The effects of job-related stress on employee health.

Did you know that job-related stress is one of the most prevalent causes of life-threatening illnesses and medical emergencies?  In addition to the harmful effects job-related stress has on individual health, did you know that job-related stress costs companies billions of dollars every year due to employee medical and stress leave, sick time, turnover rates, and poor production outputs? 

Recent psychological research has shown that stress causes residual detrimental effects on mental and physical health.  These findings have been supported by medical studies into the psychophysiological effects of stress, specifically how it effects the immune system. 

These studies have concluded that job-related stress can cause psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety, panic disorder, and relational issues which eventually lead to physiological disorders such as weakened immune system, gastrointestinal problems, high-blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and heart disease. 

It is important to understand that as the employee’s psychological and physiological health declines, his or her job performance will also decline, leading to poor production, employee replacements, and company losses. 
 
 Job-related stress and how it impacts the body
General Adaption Syndrome (GAS) is a multiphasic model that describes how the body reacts to stress.  General Adaption Syndrome occurs in 3 stages, Alarm, Resistance, and Exhaustion.  During the Alarm stage, the body activates the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) which releases chemicals designed to prepare the body for “Fight or Flight”. 

​In the resistance stage, the body activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) to release chemicals designed to bring the body down from the “Fight or Flight” state.  In the exhaustion phase, the stressors continue beyond the body’s ability to cope with the stress, and illness or death may occur. 
           
Recurring Stress Phenomenon 
 It is important to understand that when an employee suffers an emotional stressor, they don’t just suffer one time, they suffer repeatedly. This occurs because people don’t just have a negative experience and then forget about it, they tend to think about the negative experience repeatedly, and this recurring trauma leads to long-term stress and the corresponding health problems. When people are in a stressful state, they usually look for ways to avoid the stress or cope with it.  Coping behaviors are either healthy or unhealthy.  Healthy coping behaviors lead to reduced stress and resilience, whereas unhealthy coping behaviors lead to more stress and reduced resilience. 
                               
Job-related stress, job performance, and productivity
           
When employees are not well due to stress and illness, this has a negative impact on their ability to perform their job functions.  Most people attempt to cope with their problems and perform their duties to the best of their abilities, but their reduced resilience makes them prone to stressful responses, emotional crisis, and unhealthy coping behaviors.  They eventually reach a point where they cannot perform their job functions any further, and they’re facing possible disciplinary action and even termination. 

Some employees will recognize these negative consequences, and may possibly obtain sick leave or stress-related disability.  Sick leave alone costs employers an estimated $44 billion annually, and that’s not even taking into account lost profits due to the declined productivity. 
 
Learning stress management techniques are critical to the prevention or mitigation of job-related stress and illness.  Employees who learn healthy coping behaviors develop increased resilience to stress and are not only healthier and happier, but they tend to perform their jobs well for increased productivity. 

​Other benefits of stress management training include, but are not limited to…

1. Increased positive energy in the workplace
2. Better employee relations
3. Increased productivity
4. Reduced turnover rate
5. Reduced sick leave
6. Increased annual profits

Lean more about our resilience workshops and stress management tools from our courses. Resilience Training

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