Introduction

Stress was generally considered as being synonymous with

distress and dictionaries defined it as “physical, mental, or
emotional strain or tension” or “a condition or feeling experienced
when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and
social resources the individual is able to mobilize.”
Stress is the body's reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or
response. The body reacts to these changes with physical, mental, and
emotional responses. Stress is a normal part of life. You can experience stress
from your environment, your body, and your thoughts. Even positive life
changes such as a promotion, a mortgage, or the birth of a child produce stress.
It is a situation that triggers a particular biological response. When you
perceive a threat or a major challenge, chemicals and hormones surge
throughout your [Link] triggers your fight-or-flight response in order to
fight the stressor or run away from it. Typically, after the response occurs,
your body should relax. Too much constant stress can have negative
effects on your long-term health.

Aims and Objectives

The main objective of this research on stress is to understand that what

stress actually means? And how it affects our social and corporate life.
There are various types of stress. However there is concentration of JOB
STRESS In my thesis.
The goal is to introduce you to the things that cause stress in your
life and to help you acquire basic skills for managing stress in
your academic, professional, and personal life.
Upon completing the Stress Management research you will be
able to:
  Describe different kinds of stress and their effects.
 List and prioritize stressors.
 Use and explain ways to manage or cope with stress.
 Prevention of stress situations in the organization
 Reducing the stress impact on the work process
 Deliverance from stress at job place.

Topic worth to be researched mostly because the problem of

stress, meaning negative effect on work process, occurs more and
more often. There are several reasons for presence of such a fact,
which I illustrate in my research. Companies are interested in
learning how to manage and avoid stress. That is why all the
companies, which care about their future in world market, will
benefit from stress management research. To prevent stress or,
where employees are already experiencing stress, to prevent it
from causing serious damage to their health or to the healthiness
of their organization. Determine the general level of stress among
students; identify the students’ main sources of stress; identify
the students’ main responses to stress; determine if students
have protections against or risk factors for stress. To come up
with some conclusion and techniques to avoid or reduce stress
and stay focused which will not only keep us healthy but also
helps to live our life stress free and happy life.

Explanation
STRESS
Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques
psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's level of stress,
especially chronic stress for the purpose of and for the motive of
improving everyday functioning. In this context, the term 'stress'
refers only to a stress with significant negative consequences,
or distress in the terminology advocated by Hans Selye, rather
than what he calls eustress, a stress whose consequences are
helpful or otherwise.
Stress produces numerous physical and mental symptoms which
vary according to each individual's situational factors. These can
include physical health decline as well as depression. The process
of stress management is named as one of the keys to a happy
and successful life in modern society.[1]Although life provides
numerous demands that can prove difficult to handle, stress
management provides a number of ways to manage anxiety and
maintain overall well-being.
Despite stress often being thought of as a subjective experience,
levels of stress are readily measurable, using various
physiological tests, similar to those used in polygraphs.
Many practical stress management techniques are available,
some for use by health professionals and others, for self-help,
which may help an individual reduce their levels of stress, provide
positive feelings of control over one's life and promote
general well-being. Other stress reducing techniques involve
adding a daily exercise routine, finding a hobby, writing your
thoughts, feelings, and moods down and also speaking with a
trusted one about what is bothering you. It is very important to
keep in mind that not all techniques are going to work the same
for everyone, that is why trying different stress managing
techniques is crucial in order to find what techniques work best
for you. An example of this would be, two people on a roller
coaster one can be screaming grabbing on to the bar while the
other could be laughing while their hands are up in the air
(Nisson). This is a perfect example of how stress effects everyone
differently that is why they might need a different treatment.
These techniques do not require doctors approval but seeing if a
doctors technique works better for you is also very important.
Evaluating the effectiveness of various stress management
techniques can be difficult, as limited research currently exists.
Consequently, the amount and quality of evidence for the various
techniques varies widely. Some are accepted as effective
treatments for use in psychotherapy, while others with less
evidence favoring them are considered alternative therapies.
Many professional organizations exist to promote and provide
training in conventional or alternative therapies.
There are several models of stress management, each with
distinctive explanations of mechanisms for controlling stress.
Much more research is necessary to provide a better
understanding of which mechanisms actually operate and are
effective in practice.

