Stress Management This Portfolio Project

Stress Management

This portfolio project was created to explore the ideals of stress and how important controlling it is. My real life experience deals with my full-time job working as a team leader in a manufacturing plant and many stresses undergone daily. To accurately understand stress management, the idea of stress must be examined. Stress will be studied from a conceptual and application basis. Related topics will include job-related stress leading to burnout, smoking, and obesity, and health risks (heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and diabetes). Finally, the conceptual ideas of dealing with stress and stress management will also be explored.

The idea of a portfolio paper on a real life experience is an exhilarating one to me, as a writer. Many different daily experiences that can be drawn from. The learning experience that I will delve into is from my full-time job. I am a team leader in a manufacturing plant; this job is very demanding and causes me a massive amount of daily stress.

As a team leader I am expected to produce results for my manufacturing team. When the team struggles to reach a goal or has a bad day, the responsibility of poor production is thrust upon my shoulders. Every constant question and demand is sprung on me and oftentimes without prior notice. Leading people is demanding and I do not have time to have an off day. My employees look to me for guidance and leadership. The constant stresses have become a major strain in my life. I have recently become more aware of attempts to manage the stress on a regular basis.

The experience of being a team leader in a manufacturing plant will be the focal learning point of this argument. The topic of stress management is a study of stress and other related health topics and their effects upon human behavior (Cartwright & Cooper, 1997). To accurately understand stress management, the idea of stress must be examined. Stress will be studied from a conceptual and application basis. Related topics will include job-related stress leading to burnout, smoking, obesity, and health risks (heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and diabetes). Finally, conceptual ideas of dealing with stress and stress management will be explored in depth.

What is Stress?

In general terms, stress is defined as a reaction by an individual to internal and external pressure that is self imposed and gives light to the idea of physiological, psychological, and behavioral changes (Ward & Abbey, 2005). Stress in not anything new but has grown dramatically over the past few years with raised levels of awareness (Ward & Abbey, 2005). In today's society stress recognition is as a problem that needs to be researched more in depth. The idea of stress is viewed differently because people have a different way of comprehending and understanding ideas and concepts (Ward & Abbey, 2005). According to authors Jane-Cranwell Ward and Alyssa Abbey "people react to situations differently and, therefore what can be a source of stress and a negative experience to one person can be a very positive experience to someone else (2005)."

Generally speaking four categories are recognized for stress by psychological and medical experts in the area. First, there is Hypo-stress, which is caused by lack of pressure or boredom and is often displayed via pent-up feelings, apathy, and depression (Ward & Abbey, 2005). The second type of stress is Eu-stress, this is when people are excited by the pressure of stress and perform at higher levels. Next, is Hyper-stress, and this is the point in which an individual can panic, lose control, and even struggle with coping to a situation (Ward & Abbey, 2005). Finally, a major category is the idea of distress. A prolonged period of stress and the point in which an individual may begin to suffer health issues or a stress related sickness is when distress occurs (Ward & Abbey, 2005).

Job Related Stress

Work-related stresses are one of the more common types of stress experts study. Being a team leader in a manufacturing plant can be stressful. A manufacturing plant may operate at a rapid pace causing stress levels to rise at different time of the day. As a team leader, a certain level of control is necessary to perform the job at the highest ability.

The four previously mentioned types of stress can negatively affect an individual in the workforce. When an individual performs a job or a function he or she can be bored, excited by the pressure, struggling in certain situations, and even experience distress. The job-related stress from being a team leader in a manufacturing plant can be the combination of Hypo, Eu, or Hyper.

Susan Cartwright and Cary Cooper report five factors that are leading contributors to increased stress in the workplace. They are working conditions; shift work, long hours, new technology, and work overload (1997). Working conditions can include physical surroundings, shift work that can require working around the clock, long hours that can be shifts up to 16 hours, new technology requirements can cause learning stress, and work overload that is too much pressure over time.

At the manufacturing plant all five conditions exist in some form or another. The physical surroundings can lead to a lack of communication and shift work can lead to everyone on the team working around the clock. In the manufacturing sector, workers and team leaders can work long hours, especially when a machine is broken and work has lagged behind. The manufacturing plant often adds new technology components that require training in which causes new stress for the workforce. Work overload also occurs when machines are working at a slow place or when there is a rush job that need to be completed as soon as possible.

Burnout from Job Related Stress

When an individual has a massive amount of stress from work, he or she can encounter a burnout. A burnout occurs when an individual encounters a series of ongoing occupational stressors (Cartwright & Cooper, 1997). Stressors over time that can lead to burnout include but are not limited to mergers, culture, role ambiguity, role conflict, responsibility, and relationships at work (Cartwright & Cooper, 1997). Burnout leads to a number of health issues but most importantly psychological factors. When an individual has a burnout from job-related stress it can cause a total mental breakdown that can lead to a physical outburst or a complete shutdown.

