LECTURE TOPIC: STRESS (Unit-2)

(Faculty: Dr. Abhiruchi Singh Verma)

Stress is often described as an adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or
threatening to the persons well-being.
well being. Stress is a physiological and psychological condition that
prepares to adapt to hostile or noxious environmental conditions.
OR
Stress is a psychological and physiological response to events (a real or imagined threat) that
upset our personal balance in some way. These events or demands are known as stressors.

Eustress or positive stress occurs when level of stress is high enough to motivate to move
into action to get things accomplished. It is a necessary part of life because it activates
and motivates people to achieve goals, change their environments, and succeed in lifes
challenges.

Distress or negative stress occurs when the level of stress is either too high or too low and
body and/or mind begin to respond negatively to the stressors. This is the degree of
physiological, psychological, and behavioral deviation from
from healthy functioning.

STAGES OF STRESS
General Adaptation Syndrome: A model of the stress experience, consisting of three stages:
alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion. The general adaptation syndrome consists of the
three stages;

1.

The alarm reaction stage occurs when a threat or challenge activates the physiological
stress responses. The individuals energy level and coping effectiveness decrease in
response to the initial shock. As one begins to experience a stressful event or perceive
something to be stressful psychological changes occur in body. This experience or
perception disrupts bodys normal balance and immediately body begins to respond to the
stressors as effectively as possible. Symptoms: Cardiac - increased heart rate,
Respiratory - increased respiration, Skin - decreased temperature, Hormonal - increased
stimulation of adrenal genes which produce an adrenal rush.

The second stage, resistance, activates various biochemical, psychological, and

behavioral mechanisms that give the individual more energy and engage coping
mechanisms to overcome or remove the source of stress. To focus energy on the source
of the stress, the body reduces resources to the immune system during this stage. This
explains why people are more likely to catch a cold or some other illness when they
experience prolonged stress. Symptoms: Behavior indicators include:
lack of
enthusiasm for family, school, work or life in general, withdrawal, change in eating
habits, insomnia, hypersomnia, anger, fatigue. Cognitive Indicators include: poor
problem solving, confusion, nightmares, hyper-vigilance, Emotional indicators include:
tearfulness, fear, anxiety, panic, guilt, agitation, depression, Overwhelmed

2.

People have a limited resistance capacity, and if the source of stress persists, the
individual will eventually move into the third stage, exhaustion. During this stage the
stressor is not being managed effectively and the body and mind are not able to repair the
damage. People who frequently reach exhaustion have increased risk of long-term
physiological and psychological damage. Symptoms: Digestive disorders, withdrawal,
headaches, tension, insomnia, loss of temper.
CAUSES/ SOURCES OF STRESS
Conditions which cause stress are called stressors.
1. Individual Related Stressors

a. Individual Characteristics
Personality traits
Demographic characteristics
Coping skills
A lack or Perceived lack of
Competence
A Desire to Please People
A Need to be Perfect (Perfection /
highly self-critical)
2. Organization-Related Stressors
a. Organizational practices

b. Individual life circumstances

Work/life conflict
Family problems
Personal problems
Social problems
Financial difficulties

Unclear
responsibilities
or
expectations.
Conflicting job demands.
Multiple supervisors.
Lack of autonomy or participation in
decision-making.
Inefficient communication patterns.
Lack of family-friendly policies
b. Career Development
Over Promotion.
Under Promotion
Lack of Job Security
Thwarted ambition
c. Workplace change
Fear of layoff.
Frequent personnel turnover.
3. Job Specific
Pressure to work for long hours
Job characteristics
Conflicting job demands
Unclear job expectations
Pressure of responsibility
Time pressures
Lack of resources to perform job
Lack of information

Lack of preparation for

technological changes (Technostress)
Poor chances for advancement or
promotion.
Tensions brought about by greater
workplace diversity
d. Interpersonal Relationships
Distant, uncommunicative
supervisors.
Poor performance from
subordinates.
Office politics, competition, and
other conflicts among staff.
Bullying or harassment.

Lack of collaboration
Relationships with subordinates
Working conditions
Insufficient training
Work overload
Poor fit between abilities and skills

EFFECTS OF STRESS
1. Cognitive/Perceptual / Psychological Effects

Forgetfulness
Preoccupation
Errors in judgment
Reduced creativity
Lack of concentration
Diminished productivity
Lack of attention to detail
Orientation to the past
Decreased psychomotor reactivity
and coordination
Attention deficit
Disorganization of thought
Negative self-esteem
Diminished sense of meaning in life

Lack of control/need for too much

control
Negative self-statements and
negative evaluation of experience
Depressed
Bored
Urge to cry
Urge to hide
Suspiciousness
Negative attitude/thoughts
Loneliness
Anxious
Nervous
Worry
Nightmares

Helplessness
Confusion
Irritable
Feelings of unreality
Urge to run
Unable to concentrate
Lethargy
Decision making- both major &
minor- becomes difficult

