Français
Headaches, sleep disturbances, stomachaches, raised blood pressure .. are those physical symptoms familiar? Chronic stress is becoming a major health problem in the business world. What is chronic stress, and how to address it?
picto stress
Stress is a natural physical response.
Let’s debunk a myth: stress is not necessarily a bad thing! This brilliant ability to feel stress that we have is essential to survival. Stress is primarily a physical response: when stressed, the body switches to “fight or flight” mode and adjusts to threats around. We need stress to function in our everyday lives. This “good” stress is a stress we control when we are confronted with a specific situation: a huge workload to manage, a presentation in front of the whole team, sales goals to achieve before the year ends… To help us handle those stressful situations, the body releases a complex mix of hormones and chemicals: heart beats fast, hands are sweaty, mind is focus and sharp… As soon as the situation is under control or over, the body calms down. Health is in danger when stress becomes chronic!
Understanding chronic stress.
Chronic stress is stress that persists over an extended period of time. The body feels constantly under assault and can’t handle the stressful situation anymore. When we feel overwhelmed by a situation, chronic stress fills in. The more it lasts, the more it changes our ability to react, exhausting the body and putting everybody’s health at risk.
When the natural stress goes haywire: the general adaptation syndrome.
When faced with a stressful situation, the body responds following three predictable stages called general adaptation syndrome (GAS).
🚨 THE ALARM STAGE
The distress signal appears, the body prepares to “fight or flight”. The alarm stage provides the body with a burst of energy: the heart rate increases, the adrenal gland releases cortisol (a stress hormone), and the body receives a boost of adrenaline, which increases energy. This causes a number of reactions, from blood being diverted to muscles to shutting down unnecessary bodily functions such as digestion. In a situation of natural stress, the body rests as soon as the distress signal disappears.
🏋🏽 RESISTANCE STAGE
The stress reaction keeps on going and lasts longer than it should: the body remains on high alert and doesn’t resolve the stress. To cope with it, it secretes other hormones called glucocorticoids. Those hormones rise the sugar level in the blood and bring the necessary and needed energy to the muscles, heart and brain.
🔋 EXHAUSTION STAGE
The stressful situation keeps on going and the body doesn’t know how to regulate it anymore. The physical, emotional and mental resources are drained and the body has no longer strength to fight stress!
General adaptation syndrome discovered in 1935 by Hans Selye
Headache, lack of appetite, mistakes at work: there are many symptoms of stress to keep an eye on.
Ongoing chronic stress is something to be concerned about as it can cause many serious health problems like cardiovascular diseases (heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke), mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and personality disorders, obesity and eating disorders, menstrual problems, or burn out … just to name a few.
3 types of symptoms can be detected :
Physical symptoms: pain such as headache, joint pain, back pain, sleep and appetite disorders, sweating.
Emotional symptoms: tantrums, crying, strong aggressiveness, a feeling of sadness, uneasiness, increased sensitivity and nervousness.
Intellectual symptoms: a difficulty in concentrating involving errors and omissions in daily work.
Ongoing chronic stress is something to be concerned about as it can cause many serious health problems like cardiovascular diseases (heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke), mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and personality disorders, obesity and eating disorders, menstrual problems, or burn out … just to name a few.
A shift in behaviors: that’s a red flag!
In a situation of chronic stress, each employee will obviously react very differently to the same situation. Some may look for “bandage” solutions to hold out, such as taking soothing or exciting products such as coffee, tobacco, alcohol, or anxiolytics. Changes in social behaviour, such as withdrawal or reduced social activities between employees, are all distress signals that must be quickly taken into account.
Too much work, high pressure, internal conflicts: chronic stress factors in companies are numerous.
And often poorly supported by a busy managerial team or subject to strong pressure itself. Some of the most common stressors include:
. Too much work giving the feeling of being overwhelmed.
. High pressure due to excessive demands and high expectations of results.
. An imbalance between personal and professional life employees live for their job only, do long hours, think about work all the time and have a hard time disconnecting even at night and on weekends.
. A lack or poor organization of work giving the impression that the necessary elements for carrying out the tasks are not available, a poor definition of roles and objectives.
. A lack of autonomy
. Degraded social working relationships resulting in tensions or conflicts with colleagues and/or superiors (lack of help, lack of participation, authoritarian management), lack of recognition for work done or performance demonstrated.
. Value conflicts when the employee does not share the company’s values.
. Insecurity due to the work situation, including fear of job loss due to the instability of some contracts.
For employees, stress at work can have serious consequences on their mental and physical health. For the company, the consequences are also alarming: high absenteeism, high staff turnover, lack of motivation and enthusiasm of employees leading to lower productivity and a certain loss of innovation…
Work stress affects the company as a whole: listening to the first symptoms means supporting the creation of a responsible, respectful and efficient work environment.
