Dr. Jack Singer

Stress in the workplace

According to a study, 40% of the American employees feel that their job is very stressful. As the issue of potential job loss, the economy and related factors causing stress is a persistent one, workplace stress needs to be dealt in a proper way. Otherwise there are chances of stress becoming a chronic problem.

Moreover stress at work impairs the job activities and also causes physical problems like head ache, back ache and later on heart problems. Extreme chronic stress can even cause death. The Japanese even have a term for it – Karoshi, which can be translated literally as “death from overwork”.  Work related stress results in decreased productivity, increased management problems and increased incidence of illnesses among employees.

Stress related problems are the most common causes of sickness absenteeism all over the world. In one study it was found that 13 million work days are lost every year in the UK due to stress and related problems. The other side of the problem involves the employers, who suffer production loss, earn bad reputations and are prone to litigations resulting in liabilities. The monetary cost of stress related problems runs up to 700 million pounds per year to the employers according to a study conducted in UK and about 150 billion dollars according to a study conducted in US.

Work Related Stress

The common causes of work place stress are

• Unreasonable demands for performance
• Lack of interpersonal communication between the employer and the employees
• Lack of interpersonal relationship among the employees
• The fear of losing one’s job.
• Long working hours
• Less time to spend with the family
• Under utilization of skills
• Underpaid jobs
• A promotion that did not materialize

In a survey conducted to find out the most stressful jobs the following were found to be in the top four professions which caused more stress.

• Nursing
• Teaching
• Managers
• Professionals

Unlike stress in general, the work related stress affects men and women equally. Older employees are affected more than their younger counterparts. Stress at workplace could be due to

• External cause like dangerous working condition or poor interpersonal relationship with the colleague.
• Internal causes like physical or psychological illnesses
• Acute cause
• Long term cause

But in the long run the stress becomes chronic problem causing serious health problems.

Stress Management at Workplace

If an employer finds that his staff is under stress, he should not ignore it. He should take steps to help them. If he finds it difficult to provide a solution for it, he should get the help of another capable person or qualified professional. If the employee is suffering from non-work related stress, it should still be addrssed as it may later lead on to work related stress. There is no single stress relief method. The stress management at workplace thus has to combine steps to eliminate the source of stress and provide relief for the short and long term effects by utilizing popular stress relievers.

For weekly tips on stress management from Dr. Jack Singer please click here.

Call 1-800-497-9880 now for a FREE 30 minute phone consultation with Dr. Jack Singer

**You have permission to reprint in your publication or to your website/blog any articles by Dr.Jack Singer found on this Website as long as Dr. Jack Singer’s name and contact information is included. Jack Singer, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Pyschologist, Sport Psychologist, Marriage, Family & Relationship Therapist, Professional Motivational Speaker. http://drjacksinger.com, toll free 800-497-9880.

By Dr. Jack Singer, Ph.D.
Certified Sports Psychologist

There are plenty of episodes of athletes out of control . . . Serena Williams has a complete meltdown in front of thousands of her fans at the U.S. Open. Oregon football player LaGarette Blount punches a Boise State player after a frustrating game and then losing his cool with a fan. A 2004 melee between the Detroit Pistons and Indian Pacers, where fans were also involved. And a few seasons ago, a brawl between most of the football players from the University of Miami and FIU.

Often athletes who engage in out-of-control behaviors rationalize that everyone in the situation would react that way. Obviously, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary, where athletes are provoked continuously and most do not melt down. Another rationalization is that in hockey, for example, fighting is often encouraged by coaches and is condoned as a motivational technique. Research was conducted over the course of one hockey season, in which the numbers of fighting penalties among NHL teams were matched up with their league standings. The results showed a strong NEGATIVE relationship between the number of fighting penalties and the teams’ standings!

Typical justifications for fighting take the form of “I need to stand up for our teammates, or I’ll look soft,” “You can’t embarrass us in our house,” and “You need to respect me as a man/woman.” The sad fact is that emotional meltdowns always trump intelligence.

So, given that there are hundreds of provocations made to elite athletics each season, why do some athletes melt down, while others don’t? The answer lies in team leadership, from the manager/coach to the team captains and whether anger proneness is recognized early on and treated in a proactive manner or ignored. And for individual melt downs, the answer lies in an athlete understanding the triggers to their own anger.

Anger mastery programs help. Once such program is my athletes Anti-Provocation Training (APTitude)Program.

This program is based on the athlete learning the exact triggers which provoke his/her anger and temporary loss of control. For example, in Serena’s case, I’m sure that her embarrassment while her match was in jeopardy (to huge underdog Kim Clijsters) set her up for losing control of her emotions and the unusual and rare foot fault penalty put her over the top.

Once the athlete recognizes his/her trigger points, alternative thought patterns are taught and rehearsed, so that the “bang-bang” reaction is interrupted by a more rational thought and plan of action.

My program involves a ten-step strategy, where the end result is calmer heads prevailing, separation skills, active listening skills and an immediate cooling down.

For more information on Dr. Jack Singer’s Anti-Provocation Training (APTitude) Programs please call toll free at 1-800-497-9880.

Call 1-800-497-9880 now for a FREE 30 minute phone consultation with Dr. Jack Singer

**You have permission to reprint in your publication or to your website/blog any articles by Dr.Jack Singer found on this Website as long as Dr. Jack Singer’s name and contact information is included. Jack Singer, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Pyschologist, Sport Psychologist, Marriage, Family & Relationship Therapist, Professional Motivational Speaker. http://drjacksinger.com, toll free 800-497-9880.