Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

September/October, 1997

The High Cost Of Stress

When stress overload causes health problems, it affects our budgets as well as our minds. Stress impairs immune system functioning, lowering the body’s resistance to disease. Many medical texts estimate that as much as 50-80% of all disease is stress-related in origin. Drs. Holmes and Rahe, pioneering researchers in the filed of stress, proved conclusively that the greater the number of life-change events people experienced in a two-year period, the more frequently they became physically ill. With health care costs skyrocketing the financial impact of stress-induced illness is a major drain on the economy, as well as on our personal pocketbooks. The price of stress in the work place in the form of lowered productivity, excessive absenteeism, increased insurance costs, and premature loss of key people is staggering. American industry spends more than $26 billion every year in disability payments and medical bills. Executives alone cost American industry more than $10 billion annually through lost workdays, hospitalization, and early death caused by stress. For the individual worker, stress can affect getting a job, keeping it, and moving ahead. Too much stress lowers work efficiency, impairs performance and hurts your chances for promotion. Positive job factors can play an important part in keeping stress in check. Having supportive co-workers, managing time effectively, being active in social groups, and not taking work home with you are effective ways to minimize stress.

HOW TO CUT STRESS

Get Organized - Plan, schedule, take notes, and keep good files; organizing the daily routines of life reduces stress. Save your memory for more creative and pleasurable things.

Take Breaks - Take a 10-minute break after every 50 minutes of work to maintain peak performance. Don’t confuse working hard with working effectively; you’ll end up working past the point of diminishing returns.

Rehearse - Being prepared reduces stress. When you’re facing a situation that you know will be stressful to you, rehearse it, either mentally or with a friend. Anticipate what might occur and plan your response.

Do It Now - Procrastination breeds stress! Do your most difficult or most hated task at the beginning of the day when you’re fresh; avoid the stress of dreading it all day.

Know Your Limits - Be realistic about what you can accomplish in a day. It’s better to do less and do it well than to do more, poorly.

Change Attitudes - Think of stressful situations as a challenge to your creative thinking, rather than looking at them as insurmountable problems.

Learn to Say “NO” - Say “no” when your schedule is full, to activities you don’t enjoy, to responsibilities that aren’t yours, to emotional demands that leave you feeling drained, to other people’s problems that you don’t have the power to solve.

Schedule Your Stress - Stagger stressful activities to reduce the number of stressors you must juggle at any one time. Don’t invite your in-laws to visit the same week you have a big presentation due at work.

Treat Your Body Right - You will have more energy and self-confidence and be less susceptible to the physical side effects of stress when you eat a balanced diet, get enough sleep and exercise regularly. Positive self-reinforcement - Use positive self-reinforcement: “I can handle this one step at a time.” Instead of frightening and depressing yourself by coming up with reasons why you can’t cope.

Take Charge - Take responsibility for making your life what you want it to be. It is less stressful to make decisions and take action than to feel powerless and react to others’ decisions. Decide what you want and go for it!