The BBC has a fuller report on the recommendations but I can’t help but wonder why it is so hard to get businesses to take stress seriously enough to do something about it?

1. Recognise you are getting angry
   The first step has always got to be to recognise the anger that is inside you. I’m not talking about frustration here, I’m talking about anger. We all get frustrated but anger is when we let that frustration out in an aggressive way. If you don’t notice the anger then you won’t be able to control it.
2. Acknowledge that you are in control
   You also need to understand that you are in control of the anger. You don’t need to give in to it.
3. Choose not to be angry
   Now is the time to reject getting angry. Sometimes this might mean removing yourself from the situation so you can calm down or just taking a pause to stop yourself from expressing the anger.
4. Use diversion techniques
   You should work out some techniques that will help you to stop getting angry.
5. Get help
   If you have a very big problem with anger then you should go to see your doctor. Anger can shorted your life and so it is important to deal with it properly.
6. Relax
   After the situation has passed you should make sure you get some relaxation to let go of the tension you are feeling.

Anger is very destructive and I can think of very few situations (if any) where it is justified to get angry. Anger seldom gets anyone what they want and always leaves others feeling small. It can be very destructive to relationships, even when you are not on the receiving end of anger but only an observer. Of course differences need to be settled and rights need to be maintained but anger is not the way to achieve this.

However 4% is a pretty meagure amount of stress reduction and this might not work for everyone. This study was undertaken in the UK where there is a kind of informal Tea ceremony in times of crisis – “let’s put the kettle on”. British people have often taken a few moments to think through a problem over a cup of Tea and it could well be the positive psychological effect of this stopping and thinking that could be the reason for these results.

I’m still to be convinced that Tea itself has any medical stress benefits but having a calming routine you can use whenever a crisis hits will certainly help (as I believe this study really shows).

Then you discover that in fact your test results were fine, the boss wanted to thank you for doing a good job, your wife wanted to talk about holiday dates, etc.

Pessimists will tell you that it is best to anticipate the worst because then you are ready for it and anything above the worse is a bonus. However thinking this way leads to an increase in stress (high blood pressure – enlarged heart – sleepless nights – and so on). All this stress makes life miserable. The truth is that it is better not to anticipate the worst but the best.

The optimist discovers that they may not be right more of the time (although there is some evidence that suggests they are) but that when they get bad news they think about how they can cope rather than falling apart (a common misconception about optimists – that they go to peaces if they hear bad news).

So teach your self to aniticipate the best and not the worst.

You will find plenty of charlatans who will try to persuade you that they can sell you peace – but they are wrong. Peace is not something you can buy and you can’t get it just by following a new exercise regime or purchasing the latest book about it.

The truth is that peace is something you only get by working at it.

To get peace you need to give yourself a gift of some time

If you want more peace in your life then you need to take some time to get it. Now I know that is is possible to have inner peace even when things seem to be like bedlam all around you but you can’t get that without first of all learning how to do it. So you will need to give yourself some time. I suggest finding at least 15 minutes every day for this. Put it in your diary now.

To have peace you need to be filled with peaceful thoughts

If your mind is full of frantic and desperate thoughts then you will never find peace. You can go to the most wonderful place in the world but if your mind is full of activity then you will not find peace there. The only way to find peace is to put peaceful thoughts into your mind.

You can do this in many different ways. You can use words that are peaceful to help you think in a peaceful calm kind of way – try words like: calm, clear, still, rest, etc. Or you could think about peaceful places you have been to. Or you could make use of a relaxation exercise. Or you could go to someone very peaceful and let yourself indulge in the peace.

Whatever you do you need to get some peaceful thoughts into your mind.

Another way

I hope you will indulge me for just a moment because I want to share a way that I have found peace – a deeper peace than I could have found otherwise. Please don’t think I’ve gone all nutty and religious on you here but I just wouldn’t feel comfortable keeping this to myself when you are searching for peace.

I find that God provides me with a deep inner peace. As a Christian it gives me great comfort and peace to know that God loves me. I still need to think those peaceful thoughts (there is a lot of good stuff in the Bible if you want some extra help on this – if you are not sure where to start then try Psalm 23) but without my faith I don’t get the kind of peace I can get otherwise.

