Stress In The Workplace

INTRODUCTION

Stress is a word derived from Latin word “Stingere” meaning to draw tight. (Mojoyinola, 2008) Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. When you feel threatened, your nervous system responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, and including adrenaline and cortisol, which rouse the body for emergency action. Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quickens, and your senses become sharper. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed your reaction time, and enhance your focus. The workplace had become a high stress environment in many organizations cutting across industries. Employees were experiencing high level of stress due to various factors

An extreme reaction to stress is a panic attack. A panic attack is a sudden, intense fear or anxiety that may make you feel short of breath, dizzy, or make your heart pound. People who have panic attacks may feel out of control, like they are having a heart attack, or are about to die. Panic attacks may happen with no clear cause, but they can be brought on by living with high levels of stress for a long time. High stress levels also affected the morale and motivation of the employees. For instance, stress could lead to stress-induced gastrointestinal problems, irritable bowel syndrome, acidity, acid reflux, insomnia, depression, heart disease. Moreover, stress could push the victim toward high risk behaviour such as smoking, drinking, and substance abuse. Stress-related illness led to increase in absenteeism and attrition affecting the profitability of the organizations. (Kumar & Rooprai, 2009) Stress can be triggered by the pressures of everyday responsibilities at work and at home. Traumatic stress, brought on by war, disaster, or a violent attack, can keep your body’s stress levels elevated far longer than is necessary for survival. In extreme cases, long-term stress or traumatic events at work may lead to psychological problems and be conducive to psychiatric disorders resulting in absence from work and preventing the worker from being able to work again Some people who experience stress may engage in unhealthy practices such as; smoking, excessive drinking, poor diet and little exercise. They may become distressed, irritable, enjoy their work less, and feel less committed to work, have difficulty thinking logically or making decisions. Generally we view stress as having either psychological and/or physiological reactions that affect health. (Doddy & lyons,