Excessive daydreaming about

getting away from it all
Use of sleeping pills
Thoughts trail while speaking or
writing
Sudden outbursts of temper or
hostility
Frequent spells of brooding and a
feeling of inadequacy

2. Physiological Effects

Hypertension
Coronary heart disease
Migraine, tension headache
Ulcers
Asthmatic conditions
Chronic backaches
Allergies
Skin disorders
Hyperthyroidism

Vertigo
More frequent infections
Weakness
Fidgeting
Sweating
Anorexia
Insomnia
Muscle tension
Generalized aches and pains

Cynical
Fault finding
Antisocial
Desk rage/ Road Rage
Blaming
Nervous laughing
Inflexible

3. Behavioral Effects

smoking
Impulsive behavior
Inappropriate crying
Aggressive
Overeating (eating Disorder)
Lack of initiative
Using people
Drug/Alcohol abuse

4. Effects on Organization
5.
a. Organizational factors
1. Discontent and poor morale among the workforce.
2. Performance/productivity losses, low quality products and services.
3. Poorer relationships with clients, images and reputation, missed opportunities.
4. Disruption to production, high accident and mistakes rates, high labor turnover.
5. Loss of valuable staff, increase sick-leave, permanent vacancies, premature retirement.
6. Diminished cooperation, poor internal communications, more internal conflicts, and
dysfunctional workplace climate.
b. Organizational Costs

1. Such as cost of reduced performance, productivity (lack of added value to product and /or
service),
2. High replacement costs in connection with labor turnover (increase in recruitment, training
and retraining costs),
3. Increases sick pay, increased health-care costs and disability payments,
4. Higher grievance and litigation/compensation costs, and costs of equipment damage.
METHODS/ STRATEGIES OF MANAGING STRESS
1. ORGANIZATIONAL; There are several ways in which stress can be handled so that
the dysfunctional consequences of stress can be reduced. Some of them are:

Role Analysis Technique (RAT): The Role Analysis Technique helps both the manager
and the employee to analyze the requirements and expectations from the job. Breakingdown the job into various components clarifies the role of the job for the entire system.
This also helps to eliminate reduction of work and thus lowering down the stress level.
Job Relocation: Job relocation assistance is offered to employees who are transferred, by
finding alternative employment for the spouses of the transferred employees and getting
admissions in schools for their children in the new place. These arrangements help to
reduce the anxiety and stress for the moving family.
Recreational Program: Providing recreational facilities, arranging group meditation
programs, help to reduce the stress levels of the employees.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Another widely used strategy is the employee
assistance Programs, which offer a variety of assistance to employees. These include
counseling employees who seek assistance on how to deal with alcohol and drug abuse,
handling conflicts at the work place, dealing with marital and other family problems.
Career Counseling: Career Counseling helps the employee to obtain professional advice
regarding career that would help the individual to achieve personal goals. It also makes
the employees aware of what additional educational qualifications or specialized
technical training, if any, (hat they should acquire. By becoming knowledgeable about
the possible avenues for advancement, the employees who consider their careers to be
important can reduce their stress levels by becoming more realistic about their options
and can start preparing themselves for it.
Time Management: Another way of coping with stress is to manage time more
effectively. People can learn to get better organized so that they can do their work more
efficiently.
Delegation: Another way of coping with job stress is to delegate some responsibilities to
others. Delegation can directly decrease workload upon the manager and helps to reduce
the stress.
More Information and Help: Some new employees have to spend more time on a job
than necessary because they are not sure what they are doing. So it is necessary that some
help should be provided before doing the work that would lead to much efficient,
effective work. It would also reduce anxiety and stress among the employees.
Health Maintenance: Probably the most frequently used organizational stress
management program is health maintenance. Many companies invest large sum of money
in gym and sport facilities for maintaining the health of the employees.

Supervisor Training: Another type of stress management Program that organizations

are experimenting with is supervisor training. The emphasis on supervisory training
Program is how to prevent job stress. Managers are trained to give better performance
appraisals, to listen to employees problems more effectively, and to communicate job
assignments and instructions more clearly.
Individual Stress Reduction Workshops: Some organizations have also sponsored
individual stress reduction workshops for their employees. These programs include
biofeedback, meditation to career counseling, time management and interpersonal skills
workshops. In lectures and seminars, participants are given a basic understanding of the
causes of stress and its consequences. Then, participants are given materials to help them
identify the major sources of stress in their own lives, and some strategies for dealing
with that stress more effectively.

INDIVIDUAL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Get enough sleep

Connect with others
Exercise regularly
Eat a balanced, nutritious diet
Reduce caffeine and sugar
Have realistic expectations
Reframe problems
Express your feelings/Grievances
instead of bottling them up

9. Dont try to control events or other

people
10. Manage time
11. Give priority to the most important
tasks and do those first
12. Delegate tasks and break up big
projects
13. Breathing exercises relieve stress
14. Meditation to Relieve Stress
15. Yoga help with stress relief