Stress - What is it?

Stress is a natural and often unavoidable response to challenges, demands, or changes in our environment. It is a physiological and psychological reaction that prepares our body and mind to deal with perceived threats or pressures. Stress can be triggered by various situations and factors, including work-related issues, personal relationships, financial concerns, and significant life changes.

Stress is a physiological and psychological response that occurs when individuals perceive a situation or demand as challenging, overwhelming, or beyond their ability to cope. It's a natural reaction that the body and mind undergo when faced with changes, threats, or pressures. There are two main types of stress: Acute and Chronic Stress.

Acute Stress

This is short-term stress that arises in response to immediate challenges or demands. It's often referred to as the "fight or flight" response, where the body releases stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to prepare for a rapid response to a perceived threat. For example, imagine you are working on an important project with a tight deadline. Your team has been working hard for weeks to meet the client's expectations. However, on the day before the project is due, you encounter a major technical issue that threatens to delay the entire project.

In this scenario:

Perceived Threat: The technical issue is a sudden and unexpected problem that could potentially lead to failure in delivering the project on time, which might disappoint the client and affect the team's reputation and the organisation’s reputation.

Physiological Response: As you realise the severity of the problem, your body's stress response is activated. You might experience an increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and a surge of adrenaline, preparing your body to either face the problem (fight) or escape it (flight).

Emotional Response: You might feel a rush of anxiety, frustration, and pressure due to the impending deadline and the unexpected obstacle.

Cognitive Response: Your ability to think clearly might be temporarily impaired due to heightened stress. You might struggle to come up with immediate solutions, and your thoughts could become scattered. Your decision-making capacity may be impaired.

Behavioural Response: You might start working more frantically, trying to troubleshoot the issue and find a solution as quickly as possible. You might also communicate more urgently with your team members or supervisors to update them about the problem.

Chronic Stress:

This is prolonged and ongoing stress that results from consistent exposure to various stressors, such as work-related pressures, relationship difficulties, financial problems, or health issues. Chronic stress can have more serious effects on both physical and mental health over time. For example, imagine you work in a highly demanding job with tight deadlines, high expectations, and a heavy workload. Over time, you consistently face long working hours, frequent overtime, and pressure to meet ambitious goals. Additionally, you have a manager who is often critical, unsupportive and fails to recognise the unrealistic job demands placed on you. They also are not recognising that inadequate resources are allocated for the job/s at hand.

In this scenario:

Prolonged Stressors: The demanding workload, high expectations, and critical management style are ongoing stressors that you encounter on a regular basis.

Physiological Response: Due to the constant stress, your body's stress response may be chronically activated, in flight/fight mode more often than not. This can lead to elevated levels of stress hormones like cortisol, which, over time, can have negative effects on your physical health.

Emotional Response: You might experience feelings of constant pressure, frustration, and a sense of being overwhelmed. You may also feel trapped in a cycle of never-ending work demands. This may impact your ability to regulate your emotions both at work and at home, which can impact your relationships with loved ones and colleagues.

Cognitive Response: Chronic stress can impair your ability to focus, make decisions, and solve problems effectively. You might find it challenging to concentrate on tasks due to the persistent distractions caused by stress.

Behavioural Response: You might notice changes in behaviour, such as irritability, mood swings, decreased motivation, and reduced engagement with your work. You may also experience feelings of apathy towards your work or life, which could indicate burnout. You might also experience difficulties in maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Impact on Mental Health: Over time, chronic stress can contribute to the development of more serious mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. The combination of intense work demands, lack of support, and constant pressure can take a toll on your overall wellbeing. This could indicate a psychosocial injury in the workplace.

Signs of Stress

The signs and symptoms of stress vary from person to person, and you may experience one or more of these symptoms at the same time. Stress can manifest itself physically, cognitively, emotionally, or behaviorally.

Physical Signs

• Sleep deprivation (insomnia, sleeping fitfully)

• Jaw clenching

• Teeth grinding

• Digestion problems - IBS type symptoms, often this is why people present to their GP

• You have the sensation that you have a lump in your throat.

• Swallowing Difficulties

• Agitated behaviour - fidgeting or pacing

• Increased heart rate

• Unrest in general

• Muscle twitching or a sense of muscle tension in your body

• Lightheadedness, dizziness

• Hyperventilating

• Sweating

• Difficulty in word finding

• Increased blood pressure

• Insufficient energy

• Fatigue

• Gastrointestinal issues (stomach pain, constipation or diarrhoea)

• Chest ache

• Headaches

• Nausea

• A shift in sex drive

• Feeling shaky and cold

Cognitive Signs

• Confusion

• Negative attitudes or thoughts in general

• Excessive fear or worry

• frantic thoughts

• Difficulty concentrating

• Forgetfulness

• Poor judgement

• Lack of focus

Emotional Signs of Stress

• Irritability, sadness, anger

• Frustration

• Feeling on edge

• Moodiness

• Feeling overworked or burdened

• Avoidance

• Decreased sex drive

• Change in eating habits and weight – eating too much or not enough

• Increased use of substances - alcohol, prescription medication or illicit substances

• Impacted sleep – difficulties falling asleep and staying asleep

If you’re feeling stressed, please reach out to someone and talk about how you’re feeling, and practice some self-care techniques.

Or if you can access our Employee Assistance Program through your manager.

If you would like to schedule a time to speak to one of our Workplace Wellbeing Consultants or book a workshop for your team, contact us today.