In studies this simple truth has been shown time and again. People with a faith tend to be less stressed than those without. You make your own mind up but I’m happy I have what I do.

In a recent report produced by reasearchers at Birmingham University –  reported in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity – found that carers of children with developmental problems had a poorer immune response to a vaccine against pneumonia.

The reason for this? Increased stress.

You can read more about this story at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7513661.stm

Stress can have a deteremental effect on the immune system which has big implications for any sufferer.

The reduced immune system will leave you open to all kinds of problems and is likely to result in more absence from work. Coughs and colds as well as more serious problems are all made more likely and worse by stress.

The answer is to manage that stress effectively.

This presents an opportunity to improve productivity and hence profit. When stress is managed productivity increases. Happy workers work harder.

Work Related Stress

High stress has an adverse effect on the whole of a business. Research shows that more working days are lost due to long term sickness caused by stress than any other single factor. In fact in seems that this is probably just the tip of the ice-burg because not only are many other illnesses triggered by stress but people are often reluctant to admit that they are under too much stress.

Lunch is for wimps

This is a common belief amongst hard working executives. There is a professional status that is somehow enhanced by working long hours with no breaks. Sadly the reverse seems to be true with those who work long hours without breaks showing signs of severe stress.

On the other hand too little work (or too repetitive work) can also lead to high levels of stress.

This has led to a conspiracy of silence where workers are reluctant to admit that they are under stress either because they fear that they will show a poor work ethic and be penalised for it or in the worst cases they fear they will lose their job.

What are the signs of too much stress?

Work-related stress is defined by HSE (www.hse.org.uk) as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them”.

Stress can be experienced in its physical manifestations in the following ways (according to the American Psychiatric Association):

• heart pounding
• headaches
• sweaty palms
• indigestion
• skin breaks out
• shortness of breath
• holding breath
• cold hands
• sleeplessness
• sleep too much
• fatigue
• nausea
• diarrhoea
• tight stomach
• tight muscles
• pain

On top of this there are emotional responses:

• moody
• irritability
• depressed anxious
• lack of sense of humour
• abrasive
• hostile
• nervous
• emotional

And mental symptoms:

• forgetfulness
• loss of concentration
• poor judgment
• disorganized
• fuzzy perception
• confused
• lack of interest
• math errors
• stop thinking
• diminished fantasy life
• negative self-talk

Of course one must be careful of making a self-diagnosis as there are many other illnesses that can manifest in this way. If you believe you are under too much stress then you should seek medical help to diagnose the problem. Too much prolonged stress can kill.

What causes stress in the workplace?

We have already mentioned that too much or too little work can be a factor but there are many causes.

Culture of the organisation

• People are reluctant to talk about stress and it is seen as a necessary evil to get the work done.
  Lack of communication between bosses and bosses being unapproachable.
  Long working hours (and no breaks) seen as a sigh of good working practices.
  If it isn’t finished then take it home approaches.
  Also asking employees to do things they find unethical.

Demands

• Too much work is an obvious example.
  Not enough thought given to a persons capability or training. To quote Regulation 13(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and paragraph 80 of the Approved Code of Practice on the Regulations:”When allocating work to employees, employers should ensure that the demands of the job do not exceed the employees’ ability to carry out the work without risk to themselves or others … Employers should review their employees’ capabilities to carry out their work, as necessary”
• Too little work can lead to boredom and high levels of stress
• Physical environment including noise, vibration etc
• Working with the public e.g. possible verbal abuse or even risk of physical violence.
  The abuse or violence doesn’t need to be present just the perceived risk is enough to cause high levels of stress.
• Presentations and other performance related stress.
  Some employees are expected to undertake activities that cause them great stress.

Control

• How much control does the employee have over their work load and their environment?
  Can the worker make any input into how the work might be done and what the deadlines etc might be

Relationships

• Relationships are also important but here we are talking about working relationships in particular.
  Bullying and harassment can cause stress. Bullying can happen by work colleagues or bosses and seems to be a major problem in most societies and organisations. A person has a right not to be harassed for reasons of sex, race, colour, religion, nationality, ethnic or national origin or disability.