STRESS IN CORPORATE WORLD

Stress in the workplace is a commonality throughout the world in

every business. Managing that stress becomes vital in order to
keep up job performance as well as relationship with co-workers
and employers. For some workers, changing the work
environment relieves work stress. Making the environment less
competitive between employees decreases some amounts of
stress. However, each person is different and some people like
the pressure to perform better.
Salary can be an important concern of employees. Salary can
affect the way people work because they can aim for promotion
and in result, a higher salary. This can lead to chronic stress.
Cultural differences have also shown to have some major effects
on stress coping problems. Eastern Asian employees may deal
with certain work situations differently from how a Western North
American employee would.
In order to manage stress in the workplace, employers can
provide stress managing programs such as therapy,
communication programs, and a more flexible work schedule.

Medical Environment

A study was done on the stress levels in general practitioners and

hospital consultants in 1999. Over 500 medical employees
participated in this study done by R.P Caplan. These results
showed that 47% of the workers scored high on their
questionnaire for high levels of stress. 27% of the general
practitioners even scored to be very depressed. These numbers
came to a surprise to Dr. Caplan and it showed how alarming the
large number of medical workers become stressed out because of
their jobs. Managers stress levels were not as high as the actual
practitioners themselves. An eye opening statistic showed that
nearly 54% of workers suffered from anxiety while being in the
hospital. Although this was a small sample size for hospitals
around the world, Caplan feels this trend is probably fairly
accurate across the majority of hospitals

Stress Management Programs

Many businesses today have begun to use stress management

programs for employees who are having trouble adapting to
stress at the workplace or at home. Some companies provide
special equipments adapting to stress at the workplace to their
employees, like coloring diaries and stress relieving gadgets Many
people have spill over stress from home into their working
environment. There are a couple of ways businesses today try to
alleviate stress on their employees. One way is individual
intervention. This starts off by monitoring the stressors in the
individual. After monitoring what causes the stress, next is
attacking that stressor and trying to figure out ways to alleviate
them in any way. Developing social support is vital in individual
intervention, being with others to help you cope has proven to be
a very effective way to avoid stress. Avoiding the stressors
altogether is the best possible way to get rid of stress but that is
very difficult to do in the workplace. Changing behavioral
patterns, may in turn, help reduce some of the stress that is put
on at work as well.
Employee assistance programs can include in-house counseling
programs on managing stress. Evaluative research has been
conducted on EAPs that teach individual stress control and
inoculation techniques such as relaxation, biofeedback, and
cognitive restructuring. Studies show that these programs can
reduce the level of physiological arousal associated with high
stress. Participants who master behavioral and cognitive stress-
relief techniques report less tension, fewer sleep disturbances,
and an improved ability to cope with workplace stressors.
Another way of reducing stress at work is by simply changing the
workload for an employee. Some may be too overwhelmed that
they have so much work to get done, or some also may have such
little work that they are not sure what to do with themselves at
work. Improving communications between employees also sounds
like a simple approach, but it is very effective for helping reduce
stress. Sometimes making the employee feel like they are a
bigger part of the company, such as giving them a voice in bigger
situations shows that you trust them and value their opinion.
Having all the employees mesh well together is a very underlying
factor which can take away much of workplace stress. If
employees fit well together and feed off of each other, the
chances of lots of stress is very minimal. Lastly, changing the
physical qualities of the workplace may reduce stress. Changing
things such as the lighting, air temperature, odor, and up to date
technology.

