Are you too stressed?

How to tell when normal worries become unhealthy. This article was taken from the ‘Managing workplace stress' section of Harvard ManageMentor, the CPD program for CIMA members.

‘More heart attacks occur on Mondays between 6am and noon than at any other time,’ Harry Dassah, cardiologist.

The World Health Organisation describes job stress as ‘a worldwide epidemic’. But are we making a big deal out of a normal state of mind? After all, some worry and stress is a necessary and important part of our lives.

Let’s see what some experts have to say:

'According to a University of Chicago survey, more than 40% of Americans suffer stress in the workplace,' NPR, Morning Edition.

'Job stress today accounts for more than 50% of the 550 million workdays lost annually because of absenteeism,' K R S Edstrom.

'Information anxiety is a chronic malaise, a pervasive fear that we’re about to be overwhelmed by the very material we need to master in order to function in this world,' Richard Saul Wurman in Overload.

'What were once considered crisis-mode workloads have now become business as usual,' Jennifer Laabs, Workforce.

The problems begin when these natural human responses spiral out of control and become toxic to our productivity, our peace of mind, and our health.

Why worry about stress at work?

There are many reasons. What seems normal and familiar - a feeling of worry and anxiety about your daily activities - may be preventing you or your team from reaching personal and professional goals. Left unchecked, toxic stress can:

• reduce productivity - toxic stress contributes to decreased productivity, absenteeism, and employee turnover. When employees start making mistakes or slow down on the job, stay home to avoid stressful situations, or even quit, your team’s productivity can be affected
• affect health - too much prolonged stress can make you ill and can even kill you. Your body reacts to stress as it would to any dangerous physical situation, raising blood pressure and alerting the senses. This response protects you and can be beneficial for a brief time. However, prolonged stress and anxiety can strain your body beyond its limits
• drain energy - excess worry, stress, and anxiety can sap energy, causing your work and your personal life to suffer. You need energy to concentrate well, respond effectively, and judge situations appropriately. Worry uses up your energy, depriving you of the physical, mental, or emotional resources needed to do the job well
• damage relationships - stress can disrupt relationships, both at work and at home. There are often mismatched personalities at work that can cause conflicts. Stress can accentuate these negative feelings or aggravate existing situations, causing small problems to seem large and disturbing the functioning of an entire team.

The basic equation of worry

What causes such toxic worry? When you feel vulnerable to perceived threats and think that you have less power to control your world, your level of anxiety will often increase. In mathematical terms:

Increased vulnerability + decreased power = increased worry

A sense of increased vulnerability causes you to exaggerate danger, so that a small problem becomes a nightmare. For example, if one month your department’s direct costs exceed its budget, you might imagine that the entire year’s budget will be engulfed by unforeseen costs.

A feeling of decreased power causes you to underestimate or forget the power you have to combat danger. For example, when confronted with the cost overrun, you might forget that you have the power to assess what has caused it and put it right.

Increased worry hinders you from making rational decisions and taking positive actions to resolve problems. The Basic Equation of Worry expresses how toxic worry can arise not from actual danger but from imagined peril. A worried mind can be very creative in anticipating threatening situations that are unlikely to occur.

Negative stress cycle

Once increased worry sets in, it may be difficult to readjust your ‘worry balance’. The diagram of the negative stress cycle below shows how stress and anxiety symptoms can become self-perpetuating.

Breaking out of the negative stress cycle is an important first step in achieving a healthy worry balance.

When it’s okay to worry

Sometimes what feels like excessive worry is in fact appropriate. For example, if your company is unexpectedly bought out, fears of downsizing may be perfectly justified. Or if you’re an entrepreneur facing a cash-flow squeeze, and you know the bank could suddenly call in your line of credit, you may feel justified in fearing just such an event.

In these situations, the ‘work of worry’ - or good worry - can give you the energy you need to deal with the problems. By anticipating the reality, you can be preparing possible solutions. The important thing is to know the difference between healthy, protective worry that can help you and toxic worry that can harm you.

December 2006