Stress is a prevalent issue in modern life nowadays. Stress is an essential part of daily life and there is no escaping it. The phrase stress has several meanings, Folkman and Lazarus (1984) have described stress as “an inner condition that can be induced by functional pressures of the organs or by social and environmental conditions that are assessed as potentially dangerous, uncontrollable, or that exceed our coping abilities.”
Psychologists also defined stress as an individual’s agitation over a certain period that spoils the individual’s ability to fulfil their role.
These descriptions suggest that stress is the circumstances under which people have jobs that they are not able to meet psychologically or physically, leading to deterioration at either of these stages.
Stress is generally viewed in negative terms. Yet, it can occur in positive and negative ways. It is said that once the condition gives one a chance to achieve something, it’s positive. Eustress (“eu” means nice in Greek) is the word used to define positive stress. It is most times perceived as a motivating factor since the individual loses the energy needed for maximum performance in its absence. The term used for describing negative stress is distress.
EFFECTS OF STRESS
Stress isn’t always detrimental. In reality, it is known that low-stress levels can even lead to improved performance. For instance, a pupil can only study for the next exam well if he is stressed a bit. Excess stress level, though, is unquestionably dangerous. Effects of stress include:
Psychological Effects
In this effect, boredom, tension, irritability, nervousness, anger, helplessness, hopelessness, depression and anxiety can be experienced.
Physiological Effects
Frequently occurring stress-related sensory dysfunctions include immunity reduction, disease of the heart, limb numbness, breathing difficulty, increased heart rate, changes in hormones, chronic fatigue, hypertension, peptic ulcer, etc.
Changes in Behavior
Declining performance, making errors, being unable to make decisions, avoiding food or overeating, behavioural problems, sleeplessness, smoking, addiction, forgetfulness, accident proneness, and hypersensitivity or passivity is reported.
Stress is correlated with diseases such as tumours and cardiac problems. There are multiple mediating variables that decide whether stress is harmful. For instance, healthy coping strategies can help relieve stress and getting good social interaction often alleviate stress as well.
WHAT CAUSES STRESS?
Stress can be aroused by problems and pressure at work or an individual’s lifestyle. The triggered stress may impact the work environment inside the company. Corporate culture is an organizational element that causes stress. Businesses can create stress for workers. The authoritarian management that has work environment authorizations could also build an unpleasant atmosphere that can contribute to stress. Vulnerable senior management could encourage rivals to compete for power, accompanied by confrontations within. Organizational strategies can pose a negative effect on stress. Organizational processes and protocols that reduce the litheness of the workstation will create conditions that place workers in private bondage.
Condition to work can also cause stress. The working environment involves the work environment’s physical presence and the devices or gears used. Employees are going to be stressed out when there is unnecessary chaos in the office, improperly equipped workstations, inadequate lighting, and poor equipment. The ambiguity of positions will also generate stress. Working conditions that are dangerous or uncomfortable can also create stress in the workplace Estrangement implies reducing the stress in the work environment that arises through difficulties. Frustration comes from the organization’s individual position and importance, or crowded growth which can cause stress.
Part uncertainty indicates the job is failing. Sometimes when uncertainty affects anticipation of employment and when supervisory personnel and their assistants have varying expectations of obligation for workers, stress will be generated.
Interpersonal disputes are also factors that generate job stress. Although employees with different personalities, organizational abilities, expectations, and viewpoints interact with their fellow workers, the dispute may create stress. Stress may be triggered by confrontation with managers; and supervisors. Conflicts as a result of loyalty status can cause stress. If a person has too many supervisors who are all shouting for adherence to their orders, stress can be induced. A further consideration is the design of the jobs. Professions with an excessive range of duties and limited flexibility will cause stress.
Harassment is yet another increasingly important stressor in the workplace. Bullying includes sexual and ethnic discrimination. Racial bullying can range from misogynistic gags or intravenous abuse to misogynistic workstation squiggles or physical assault on African, Americans or other employees of racial minorities. Racial discrimination is highly stressful and this can harm the well being of workers of racial minority groups and provides a major challenge to administrators. Another assault is sexual abuse, which is a dangerous environment containing inappropriate and improper or offensive behaviour.
Lack of communication may trigger organizational stress. Lack of effective communication in environmental work can enhance avoidance and depression moods, and these can be the cause of distress.
Stress may also affect outside of the organization. The personal factor which causes stress is as varied as it is complex. A personal factor may lead to stress thereby causing financial problems. The financial problems could be a terrible drain on the staff. Financial problems are recurrent and never resolved entirely. Unpaid debts and debt collectors, for example, may create great stress and play a part in poor performance at work.
HOW TO DEAL WITH STRESS
There are different ways to cope with tension such as: addressing (facing), disassociating (remoteness), finding external help, taking responsibility, escaping from the source of stress, preparing a problem-solving approach, self-control, and constructive reassessment.
Two wide forms of coping are typically known as Instrumental and Emotional coping.
The individual reflects on the issue in instrumental coping and attempts to fix it. The emphasis is more on the emotions created by the issue in emotional coping.
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