Stress and Stress Management - Research Paper Example

Stress has been in existence since the olden times, but the severity of the stressor factors are rapidly increasing especially since the 21st century (Westman, 2011). Nowadays stress is considered to be the norm in society, hence acceptable. These stressor factors are to be adequately addressed, as often they culminate into interference of the well-being of an individual. Stress paints a negative image of an individual which is characterized by a general feeling of dissatisfaction. However, the reasons underlying the rise of stressor factors in the environment has not been adequately studied and determined.

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This research paper seeks to delve into the assessment and treatment of stress and the disorders elicited as a result of stressful conditions to an individual. More specifically, the study will assess the stressor factors present in corporate institutions and the general working environment. Moreover, the research paper provides an analysis of the historical facts relating to the origin of a stressful situation, after that, look into daily stressors at work environment. The concept of professional stress has to be dealt with by contemporary society since it is still a new thing in the corporate world. An active program is initiated to counteract the stressor factors once the idea of the causes of pressure in the working environment is assessed and determined.

The following research questions were used to facilitate the study:

What are some of the causative agents of stress in the corporate environment?

How can the stressful environment be contained, prevent future reappearance, and achieve coping of an individual with stress emotions?

Aim and Objective

The objective of this study centers on assessing and determining the effect of stress in the workplace. Moreover, we focus attention on the significance of stress management in the corporate environment. This study based on the developmental needs whose formulation based on three reasons, they include control of stressful conditions in the workplace, reduction of the effects of stress during work, and the delivery of individual weight from the work environment.

The objective of this research paper is to determine the significant reasons behind stressful conditions at work and, consequently, to identify the most effective ways of stress management and stress-related disorders.

Research Methodology

This study used the qualitative research method to enable the collection of realistic and data meeting the empirical standards. Personalized questionnaires were created and directed to target groups in the corporate industry, for instance, entrepreneurs, teachers, factory technicians, and among other professionals in various fields. Face-to-face interviews followed once the tests subjects were acquainted with the research questions. Sample representatives from diverse areas in the corporate industry were selected to obtain data, hence limiting and preventing bias. Moreover, diverse representatives help give out the actual picture of the various stress factors located in different work environments.

Moreover, this study relied on pre-existing literature that was critical in the forming the secondary sources of information. Some of the secondary sources used include internet materials, newspapers, magazines, journals, and among other useful materials.

Review of Literature

This section follows a chronological order beginning with the definition of the various concepts of stress. The subsequent part will review in-depth the different mechanism devised to facilitate stress management, for instance, its meaning, purpose, value, and among other factors. The examination of other issues about a stressful situation in the personal and professional environment follows.

The Concept of Stress

Today, the significant task in the corporate industry is to recognizing a stressful condition, assessing its presence in the workplace, and developing appropriate measures to curb and control these stressful elements. Containing the stressful part is paramount to the success of the corporate institution and works to avoid eventualities such as the risk of bankruptcy. Therefore, this research section is developed to ensure the corporate organization identifies and assess the various stressful situations present in their working environment. The following are definitions of stressful situations, as the definitions previously used are seen to be dynamic. Despite the concept of stress having various meanings, often two significant ways are used in giving stress meaning. The two primary ways define stressful situations regarding psychological to physiological challenged and biological illness to mental problems.

Therefore, stress is a biological phenomenon which describes the results of an inadequate reaction in managing the emotional or physical dangers posed to an individual (Goodnite, 2013). The stressful situation triggers a response from the brain, hence preparing an individual for flight or fight with the aim of defending oneself. There are various types of stressful situations which include emotional, physical, behavioral, and cognitive. Some of the characteristics associated with an individual experiencing stressful situation include impaired judgment, negative attitude, anxiety, sadness, depression, isolation, aggressive behavior, and among other factors. However, there are some physical characteristics associated with individuals going through stressful situations, they include pains, increased heartbeat, and nausea, among other physical conditions. Stressful situations may also change the mechanical characteristics of an individual which include excessive sleeping and eating, procrastination of responsibilities, venturing into drugs, and engaging in other bad habits out of the norm.

