparation for playing it. Recent scientific studies have established that having deep personal convictions and values can do wonders for most aspects of one's physical and emotional well-being. (Cooper 5) bad stress results in a loss situation, which adds to anxiety. A bad boss who pushes, threatens and belittles his or her employees will give insufficient rewards to employees to accomplish what they have been prodded to do. Even if a reward is given, the destructive process employees have gone through in order to receive it has created a greater loss than any profit that could have been gained by winning it.

A cycle of repeated negative stress on employees will create low morale and high turnover levels among employees. When bad stress is present, management must work harder to prevent a loss of productivity created by the constant training of new employees and the propping up of older, stressed-out employees.