National Stress Awareness Day – November 1, 2017
The International Stress Management Association (ISMA) established Stress Awareness Day on the first Wednesday of November. Why? Because life can be stressful! It is time to shed a light on stress, and find appropriate ways to manage and cope with it, in both personal and professional settings. This year’s theme is “Speak Up and Speak Out About Stress!” and we intend to do just that.
Recognizing Stress
First of all, it is important that you are able to recognize when you are stressed. You might be thinking, how is it possible to NOT be aware that you are stressed? Well, stress can come in many different forms and it affects everyone differently. Stress is well known for making your heart beat rapidly, causing heavy breathing and evoking a sense of anxiety. Check the chart below for typical physical and mental symptoms of stress.
Take note of these symptoms because they can help you recognize when you might be stressed.
Types of Stressors
Now that you have an idea of some of the symptoms of stress, it is time to understand what stressors are. Just like symptoms, stressors vary for everyone.
The Centre for Studies on Human Stress (CSHS) breakdown stressors into different categories.
- Physiological (or physical) Stressors – stress that affects your body, such as extremely cold or hot temperatures or an injury
- Psychological Stressors – this can be a multitude of situations, from an event to an indvidual, that we consider threatening.
It is then broken down further into:
- Absolute Stressors – stressors that would make anyone who is exposed to them feel stressed, such as a natural disaster or terrorist attack
- Relative Stressors – stressors that are more specific to each individual, such as public speaking or travelling
As you can see, some stressors are universal, such as physiological or absolute stressors. However, psychological and relative stressors vary from person to person.
Workplace Stress
Workplace stress is a specific stressor that we want to talk about. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) defines workplace stress as “the harmful physical and emotional responses that can happen when there is a conflict between job demands on the employee and the amount of control an employee has over meeting those demands.”
This definition can apply to various situations that cause stress in the workplace. CCOHS provides a list that includes stressors such as:
- Workload (overload or underload)
- Skills/abilities do not match job demands
- Lack of appreciation
- Role ambiguity (lack of clarity about responsibilities, expectations, etc.)
- Job security
- Relationships at work
- Management style
- Family exposed to work-related hazards
Believe it or not, the list goes on! We are work the majority of our week, which makes it easy to understand how so many stressors in our lives are a result of work.
What Can Employers Do?
The question that employers need to ask themselves is: What can I do to help employees who are stressed?
1. Provide some sort of wellness incentive. This does not mean having a permanent on-site wellness coordinator, a gym and a healthy cafeteria – although that would be a great option! However, it is easy to offer other things like:
- Reduced gym memberships
- A comprehensive benefits plan that includes wellness activities like massage or physiotherapy
- Providing Lunch and Learns on topics that your employees want to know about, such as managing stress or how to pack healthy lunches
- Providing a monthly or bi-weekly class, such as yoga or bootcamp
You may need to re-evaluate and see what benefits are actually being used by your employees. You should also make sure to ask your employees what they feel they would get the most value from.
2. Offer flex-time or the opportunity to work remotely on occasion. This relieves the stress of feeling like you NEED to be at your desk 9am to 5pm…or else. Now your employees can feel comfortable saying that they have an appointment to attend because they can use flex time to do that, rather than vacation time.
3. Create a social committee to organize get-togethers outside of the office. This gives co-workers a chance to get to know each other and connect on a personal level! This could include anything from a regular Wednesday evening dinner to a different monthly activity like paintball or a family skate. Don’t leave all of the socializing for the Christmas party, invest in it year round!
What Can You Do?
There are several questions that you may want to ask yourself now.
- Am I stressed?
- If so, what am I stressed about?
- How can I mange this stress? Do I need to ask for help?
A great place to start is with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) questionnaire that can help you test your stress index. Check out “What’s Your Stress Index?” to see if you need to think about the stress in your life and how it is affecting you physically and/or mentally.