According to the US Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, stress in the workplace is defined as the harsh emotional and physical responses that is elicited by an individual when tasked to work of jobs not matching their professional and general capabilities, needs, or resources of the personnel in question (Canfield et al, 2005). Stress culminated in the poor health and injury to the person delegated the duty.

Description of stress includes the cognitive, emotional, physiological, and behavioral response of an individual to harmful elements of work and the entire workplace environment. The reaction to the stressful situation from the personnel is characterized by distress, high arousal rates, and isolation.

According to the UK Health and Safety Commission, stress is the response by an individual faced by excessive demands and other types of pressures placed to them from their environment.

In general, stress is as a result of a stressful situation placed on individuals making them elicit various reactions. These stressful situations may be internal, external, pleasant or unpleasant, permanent or temporary, which act to elicit a response from the individuals. These responses from an individual may impact on the physical and psychological well-being of an individual.

Stress in the Workplace Environment

The workplace environment is dynamic in recent times, consequently posing a stressful situation to the personnel involved. These stressful situation posed to the workers may raise as a risk factor to their well-being. Therefore, work stress is the harsh emotional or physical response emancipating from an individual when the job description does not match their capabilities, needs, or resources made available to them (Clarke & Cooper, 2004). Work stress is costly to corporate organizations who suffer losses of about USD 7 billion every year, as a result of the detrimental stressful situations posed to their personnel. The injuries can be broken down into poor performance, not beating deadlines, and money paid to sick staff. However, these personnel does not only suffers from stressful physical conditions but also cognitive factors. Cognitive stressful situations work to interfere with rational thinking in making important decisions that require memory and reasoning, hence impacting negatively on the final work result. According to the Japanese Management rule, an organization can only prosper when the leader can harness and contain the stressful situations among the leadership and the management, consequently changing it into positive energy.

The primary cause of work stress based on how the person interacts with the work conditions (Choudhury, 2013). However, there are some risk factors associated with the existence of stressful situations which include the atmosphere at work and the personal characteristics related to the personnel. For instance, the working atmosphere that is comfortable for one employed may prove to be catastrophic to the other one. The use of an analysis wheel can facilitate the assessment of the causes of stress in the work environment. The diagram below is an illustration of the analysis wheel.

The analysis wheel is used in the determination of the causative factors of stressful situations in the work environment. Moreover, used in the plan developed to address the stressful jobs in the working environment. Each way offers different perspectives which explain the causes of stress, that is, they describe a different view on a similar reason. The analysis divided into the following six parts: Social- based on cultural and social demands. Biological - the interaction between an individual with their environment. Psychodynamic- memory borne by an individual from past experiences, Rational- interpretation of one's environment hence influencing stress levels, Experiential- the way various individuals react to the same stressful situation, and Spiritual- the acknowledgment of religious bearing of an individual in response to stressful conditions (Civil, 2003).

According to A SURVIVAL GUIDE, there are some of the work conditions giving rise to stressful situations, and they include Nature of tasks- excess workload with little rest. Managerial style- personnel not involved in the decision making, and the general absence of caring policy in the organization, conflicting roles among the staff, and workplace environment- the atmosphere may be unpleasant having harsh conditions that interfere with the well-being of the personnel (Williams & Cooper, 2002).

Management of Stressful Situations

According to the Glossary of Oxford University Press, control of stress facilitated by devising interventions with the aim of reducing the impact of the stressful situations faced by individuals both in their personal and professional lives (Pettinger, 2002). These interventions can be personalized hence increasing the ability of an individual to manage the stressful situations placed before them. However, the stress management intervention may be harnessed to have an organization impact such that the stressful conditions removed from the operations of the organization (Group, 2005).

Some of the interventions put forward in managing stress include communication. Lack of communication among people causes stress. Hence someone experiencing stressful conditions needs to seek help by discussing their concerns (Cunningham, 2000). Consequently, the personnel experiencing stressful situations can be integrated into the stress management program. The program offers training on how to cope with stress following the strict stress management plan. The plan includes a stress specialist address, whom to communicate within cases of workload, reduction of the working hours, and among other therapeutic factors for the personnel (Bamber, 2013).

The stress management programs initiated in various corporate industries show improvement in the running of their organization (Quick et al., 2015). Some corporate organizations hi...