WORK STRESS: SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, TYPES, CONSEQUENCES - JOB - 2024

The work stress is a psychological problem related to the pressures, challenges and difficulties present in the work environment. Virtually everyone suffers from it to some degree at different times in their lives; But when it occurs frequently or in a very pronounced way, it can have serious consequences.

According to statistics on this, approximately 40% of people of working age experience significant amounts of work stress. This number has been increasing gradually in the last decades; in fact, problems in the workplace are often cited as one of the main causes of discomfort.

Despite attempts to list the most stressful and least stressful jobs, it has been found that rankings of this type do not make much sense. Normally, work stress occurs due to a lack of concordance between the person and the environment in which they are.

If it stays at too high levels for too long, job stress can have all kinds of negative consequences in the lives of those who suffer from it. Therefore, it is necessary to better understand why this phenomenon occurs, and what we can do to alleviate it once it is present in our lives.

Symptoms

There are many clues that can give us a clue as to whether someone is suffering from large amounts of work stress or not. Each individual reacts differently to this problem; but it is possible to create a list of common symptoms that occur more or less frequently.

In general, we can distinguish three main types of symptoms: physical, behavioral, and psychological. Let's see each of them.

Physical symptoms

Work stress has a great impact on the body of the people who suffer it. Because of this, their bodies tend to show a series of symptoms that can range from simple discomforts to more serious ones that may require specialized attention.

1- fatigue

One of the most common physical symptoms of job stress is fatigue. The person may feel constantly tired despite having had enough sleep or not having exerted great physical effort. On many occasions, it can interfere with the development of the individual's daily activities.

2- Headache

Many people with work-related stress experience constant headaches, which can be very intense. In general, they are produced by the high degree of muscular tension that these individuals present, especially in the neck and face area.

3- Sleep problems

Another of the areas in which the body of someone with work stress is most affected is at rest. For some, this translates into great difficulty falling asleep; others, on the other hand, wake up constantly and have a lot of trouble staying asleep all night.

4- intestinal discomfort

Despite not knowing exactly the mechanism by which it occurs, there is a strong relationship between work stress and intestinal problems.

While some individuals will develop diarrhea or more or less severe pain in this area, others will have great difficulty going to the bathroom. These symptoms get worse during stress peaks.

5- Skin problems

Finally, work stress tends to produce certain skin ailments that, although not serious, can be quite unpleasant. Among other things, we can highlight acne, dry skin, or even more serious pathologies such as psoriasis.

Behavioral symptoms

The way a person behaves can vary greatly when under the influence of job stress. Next we will see what are the most common changes in behavior when this problem appears.

1- Difficulties with interpersonal relationships

Many of the symptoms of work stress make it very difficult to maintain healthy and satisfying relationships, both at work and outside of it. People under its influence can become more aggressive, intolerant and impatient; and are generally less interested in the problems or concerns of others.

On the other hand, the fact of having high levels of stress can lead the individual to want to isolate himself from the rest. Because of this, the rest of problems in relationships tend to worsen over time, as the person loses their social skills by not practicing them.

2- Worse job performance

The emotional difficulties experienced by people with stress at work cause them to become less efficient. Because of this, those affected by this problem will normally require more time to perform the same tasks, and will be less able to fulfill their obligations within the set dates.

3- Less initiative and creativity

By being focused on their own problems and being overcome by them, individuals with high doses of work stress will be less involved in their tasks. For this reason, it is common to find that their levels of creativity and initiative have decreased to levels much lower than normal.

4- High levels of absenteeism

One of the clearest symptoms of high levels of work stress occurs when the person begins to miss their job often.

Feeling that you cannot solve your problems can end up leading the individual to feel overwhelmed; And for that reason, at the slightest occasion you will want to flee from the environment in which you find yourself.

5- Lack of concentration

The large number of psychological difficulties that people with work stress experience leads them to not be able to fully concentrate on what they are doing.

Usually their mind will be overactive and they will be constantly distracted from their tasks due to the speed of their thinking.

Psychological symptoms

Although work stress causes many physical and behavioral symptoms, some of the most dangerous are those it produces on a mental level. Next we will see which are the most common.

1- Sudden mood swings

Job stress can affect people's emotional lives in many ways; but one of the most common is by making feelings more volatile.

When an individual is very stressed, they can go from anger to sadness very quickly, or stop being cheerful and find themselves depressed almost instantly.

2- Pessimism

The person affected by work stress tends to see everything with a negative filter. Because you do not feel capable of solving your problems, you will believe that everything will go but over time and that there is nothing that can be done to improve things.