Intervention is broken down into three steps: primary, secondary,

tertiary. Primary deals with eliminating the stressors altogether.
Secondary deals with detecting stress and figuring out ways to
cope with it and improving stress management skills. Finally,
tertiary deals with recovery and rehabbing the stress altogether.
These three steps are usually the most effective way to deal with
stress not just in the workplace, but overall

Measurement Systems
 The most commonly used stress measurement systems are
primarily rating scale-based. These systems tend to be complex,
containing multiple levels with a variety of sections, to attempt to
capture the many stressors present in the aviation industry.
Different systems may be utilised in different operational
specialties.
 The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) – The PSS is a widely used
subjective tool for measuring stress levels. It consists of 10
questions, and asks participants to rate, on a five-point scale, how
stressed they felt after a certain event. All 10 questions are
summed to obtain a total score from 0 to 40.[29] In the aviation
industry, for example, it has been used with flight training
students to measure how stressed they felt after flight training
exercises.
 The Coping Skills Inventory – This inventory measures aviators'
skills for coping with stress. This is another subjective measure,
asking participants to rate, on a five-point scale, the extent to
which they use eight common coping skills Substance abuse,
Emotional support, Instrumental support (help with tangible
things, like child care, finances, or task sharing), Positive
reframing (changing one's thinking about a negative event, and
thinking of it as a positive instead), Self-blame, Planning, Humour
and Religion. An individual's total score indicates the extent to
which he or she is using effective, positive coping skills (like
humor and emotional support); ineffective, negative coping skills
(like substance abuse and self-blame); and where the individual
could improve.
 The Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) – SWAT
is a rating system used to measure individuals' perceived mental
workload while performing a task, like developing instruments in
a lab, multitasking aircraft duties, or conducting air
defense. SWAT combines measurements and scaling techniques
to develop a global rating scale..
Importance
If are're living with high levels of stress, we're putting our entire well-being
at risk. Stress wreaks havoc on our emotional equilibrium, as well as our
physical health. It narrows our ability to think clearly, function effectively,
and enjoy life.

Effective stress management, on the other hand, helps us break the hold
stress has on our life, so we can be happier, healthier, and more
productive. The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for work,
relationships, relaxation, and fun—and the resilience to hold up under
pressure and meet challenges head on. But stress management is not one-
size-fits-all. That’s why it’s important to experiment and find out what works
best for you.

 The following stress management tips can help us do that:

1) Identify the sources of stress in your life

2) Practice the 4 A’s of stress management

 Avoid unnecessary stress
 Alter the situation
 Adapt to the stressor
 Accept the things you can’t change
3) Get moving
 Put on some music and dance around
 Take your dog for a walk
 Walk or cycle to the grocery store
 Use the stairs at home or work rather than an elevator
 Park your car in the farthest spot in the lot and walk the rest of the
way
 Pair up with an exercise partner and encourage each other as you
work out
 Play ping-pong or an activity-based video game with your kids
4) Connect to others
5) Make time for fun and relaxation
 6) Maintain your time better
7) Maintain balance with a healthy lifestyle
8) Learn to relieve stress in the moment

 Think about exactly how you plan on using stress

management technique. Choose that technique which helps
in relieving stress.

1) Enables motivate employees better

Stress affects the morale of employees and hence their
performance in the workplace. It not only affects the individual
but the business also. Stress demotivates your employees which
causes the increase in absenteeism and employee turnover. By
using good stress management skills you can boost your
employee morale which motivates and keeps them focused on
their jobs and performance.

2) Improves productivity in the stressful

situation
When the employee morale is high and remains intact with the
workplace relationship. It improves the employee productivity. By
using good stress management skills, there will be very less
chance of customer complaints or poor decision making even in
the most stressful situations.

3) Enables you to lead people in tough times

When employees feel stress they look to you for guidance and
direction. Some of the employees may seek help from you by
discussing their issues one to one. By using good stress
management skills and identifying the stressful issues correctly,
you will be able to lead in tough times.

4) Reduces chances of workplace conflicts

Conflict at the workplace is very common and occurs due to
differences in opinions, personalities and increased level of stress.
It breaks the relationships and weakens the overall culture.
However, effective stress management skills prevent such
distractions, builds teamwork and makes everyone life easier.

5) Decreases chances of unethical issues

Unethical issues often rear its ugly head during the time of high
stress. There have been times when people have used this
practice for shortcut purposes. During that time people start
blame game and point fingers to others. However, good stress
management skills provide ethics and stress seminars to reduce
the chances of unethical practices.

