Author: Iryna Hryban

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The Importance of Stress Management (Part I – Worksite Wellness Stress Management Series)

Job stress is a common and costly problem, and research indicates most employees feel they have more on‑the-job stress than employees a generation ago. Occupational stress is most likely to occur when workplace demands overwhelm a person’s capacity to comfortably handle a situation, or when conditions do not meet a person’s needs. Chronic exposure to stressful workplace conditions has been shown to lead to a number of debilitating mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, an inability to concentrate, and emotional exhaustion. Stress can also lead to severe physical health problems, such as immune deficiency disorders, chronic headaches, cardiovascular disease, and a reduced ability to recover from illness. Moreover, stressful work conditions can hamper an individual’s ability to make other necessary lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, eating healthfully, or getting physically active.

The Business Case for Stress Management

A number of factors can contribute to work-related stress. For example, stress is likely to occur when employees feel they have little support from supervisors and colleagues, when they feel they have little control over work processes, when work demands become unmanageable, when there is little job security, or when there is little opportunity for advancement or professional development. Stress can also be brought on by day-to-day operations, such as when there is understaffing, tight schedules, malfunctioning equipment, or impatient or demanding clients.

While some stress is unavoidable, exposure to chronic stress at the workplace seriously impedes organizational functioning. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration has declared stress a workplace hazard due to the serious problems that can arise when stress is not well managed. Employees who are stressed are more likely to miss work, quit, be involved in an accident, and perform worse than their less stressed peers. Unfortunately, workplace stress is highly prevalent: in recent studies, 80% of workers reported feeling stress on the job, 40% reported feeling very or extremely stressed, and 25% viewed their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives. These high stress levels lead to an estimated 1 million workers absent every day due to stress. Moreover, past research has shown that health care expenditures are nearly 50% greater for employees reporting high levels of stress in comparison to their less stressed peers.

This is the first of two parts in the Worksite Wellness Stress Management Series.

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Iryna Hryban is Director of Marketing | Stem Cell Coordinator at Complete Wellness NYC – a New York City medical and wellness care facility. The Complete Wellness NYC facility was designed to act as a “one-stop shop” for many different healthcare concerns and needs. It is a place where highly regarded expert caregivers from many different areas of the medical field come together under one roof. Every Sunday, from 7pm to 8 pm, Complete Wellness is on the air on the radio show.