The Impact of Stress on Workers - Essay Example

? The impact of stress on workers This paper is primarily based on contemplating the widely discussed issue of work-related stress which can be painful to the point of insanity. The bedrock of the discussion presented in this paper is formed by how stress prevails in any workplace, where it comes from, and how it affects the workers in myriad different critically important ways. It is a widely acclaimed fact that stress arrives on the surface when work-related pressures exceed the tolerance capacity of the workers, which is when the work stress starts bursting at the seams. Introduction: This remain a credible reality that excess of anything can be seriously injurious for anyone both physically and mentally. The arrival of stress, in the same way, is directly related to excessive work or persistent boredom which can be observed so very often in any workplace’s environment fraught with an unchanging aura. What makes the work-related stress a serious and hazardous issue is the worst kind of depression it can lead a worker to and profoundly impact his/her life. Therefore, it can be said that though stress itself may not be called a disease, but the consequential problems it gives birth to become worth addressing once they mature into gravely complicated issues like physical unfitness and psychological disorders. Relentless work pressures and increased competitiveness: Given the unbelievably quick rise observed in industrialism and materialistic public approach in the recent years, this would not be hyperbolical to state that work pressures both on the employers and employees have increased proportionately. That is the same reason why so much research has been done on the influence this work pressure produces on the workers to the point that “one in 20 cases of depression or anxiety annually is attributable to high stress at work” (NHS, 2007). According to research studies, work-related stress has now become a serious health and safety issue given the heap of family problems it creates for the workers. One after another problem keeps cropping up for the poor workers tired of their tedious jobs which require them to spend long hours at their workplaces, while sparing less and less time for their families back at homes. No sooner do the helpless workers exposed to insane work pressures come out of one complex problem, does another fall down on their heaving shoulders. Recurring headaches, angry cramps in the neck and back especially, distorted thinking, terrible memory, sleeping difficulties, and dark hopelessness are just some of the deplorable physical and mental consequences produced by work stress on the workers as identified by (Workers Health Centre, 2005). Emotional turmoil and layoff fear induced by work stress: Work stress is justifiably proved to be a powerful and influential emotional roller for workers around the globe, as a result of excessive competitiveness and unpredictable employment opportunities. It remains undeniable that competitiveness has peaked in the present age in all employing firms and fear of layoff is what keeps haunting the workers persistently, which leads them to work more and more in order to keep their employers happy and escape the looming prospect of unemployment. All this pandemonium created by work-related stress induces the workers to go into realm of bizarre fantasy and some may even opt to find solace by engaging themselves in a hedonistic lifestyle, thus deviating from the right path and hitting the perturbed one, all the while influenced by that same cursed work-related stress. Recent research consolidates the hazardous consequences produced by excessive work pressures by bringing up the fact that “regardless of occupation, seniority, or salary level, we’re spending more and more of our work days feeling frazzled and out of control, instead of alert and relaxed” (Segal, Smith, Robinson, & Segal, 2011). Disorientation is one of the most powerful influences which grips the workers as soon as they are exposed to more work than they are required to do by their ruthless employers, who want nothing more than competing with other mainstream firms while sacrificing the physical and mental health of their workers mercilessly just to meet up with the intricate requirements brought on by that competitiveness. Work stress shrinks the personal lives of workers into nothingness: Life for many workers around the world is getting so uncontrolled and complicated that many of them can be found presently claiming that they view their jobs as the top stressors in their lives. Families break, friends drift apart, social life rips off, and personal commitments remain unaddressed as a result of mounting work-related stress and it is worth mentioning here that these are viewed as top consequences produced by stress at workplace by the affected workers. Work stress is now recognized as a worldwide major challenge which has succeeded in creating a dramatic emergency for both the workers and organizations. This stress becomes all the more complex and unacceptable for workers when they feel they get little or literally no support from their workers. “It is important to promote well-being at work in every way and pay attention also to team climate” (Sinokki, cited in Reinberg, 2009). Also, when workers are incapable of dealing appropriately with the heavy work demands because of various reasons among which family issues and personal space are worth mentioning, stress ensues. Everyone needs some personal space and it is a tragic fact that not many supervisors or employers today feel comfortable to respect their employees’ personal spaces much since working them to the point of insanity seems to have become their number one priority. Exposing the workers to work-related stress can cause them to develop unusual, unpredictable, and dysfunctional behavior which can seriously interfere with their personal lives and may even lead them to indulge with unhealthy activities. “In extreme cases, long-term stress or traumatic events at work may lead to psychological problems and be conductive to psychiatric disorders resulting in absence from work” (Leka, Griffiths, & Cox, 2003). Conclusion: Summing up, this much remains clear from the above discussion that work stress is potentially capable of producing enormous effects on the workers, which should be approached in a timely fashion by the supervisors since it is actually the workers who happen to be the essence and workforce behind any organization’s long-term success. Mismatch between work demands and workers’ knowledge and capabilities leads to work stress capable of influencing an organization in a traumatic manner. References: Leka, S., Griffiths, A., & Cox, T. (2003). SYSTEMATIC PROBLEM APPROACHES FOR EMPLOYERS, MANAGERS AND TRADE UNION REPRESENTATIVES. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/occupational_health/publications/en/oehstress.pdf NHS. (2007, Aug. 02). Stress at work is a risk factor for depression. NHS choices. Retrieved from http://www.nhs.uk/news/2007/August/Pages/Stressatworkisariskfactorfordepression.aspx Reinberg, S. (2009, Apr. 09). As Work Stress Rises, So May Depression. U.S.News. Retrieved from http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2009/04/09/as-work-stress-rises-so-may-depression Segal, J., Smith, M., Robinson, L. & Segal, R. (2011). Stress at Work. Retrieved from http://helpguide.org/mental/work_stress_management.htm Workers Health Centre. (2005). Stress in the workplace. Retrieved from http://www.workershealth.com.au/facts018.html Read More