6) Increases the chances of meeting

deadlines
When stress increases employees become distracted depending
upon the source of a stressor. As a result of which they don’t
perform up to the expected level and miss deadlines. However,
good stress management skills help them to identify the stressors
before they become an issue and ensure that business should run
smoothly.

7) Improves communication process

When stress levels are high, there is a negative effect on
communication. Employees won’t discuss about jobs between
individuals. Instead, they look for managers to discuss the
company issues or problems. However, an effective stress
management skill helps to identify a problem and resolve it,
which strengthens the communication process.

8) Helps to run the projects smoothly

Stress and management go together. While managing a project
you never know when the vendor will delay or not supplies the
input. These issues make it hard to reach a required deadline.
Sometimes the employee of the project is given responsibility and
requested to deal with stress and meeting the deadline.

9) Enables you to develop team

When employees feel stress they couldn’t concentrate on their
work. Also, there is no unity in the team. They feel irritated when
some of the team members comments on them. A situation arises
where employee discusses his issues with you and seek help to
resolve it. By handling stress as a tool and using effective stress
management resources, you can build and unite the team.

10) Enables you to provide space to

employees

When employees are engaged in work and continuously busy,

they don’t get time to take rest and relax which in turn create
stress. Use effective stress management skills and provide space
to your employees so they can take a rest or a break. Allowing
employees to take a breather at work helps them to regain their
energy and reduce the effects of stress.

11) Helps in the performance appraisal of

employees

Every employee has a different threshold of stress. Stress factor

can be directly related to job performance. It also helps to judge
how well employees work within the team. It is measurable also.
Effective stress management skills help you to evaluate and do
the performance appraisal of them.

Types Of Stress
 Stress management can be complicated and confusing because there are
different types of stress — acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic
stress — each with its own characteristics, symptoms, duration and
treatment approaches. Let's look at each one.

 Acute Stress

Acute stress is the most common form of stress among humans

worldwide.
Acute stress deals with the pressures of the near future or dealing
with the very recent past. This type of stress is often
misinterpreted for being a negative connotation. While this is the
case in some circumstances, it is also a good thing to have some
acute stress in life. Running or any other form of exercise is
considered an acute stressor. Some exciting or exhilarating
experiences such as riding a roller coaster is an acute stress but
is usually very enjoyable. Acute stress is a short term stress and
as a result, does not have enough time to do the damage that
long term stress causes
.
Fortunately, acute stress symptoms are recognized by most people. It's a
laundry list of what has gone awry in their lives: the auto accident that
crumpled the car fender, the loss of an important contract, a deadline
they're rushing to meet, their child's occasional problems at school and so
on.
Because it is short term, acute stress doesn't have enough time to do the
extensive damage associated with long-term stress. The most common
symptoms are:
 Emotional distress — some combination of anger or
irritability, anxiety and depression, the three stress emotions.
 Muscular problems including tension headache, back pain, jaw pain and
the muscular tensions that lead to pulled muscles and tendon and ligament
problems.
 Stomach, gut and bowel problems such as heartburn, acid stomach,
flatulence, diarrhea, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.
 Transient overarousal leads to elevation in blood pressure, rapid heartbeat,
sweaty palms, heart palpitations, dizziness, migraine headaches, cold
hands or feet, shortness of breath and chest pain.
Acute stress can crop up in anyone's life, and it is highly treatable and
manageable.