Change

• Many organisation have undergone significant change in the last decade or so.
  Work must be adapted to compete in a modern world and can include such things as technology, working practice, downsizing, outsourcing etc.
  Most of this is unavoidable but it does lead to work related stress that must be addressed in some way.

Role

• Problems can arise where employees do not fully understand what they are required to do and who they are responsible to.

Training

• Where too little training is provided it can lead to extreme stress.
  Workers who are expected to operate machinery or software that they do not understand are often very stressed. Similarly operating machinery that is perceived to be unsafe or in need of repair. Workers who are expected to do things for which they have no formal training or experience can also suffer from stress.

Etc

• This is a complex subject and will vary from one business to another.
  However the factors above should be given attention in any working environment.

Why should I bother?

There are many reasons to bother and here are some of them.

Legal

Many countries insist that employers take responsibility for the welfare of their employees. This should include being concerned about the stress that employees are under. There have been several court cases recently where employers have been found negligent in managing stress and have been fined for this negligence. I’m not trying to scare anyone but employers are legally bound to manage stress in their organisations.

Moral

As an employer you have a moral obligation to help your employees work in as stress free an environment as possible. You cannot be expected to handle the stress outside the place of work but while employees are at work they need to be given the respect and help that is due any human being.

Economic

I have saved this one till last. It is impossible to put an actual figure on the cost of stress to industry but the research that has been done is conclusive. Workers under stress work less efficiently and get less done. The old believe that you need stress to work hard is simply not true. We do need motivation and sometimes stress can help us prepare for important events but in nearly all cases stress is detrimental to production.

Healthy workforces that are not stressed tend to perform better. They produce more. They have a more positive attitude to their work place which means less absence and a more positive message presented to the outside work. Workers who are happy tend to stay where they are rather than seek employment somewhere else. This means investment in training and time is better realised.

Conclusion

Stress in the workplace is a serious matter. Not only are you putting your own business at risk if you don’t address it but you are also putting the future health of your employees at risk, possibly even shortening their lives. There are many things that can be done to reduce stress and to help employees deal with the times when stress is inevitable. Stress management training and time management training are two of the tools that you can use to help your organisation win against stress.

So what illness have been linked to too much stress?

First I need to issue a warning. Research is still under way and it is impossible to make a definitive list of which illnesses are linked with stress. One cannot assume that if you suffer with one of these illnesses you have therefore been under too much stress.

Second it is important to understand that stress does not cause the illness. It is the effects of prolonged stress on the body that gives an opportunity for the illness to develop or for a developed illness to cause even more harm. For instance prolonged stress has a detrimental effect on the immune system which in turn leaves one vulnerable to all kinds of nasty things. Having said this if you ask the simple question of “can stress kill” the simple answer is yes and in large numbers.

Here is the list of illnesses linked with too much stress (this list is mostly taken from stress.about.com and more information is available from this web site):

• acne
• alcoholism
• Alzheimer’s disease
• asthma
• back pain
• birth defects
• breast cancer
• bruxism
• cancer
• carpal tunnel syndrome
• cholesterol, elevated
• chronic fatigue syndrome
• colds
• cortisol, elevated
• diabetes
• depression
• dysmenorrhea
• heart disease
• headaches
• HIV disease
• hypertension
• immune system disturbances
• infertility
• insomnia
• menstrual problems
• multiple sclerosis (MS)
• night eating syndrome
• OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder)
• stroke
• TMD (temporomandibular disorders)
• ulcers
• uterine cancer

What to do if you are worried about your illness, or fear getting something because you are under stress.

See a doctor. It is very important that you see your doctor about your concerns. They should be able to tell you what you can to deal with your issues.

Everyone would benefit from relaxation training so I also suggest you find someone who can help with this.

Psychologists talk about the ABC of stress.

A is an Activating event e.g. something is happening that might be a problem e.g. getting married might well be an activating event.

B is the beliefs about an event.