3- Feelings of being overwhelmed

One of the most unpleasant symptoms of work stress is the feeling that you cannot cope properly with the circumstances. The person with this problem will believe that they do not have the adequate resources to face a situation, and will imagine that in the future everything will get worse.

Causes

It is not known exactly what causes work stress. It seems that there has to be a combination of specific circumstances with a certain way of thinking for this problem to appear.

However, many studies suggest that the key lies in the feeling that there are levels of demand that are too high for the level of ability to solve problems. The person feels incapable of meeting their goals, and sees no way to learn to do so.

This, which seems to be fundamental for the onset of work stress, is often coupled with other difficulties such as a very pessimistic way of thinking or a high tendency to focus excessively on problems.

Types

Based on the duration of stress and its negative consequences, the authors recognize two main types: episodic work stress and chronic work stress.

Episodic job stress

This is the least serious type of work stress. It occurs due to a specific situation in which there is a very significant workload, or due to the appearance of a new variable that temporarily increases the symptoms of this pathology.

In general, episodic work stress tends to disappear as the situation normalizes or the person gets used to the new variable. Therefore, although its effects can be worrisome and should be watched, it is usually not necessary to worry excessively about it.

Chronic work stress

The most serious version of this problem occurs when stress symptoms are not dependent on a specific situation, but rather have to do with working conditions in general.

When the person feels that his job is constantly overwhelming him, we could be facing a chronic case of this pathology.

This is where the most serious long-term consequences occur. If the symptoms do not reduce on their own, it is usually necessary to perform some type of intervention to reduce them before the psychological or physical state of the individual deteriorates too much.

Consequences

Today, it is still unknown exactly what effects work stress causes on people's bodies and minds when it lasts for a long time.

However, we do know that this problem has a large number of negative consequences, which make it a cause for concern and a risk to public health.

On a physical level, prolonged stressful situations can affect the immune system, making it more likely that the person will contract any disease. In addition, it can alter normal sleep patterns, affect areas such as body weight and fat gain, or even favor the appearance of pathologies such as heart attacks or cancer.

On a behavioral level, individuals with high levels of work stress may end up losing their jobs due to their loss of performance. They also often have great difficulty maintaining satisfying relationships with friends and family, which in turn can cause them to lose their support network and exacerbate symptoms of the problem.

Finally, on a psychological level, the maintenance of high levels of stress seems to be related to pathologies such as depression or anxiety. These mental problems can cause serious difficulties in the lives of people who suffer from them and affect all areas of their existence.

Prevention

Because we do not yet know all the causes of work stress, it is very difficult to completely prevent it from appearing. However, in recent years certain measures have been found that seem to be very effective in preventing its development and in avoiding the most serious symptoms when it occurs.

Be clear about your tasks

Studies show that one of the most stressful things in jobs is not having a clearly assigned task list. Employees whose responsibilities are less defined tend to develop this problem much more frequently.

So knowing exactly what is expected of you and how to do it will go a long way to helping you avoid the worst effects of job stress.

Avoid multitasking

Despite the fact that multitasking was seen as something fantastic in the past, the latest studies show that the human brain is not ready for it. If you spend a lot of time trying to multitask, you'll be much more likely to end up out of energy, grumpy, and overwhelmed.

So commit to focusing on only one activity at a time, despite having a lot to do. This will help you to be more efficient, and it will also give you a great sense of peace of mind.

Take care of your body

For many people, their day begins with waking up after having slept an insufficient number of hours, eating anything for breakfast without paying attention to their health, and then sitting for several hours without exercise.

However, all the research indicates that taking care of your health is one of the most important factors to prevent the appearance of work stress. If you want to avoid this problem, make sure you get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep each night, train regularly, and try to eat as healthy as possible most of the time.

Just by following these three recommendations, you will see how much of your work stress just melts away.

References

1. "Work - related stress" in: Better Health. Retrieved on: October 14, 2018 from Better Health: betterhealth.com.
2. "How to identify the symptoms of workplace stress" in: Workstress. Retrieved on: October 14, 2018 from Workstress: workstress.net.
3. "Stress in the workplace" in: Help Guide. Retrieved on: October 14, 2018 from Help Guide: helpguide.org.
4. "Coping with stress at work" in: American Psychology Association. Retrieved on: October 14, 2018 from American Psychology Association: apa.org.
5. "9 simple ways to deal with stress at work" in: Very Well Mind. Retrieved on: October 14, 2018 from Very Well Mind: verywellmind.com.