 Chronic Stress

While acute stress can be thrilling and exciting, chronic stress is not. This is
the grinding stress that wears people away day after day, year after year.
Chronic stress destroys bodies, minds and lives. It wreaks havoc through
long-term attrition. It's the stress of poverty, of dysfunctional families, of
being trapped in an unhappy marriage or in a despised job or career. It's
the stress that the never-ending "troubles" have brought to the people of
Northern Ireland, the tensions of the Middle East have brought to the Arab
and Jew, and the endless ethnic rivalries that have been brought to the
people of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
Chronic stress comes when a person never sees a way out of a miserable
situation. It's the stress of unrelenting demands and pressures for
seemingly interminable periods of time. With no hope, the individual gives
up searching for solutions.
Some chronic stresses stem from traumatic, early childhood experiences
that become internalized and remain forever painful and present. Some
experiences profoundly affect personality. A view of the world, or a belief
system, is created that causes unending stress for the individual (e.g., the
world is a threatening place, people will find out you are a pretender, you
must be perfect at all times). When personality or deep-seated convictions
and beliefs must be reformulated, recovery requires active self-
examination, often with professional help.
The worst aspect of chronic stress is that people get used to it. They forget
it's there. People are immediately aware of acute stress because it is new;
they ignore chronic stress because it is old, familiar, and sometimes,
almost comfortable.
Chronic stress kills through suicide, violence, heart attack, stroke and,
perhaps, even cancer. People wear down to a final, fatal breakdown.
Because physical and mental resources are depleted through long-term
attrition, the symptoms of chronic stress are difficult to treat and may
require extended medical as well as behavioral treatment and stress
management.
Stress Management Programs

The essential mission of occupational health and safety is to protect and

enhance the health, well-being and productivity of workers, individually and
collectively. That mission cannot be accomplished without an
understanding of stress and the mechanisms through which it affects
individuals and organizations, and without a well-planned programme that
will both alleviate its deleterious effects and, more important, prevent them.
Stress is an inescapable ingredient of the lives of all people everywhere. It
stems from—and simultaneously affects—individuals’ inner sense of well-
being; their relationships with family, friends, co-workers and strangers; and
their capacity to function in the home, the workplace and the community.
When excessive, it leads to physical or psychological symptoms and, when
prolonged, it may lead to disability and disease. It modifies individuals’
perceptions, feelings, attitudes and behaviour and affects the organizations
whose activities they direct or carry out. The subject of stress is covered
extensively elsewhere in this Encyclopedia.

Designing a Stress Management Programme

The effective workplace stress management programme will contain a
number of overlapping elements operating concurrently. Some are
formalized under the designation of a stress management programme
while others are simply part of general organizational management even
when they are explicitly aimed at controlling stress. Some of these are
aimed at employees individually and in groups; others are aimed at
stressors arising in the workplace; and still others address the stressors
impinging on the organization as an entity in itself which inevitably filter
down to affect some or all of the employees. The elements of a workplace
stress management programme will be examined under the following
headings.

1. Managing stress-related symptoms.

Thismentith individuals already suffering from the effects of stress.
Labelled the “medical model,” it attempts to identify individuals with
 signs and symptoms and to persuade them to come forward voluntarily
or accept referral to professionals able to evaluate their problems,
diagnose the causes and offer appropriate treatment. It may be based in
the employee health service or in the employee assistance programme,
or it may be associated with any other counselling services provided by
the organization. The services may cover a broad range extending from
one-on-one interviews and examinations to telephone “hot-lines” for
emergency situations to comprehensive centers with multidisciplinary
staffs of qualified professionals. It may be served by full- or part-time
professionals or by contractual or casual referral arrangements with
professionals who come to the worksite or are based in nearby facilities
in the community. Some units deal with any and all problems, while
others may more or less focus on such specific stress-related
syndromes as hypertension, backache, alcoholism, drug abuse or family
problems. The contributions of these service elements to the stress
management programme are based on the following capabilities:

 An awareness that many recurrent or persistent somatic complaints such

as muscular aches and pains, backache, headache, gastrointestinal
upsets, and so on, are attributable to stress. Instead of simply providing
palliative medications and advice, the alert health professional or
counsellor will recognize the pattern and direct attention to the stressors
that are actually responsible.
 Recognition that when a number of employees in a particular unit or area
of the workplace present such functional complaints, a search should be
initiated for a causative factor in the work environment which may prove
to be a controllable stressor.
 Reaching out to individuals involved in or witnessing a cataclysmic
occurrence such as a fatal accident, or an episode of violence.
 Seizing the opportunity to stay a disciplinary action faced by an
employee because of inadequate performance or aberrant behavior
pending an opportunity to lower the stress level and restore his or her
normal equanimity and work capacity.