C is the consequences of the event; in essence how does it make you feel?

Now C is entirely dependent on B. For instance some people see getting married as an exciting event others as a a source of stress and nervousness.

The consequences to us of an event are determined by our beliefs (at least in the sense of stress). The consequences of sitting out in the sun too long (sunburn) is not dependent on your beliefs but on simple physics. However the consequences of say having to deal with a difficult boss are dependent on what you believe about that boss.

I understand that Winston Churchill (famous UK Prime Minister during WW2) was a very difficult man to work for and yet everyone who worked for him loved him dearly. Their beliefs about him meant that his abrasive nature was not a real source of lasting stress for those he worked with (not most of the time anyway).

The exciting thing to know is that we have control over what we believe. One of the major treatments for stress is to change the way you think about a situation. This isn’t some strange alternative positive thinking weird kind of stuff but genuine proven techniques to help reduce stress.

Most people who have investigated stress will have come across the Fight or Flight Syndrome. It is not a cause of stress but it is an important part of understanding what is going on.

The body has a wonderful defense system built in. When danger is around it heightens the senses, prepares the muscles for action, makes the heart beat faster and harder, and sends sugar through the body for energy. It’s wonderful if you are faced with a lion or a truck headed your way as you cross the road. The only problem is that your body doesn’t understand that not everything your brain says is danger really is.

This is where the importance of thinking in the right ways comes in. If our brain thinks there is danger our body goes into fight or flight mode and if we don’t need this reaction we feel the effects as stress.

The less you think everything is a danger the less stress you feel.

So in answer to the question “what causes stress?” we have to conclude you do!

In the 1920’s a young doctor called Hans Selye realised that those who are ill share a common problem. Their illnesses are different but they share a common feeling of being ill. After searching for some time for what these common symptoms were he eventually identified the stress reaction as an underlying cause or major contributing factor to most illness.

“Stress is the non-specific response of the body to any demand made upon it.”
Dr. Hans Selye

He had identified what was to be called the “fight or flight syndrome”.

In essence our bodies are wonderfully made to save us in a crises. When we are faced with an alarming situation our bodies switch into the “flight or flight syndrome”. Our adrenal glands pump out some impressive stuff to get us all up and ready for the moment. Some of the body shuts itself down (or at least reduces what it needs) and the rest goes into overdrive.

We get extra of this:

• Heart rate
• Blood pressure
• Breathing rate
• Muscle tension
• Perspiration
• Mental alertness and senses are heightened (but see below)
• Blood flow to the brain, heart and muscles
• Blood sugar, Cholesterol, Platelets and clotting factors

But less of this:

• Blood flow to the skin
• Blood flow to the digestive tract
• Blood flow to the kidneys
• Ability to make rational thought (we go back to very basic thinking for survival)

When you are facing a mad dog this is a great way for the body to react and helps us either defend yourself or run so fast we get away. People have been known to perform incredible acts of strength and agility when in this state.

However the body reacts in this way to anything that is perceived as a threat. This means that even simple things like having to do something you don’t want to do can be perceived as a threat and the stress reaction happens.

In the short term the body soon recovers from the problem but in the longer term the chemicals that are being pumped around the body and the energy that is needed for fight and flight creates a major problem.

So under stress we experience ARE (Alarm, Resistance and Exhaustion). In the initial alarm state we react as shown above and are ready to face the problem. Then our immune system kicks into overdrive to help the body cope and we seem to be particularly resistant to disease and problems. This does not last long and our bodies slip into the exhaustion phase where we cannot resist illness and disease. This is the state that people under prolonged stress reach. It is very serious and dangerous to be in this state.

If you suspect you are under serious levels of prolonged stress you should go and see your doctor as soon as possible. Anyone who is in this condition should be checked out by a doctor before undergoing stress management training. It’s not that the training is detrimental to health but just that your should check out the effects stress is having on you and not rely on stress management until you have done so.

Stress management can help you manage the stress but it won’t cure you of any physical damage the stress has done to your body and this damage can be so severe that you should have a doctor check you out. Stress management can help you recover from this damage and help you enjoy a much better quality of life.