An example of this comes from a family friend who had many job-related stressors. For the sake of this story, he will be called David. His job was at a mechanical plant in which he performed a variety of jobs. David was the manager of the mechanical plant and oftentimes had to do mechanical work because of a lack of staff. Eventually the task of performing two jobs on a regular basis wore on David.

The stressors had built up over time and began to affect David's ability to show up to work. Over the course of several years David had progressively became worse and started demonstrating signs of burnout. One-day David had an issue with a coworker and could not keep his emotions in check, thus causing him to throw a wrench. David eventually had a complete mental breakdown that the doctors and psychologists believed were from being burned out at his job.

Smoking and Obesity from Stress

Many smokers will tell people the habit of smoking helps them deal with the stresses that come from life. According to psychologists Rick Bevins and Anthony Caggiula, "links between stress and smoking are abundantly clear (2009). Smokers have reported they smoke at higher volumes during stressful times and believe that they deal with more stressors than people who do not smoke (Bevins & Caggiula, 2009). First, it is only a myth that smokers have more stress than non-smokers and smoking during a stressful time or situation is a cope out. Stressors are a part of life, work, sports, etc. But just because an individual faces stress does not mean that smoking will help fix or solve the dilemma. Smoking from stress will eventually lead to many other health-related issues.

Along the same lines of smoking, the concept of obesity is related to stress. Most cases of stress eating are done by obese individuals. Doctors Rachael and Richard Heller report that individuals under a superior amount of stress often believe eating (especially snacking) will make them believe that they feel better (2010). Doctors Rachael and Heller offer a stress eating cure from their research and believe that stress eating is more biological than a matter of willpower (2010).

Oftentimes at work when stress levels are the highest people eat fatty foods and drink soda from the vending machines in the break room. One time a teammate became so stressed out that he went to the break room and indulged in multiple packs of Ho-Ho's and Twinkies. This case of stress eating is common in the workplace because people are often so stressed they eat, smoke, or both to try and relieve the pain caused by the stressors.

Health Risks from Stress-Heart Disease, Hypertension, Cancer, and Diabetes

Many health risks are associated with stress and health experts believe that extended stressful situations are the cause many health related issues. Michael Olpin and Margie Hesson report that stressors contribute to a variety of illnesses and 70% to 80% of all doctors visits are due to stress-related events (2007). The main health issues associated with stress are heart disease, hypertension, cancer, and diabetes.

There are 180,000 deaths a year that can be attributed to stress on an individual's heart (Cartwright & Cooper, 1997). Over 70 million work days lost a year from heart disease related from stressors (Cartwright & Cooper, 1997). This would indicate that high levels of stress are bad for a person's heart over both the short- and long-term. Heart issues are closely related to smoking and obesity and the triple threat of the three are damaging for the well being of an individual.

Hypertension (HTN) or high blood pressure is another disorder closely related to stress. Many cases of HTN are primary with no true medical cause, but those ones that are of interest to stressors are the secondary cases. Secondary cases of HTN may be caused by the heart or kidneys. The common bond is that HTN and Heart disease are closely related and if stress is bad for the heart it is simply as bad for someone with HTN. When looking at stress and stressors caused at work it is easy to see why heart disease and HTN cause many illnesses and deaths.

Cancer and stress are two words that most people do not want to hear. Stress may not have a direct correlation to causing cancer but will not help an individual who has been diagnosed with cancer. A family member was recently diagnosed with cancer and the first words from the doctors were to try to avoid stress. The medical staff working with the family member said on several occasions that people who have more stressors have a harder time battling cancer. Cancer may not be caused by stress but unfortunately it can be the stressors that make fighting cancer a more difficult task.

Diabetes is an illness that inflicts many people. Stressors help to lead people to bad eating habits and poor lifestyle choices. The lack of eating right and limited fitness can lead to an individual to developing adult-onset diabetes. Stress may not cause this dreaded disease, but it plays a major part in it. Stress also may cause diabetes to grow worse especially in the case of rising blood sugar levels. Several family members and friends have diabetes, and they have all stated that high levels of stress make the dreaded disease more debilitating.

Dealing with Stress

Stress affects everyone in all walks of life. Whether male or female, or young or old, stress is a part of everyone's life. Dealing with stress is an important aspect in life because of the consequences that can happen. If stress is a negative for so many there has to be a bevy of ways to deal with it. In researching stress and the ills from it many experts have written guides and advice to cope with it. These helpers are called stress management techniques, and they are meant to help people alleviate or reduce the amount of stressors they have.