Ellen’s Prescription for Work Stress

In 1862, the first year of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln said, “With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh, I should die.” Lincoln was well-known for his sense of humor, and had an acute awareness of its value in enabling him to endure the most trying of times. Although most of us don’t have the weight of a nation’s fate resting on our shoulders, we all have experienced work stress in some form. It’s a universal experience with the potential to significantly impact both mental and physical health. Stress occurs any time the body and mind are called upon to respond to a demand. It can arise from a one-time occurrence (such as a major accident or natural disaster) or one that is repeated over time (such as family and work stress). These experiences cause the body to go into fight-or-flight mode. Muscles become tense, respiratory rate increases, the pulse quickens, the brain uses more oxygen, and levels of stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline spike. The fight-or-flight response increases responsiveness to stressors to promote survival. But serious mental and physical health issues can develop if the stress is constant and long-term, as is the case with work stress. With chronic work stress, the repetitive stress response in the body can lead to increased rates of high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, insomnia, irritability, headaches, anger, sadness, viral infections, depression, anxiety, and a number of other mental and physical ills. The APA’s recent Stress in America survey revealed that a majority of Americans cite work as a significant source of stress in their lives. Common work-related stressors include excessive workloads, conflicting demands, lack of control over one’s own work, work that isn’t challenging, work that isn’t meaningful, and low salaries. While […]

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