2. Reducing individual vulnerability. The most common elements in

stress management programmes are those that help individuals to cope
with stress by reducing their vulnerability. These include series of seminars
and workshops, supplemented by audiotapes or videotapes and pamphlets
or other publications that educate employees to cope with stress more
effectively. Their common denominators are these:

 Training in self-awareness and problem analysis to detect signs of

increasing stress and identify the stressors that are responsible
 Assertiveness training enabling workers to become more dynamic in
dealing with them
1) Techniques that will reduce stress to more tolerable levels

Some of the tools they employ are listed in figure 1. For those not familiar
with the term, “rap sessions” are meetings of groups of employees, with or
without supervisors being present, in which experiences and problems are
discussed and complaints freely ventilated. They are analogous to the shop
meetings held under union auspices.
3. Interpersonal relations in the workplace. Organizations are being
increasingly made aware of stressors emanating from the diversity of the
workforce and the interpersonal problems they often present. Prejudice and
bigotry do not stop at the gates of the worksite and are often compounded
by insensitive or discriminatory behavior on the part of managers and
supervisors. Sexual and racial bias may take the form of harassment and
may even be expressed in or evoke acts of violence. When rampant, such
attitudes demand prompt correction through enunciation of an explicit
policy that includes disciplinary actions against those who are guilty,
coupled with protecting victims emboldened to complain against reprisals.

4. Managing job-related stressors. It is the organization’s responsibility to

minimize job-related stressors that may have an adverse effect on
employees’ capacity to function effectively. It is most important to ensure
that supervisors and managers on all levels receive appropriate training to
recognize and to deal promptly and effectively with the “people problems”
that will inevitably arise in the workplace.

5. Managing the organization’s stress. The organization as an entity is

exposed to stressors which, if not properly managed, filter down through
the workforce, inevitably impinging on employees on all levels. This state of
affairs requires the establishment of challenging but attainable goals and
objectives, early identification and assessment of potential stressors that
may thwart those plans, coordination of the organization’s capacities to
deal with them and the communication of the results of those efforts to the
workforce. The last-mentioned need is particularly critical at times of
economic stringency, when employee collaboration and optimal productivity
are especially important in dealing with such crises as changes in top
management, threatened mergers and takeovers, plant closings or
relocations. and downsizing.

6. Helping to manage personal stressors. While the management of

stressors arising in the home and in the community is fundamentally a
problem for the individual, employers are discovering that the stress they
generate is inevitably brought into the workplace where, either on their own
or in conjunction with job-related stressors, they often affect employees’
well-being and compromise their work performance. Accordingly,
employers are finding it expedient (and in some instances, necessary) to
establish programmes designed to assist employees to cope with stressors
of this sort. A list of the most common personal stressors and workplace
programmes aimed at them is presented in figure 2.

Symptoms of Stress

Stress affects us all. You may notice symptoms of stress when disciplining your
kids, during busy times at work, when managing your finances, or when coping
with a challenging relationship. Stress is everywhere. And while a little stress is OK
-- some stress is actually beneficial -- too much stress can wear you down and
make you sick, both mentally and physically.

The first step to controlling stress is to know the symptoms of stress. But
recognizing stress symptoms may be harder than you think. Most of us are so used
to being stressed, we often don't know we are stressed until we are at the breaking
point.
What Is Stress?
Stress is the body's reaction to harmful situations -- whether they’re real or
perceived. When you feel threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in your body
that allows you to act in a way to prevent injury. This reaction is known as "fight-
or-flight,” or the stress response. During stress response, your heart
rate increases, breathing quickens, muscles tighten, and blood pressure rises.
You’ve gotten ready to act. It is how you protect yourself.
Stress means different things to different people. What causes stress in one
person may be of little concern to another. Some people are better able to handle
stress than others. And, not all stress is bad. In small doses, stress can help you
accomplish tasks and prevent you from getting hurt. For example, stress is what
gets you to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting the car in front of you. That's a
good thing.
Our bodies are designed to handle small doses of stress. But, we are not equipped
to handle long-term, chronic stress without ill consequences.

What Are the Symptoms of Stress?

Stress can affect all aspects of your life, including your emotions, behaviors,
thinking ability, and physical health. No part of the body is immune. But, because
people handle stress differently, symptoms of stress can vary. Symptoms can be
vague and may be the same as those caused by medical conditions. So it is
important to discuss them with your doctor. You may experience any of the
following symptoms of stress.

 Emotional symptoms of stress include:

 Becoming easily agitated, frustrated, and moody

 Feeling overwhelmed, like you are losing control or need to take control
 Having difficulty relaxing and quieting your mind
 Feeling bad about yourself (low self-esteem), lonely, worthless, and
depressed

 Avoiding others
 Physical symptoms of stress include:

 Low energy
 Headaches
 Upset stomach, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea
 Aches, pains, and tense muscles
 Chest pain and rapid heartbeat
 Insomnia
 Frequent colds and infections
 Loss of sexual desire and/or ability
 Nervousness and shaking, ringing in the ear, cold or sweaty hands and
feet
 Dry mouth and difficulty swallowing
 Clenched jaw and grinding teeth

 Cognitive symptoms of stress include:

 Constant worrying
 Racing thoughts
 Forgetfulness and disorganization
 Inability to focus
 Poor judgment
 Being pessimistic or seeing only the negative side

 Behavioral symptoms of stress include:

 Changes in appetite -- either not eating or eating too much

 Procrastinating and avoiding responsibilities
 Increased use of alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes
 Exhibiting more nervous behaviors, such as nail biting, fidgeting, and
pacing

 Consequences of Long-Term Stress?

A little stress every now and then is not something to be concerned about.
Ongoing, chronic stress, however, can cause or exacerbate many serious health
problems, including:

 Mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and personality

disorders
 Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, high blood pressure,
abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, and stroke
 Obesity and other eating disorders
 Menstrual problems
 Sexual dysfunction, such as impotence and premature ejaculation in men
and loss of sexual desire in both men and women
 Skin and hair problems, such as acne, psoriasis, and eczema, and
permanent hair loss
 Gastrointestinal problems, such as GERD, gastritis, ulcerative colitis, and
irritable colon

Help Is Available for Stress

Stress is a part of life. What matters most is how you handle it. The best thing
you can do to prevent stress overload and the health consequences that
come with it is to know your stress symptoms.
If you or a loved one is feeling overwhelmed by stress, talk to your doctor.
Many symptoms of stress can also be signs of other health problems. Your
doctor can evaluate your symptoms and rule out other conditions. If stress is
to blame, your doctor can recommend a therapist or counselor to help you
better handle your stress.

10 Simple Ways to Live a Less Stressful Life

“If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity,

I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension.

 And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.” – George F.

Burns

Stress is a major problem for many people — a hectic, stressful job, a

chaotic home life, bills to worry about, and bad habits such as unhealthy
eating, drinking and smoking can lead to a mountain of stress.

If your life is full of stress, like mine once was, there are some simple things
you can do to get your life to a more manageable level.
Now, your life will probably never be stress-free — I don’t think that’s even
desirable, even if it is possible, because stress is something that
challenges us and helps us grow. At a reasonable level. But when stress
gets too high, it causes us to be unhappy and unhealthy.

It wasn’t that long ago when I was working long hours in a very stressful
job, with little time for my family, smoking and eating fatty foods and not
exercising. I had a lot of debt and too many bills. I was unhappy and
stressed out all the time. I was losing hair … OK, actually that was because
of genetics, but still. I was pretty stressed.

So I made some drastic changes. I quit my job. I simplified my life. I quit

smoking and started exercising and eating healthier. I began to eliminate
my debt. And I learned some habits that, when applied on a daily basis,
can really transform the way you live, in a positive way.

How did I do all of this? One thing at a time. I didn’t do a major rehaul of my
life. I changed one habit a month, and gradually over the course of a year
or two changed a lot of things in my life.

I won’t guarantee that all of these will work for you. They worked for me,
but each person is different. Pick and choose the ones that will work best
for you, and give them a try. One at a time.

1) One thing at a time. This is the simplest and best

way to start reducing your stress, and you can start today.
Right now. Focus as much as possible on doing one thing
at a time. Clear your desk of distractions. Pick something
 to work on. Need to write a report? Do only that. Remove
distractions such as phones and email notifications while
you’re working on that report. If you’re going to do email,
do only that. This takes practice, and you’ll get urges to
do other things. Just keep practicing and you’ll get better
at it.
2) Simplify your schedule. A hectic schedule is a
major cause of high stress. Simplify by reducing the
number of commitments in your life to just the essential
ones. Learn to say no to the rest — and slowly get out of
commitments that aren’t beneficial to you. Schedule only
a few important things each day, and put space between
them. Get out of meetings when they aren’t absolutely
essential. Leave room for down time and fun.
3) Get moving. Do something each day to be active —
walk, hike, play a sport, go for a run, do yoga. It doesn’t
have to be grueling to reduce stress. Just move. Have fun
doing it.

4) Develop one healthy habit this month. Other

than getting active, improving your health overall will help
with the stress. But do it one habit at a time. Eat fruits and
veggies for snacks. Floss every day. Quit smoking. Cook
something healthy for dinner. Drink water instead of soda.
One habit at a time.
5) Do something calming. What do you enjoy that
calms you down? For many people, it can be the “get
moving” activity
6)discussed above. But it could also be taking a nap, or a
bath, or reading, or having sex (which can also be
considered a “get moving” activity if you do it for longer
than 5 minutes). Other people are calmed by housework
or yardwork. Some people like to meditate, or take a
nature walk. Find your calming activity and try to do it
each day.
7) Simplify your finances. Finances can be a drain on
your energy and a major stressor. If that’s true with you,
figure out ways to simplify things. Automate savings and
 bill payments and debt payments. Spend less by going
shopping (at malls or online) much less. Find ways to
have fun that don’t involve spending money.
8) Have a blast! Have fun each day, even if it’s just for a
few minutes. I like to play with my kids — they take my
mind off everything and are really hilarious. I also like to
play sports (again, often with my kids). Board games are
fun. Sex, again, can be a fun activity. Whatever you
choose, be sure to laugh.
9) Get creative. Throwing yourself into a creative activity
is another great way to de-stress and to prevent stress. I
like writing, but others like to paint or play music or sketch
or make pottery or do interior design or build things.
10) Declutter. This is a favorite of mine. I like to take
20-30 minutes and just go through a room, getting rid of
stuff we don’t use or need anymore. I look around at
anything that’s cluttering up a room, and get rid of it or
find a better place for it. When I’m done, I have a nice,
peaceful environment for work, play, and living. Do this a
little at a time — it can be one of your “f
11) un activities”.
12) Be Early. I will admit that it’s hard to be early
when you have to get 6 kids ready (seriously — try it!).
But being late can be very stressful. Try to leave earlier
by getting ready earlier, or by scheduling more space
between events. Things always take longer than normal,
so schedule some buffer time: extra time to get ready, to
commute, to do errands before you need to be
somewhere, to attend a meeting before another
scheduled appointment. If you get somewhere early, it’s
good to have some reading material.
Conclusion

I have discussed about the importance of stress management in the

workplace. Choosing the right stress management technique in order to
manage or handle workplace stress requires to identify the source of
stress. Those who are getting stressed very often can keep a stress journal
to check the different levels of stress and its effect.
Think about exactly how you plan on using stress management technique.
Choose that technique which helps in relieving stress.
I have also made a research on various Stress Free Programs which not
only helps in avoiding or reducing stress but also helps us in maintaining a
and fit lifestyle.
Everyone should follow a healthy routine and avoid hectic schedule to be
Stress Free.