Stress Relief

STRESS RELIEF A MINI-THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT IN M.A. (BIBLICAL COUNSELING) .

By

Mahaveer Janapala [email protected]

Faculty

D. Rajendra Paul,

MTh.

December 2006

CARE COUNSELING INSTITUTE [email protected] H. No. 9-2-754, St. Francis St. Secunderabad – 500 025, India.

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Contents

1. Introduction

3

2. Definition

5

3. Havoc and Chaos

6

4. Spiritual Perspective

10

5. Existential and Physical Perspective

16

6. Professional Perspective

23

7. Implications

29

References

30

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1. INTRODUCTION

Stress clearly affects society today. The affects of stress are well documented: increased tendency to illness, longer recovery times, increased irritability, increased degree of competitiveness, the lack of real relaxation in society, etc. (Fraser & Griffin, 1996; Hart, 1995; Suls, J., Green, P., & Hillis, S., 1998). In fact, “the conviction that psychological stress is a causal factor in mental and physical illness underlies much current theory and research in the biological and behavioral sciences” (Gruen, Folkman, & Lazarus, 1988, p. 743). All these affects seem to be taking more of a toll on people all the time. Strangely enough, at the same time in society there seems to be a real push towards spirituality and a search for existential meaning (Emberley, 1998/1999). The more people get stressed, the more they seem to want to make sense of it all.

1

Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings.

As a positive influence,

stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. With the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, a job promotion, or a new relationship, we experience

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stress as we readjust our lives. In so adjusting to different circumstances, stress will help or hinder us depending on how we react to it.6

Stress management has focused on techniques such as anticipation and avoidance, using imagery to reduce stress (Ellis, 1994), thought awareness, rational thinking and positive thinking (Ellis, 1994), reducing stress with exercise, progressive muscular relaxation, how to use your time to more effect, attitudes, etc. (Widmaier, 1996).1 Psychology affirms in bringing compulsive change from outside. It puts a person’s mind, soul and strength in a carnal and intuitional transparent cage to maintain decency and modesty, while the heart keeps burning. It is the intention of this paper to focus on spiritual, existential, physical and professional coping.

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2. DEFINITION The term stress itself has its origins as a concept in engineering (Wong, 1993; Altmair, 1995). It was meant to refer to some external pressure that acts upon some object. This metaphor of external pressure has been a guiding force in stress research and has directed stress research to concentrate on negative stimuli and external pressures.

More recently,

research has added the idea of cognition and its role in stress; thus, changing the metaphor to suggest that any force, be it internal or external, can be stressful. The thinking is that external forces, in and of them, are not what cause the experience of being stressed; rather, it is the interpretation of those forces (Ellis, 1994; Amirkhan, 1998). There are significant problems noted in the stress and coping literature such as “ambiguous definitions, poor measurement methods, and overlapping theoretical bases” (Altmair, 1995, p. 304). However, the primary problem in the literature lies in the fact that there is no universally agreed upon definition of stress (Perrotto & Culkin, 1993).

Some definitions

suggest that stress is the negative affect that stimuli have on people (Perrotto & Culkin, 1993) or the multifaceted responses that include changes in perception, emotions, behaviour, and physical functioning (Hart, 1995). 1 The term “stress” is often used quite loosely to describe even a temporary feeling of being under pressure.2.There is a difference between stress and pressure. We all experience pressure on a daily basis, and need it to motivate us and enable us to perform at our best. It’s when we experience too much pressure without the opportunity to recover that we start to experience stress. The HSE definition of stress is “the adverse reaction a person has to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them”.3 In other words stress is not so much about what we feel when we are under pressure but about how we react.2

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3. HAVOC AND CHAOS Stress is a natural part of life, when it becomes a regular feature it can be debilitating both in terms of health and finances. For example, recent UK Government figures show that stress costs companies around £1.24 billion a year in sickness absence and lost productivity. Other research from the Trades Union Congress indicated that “workers exposed to stress for at least half their working lives are 25 per cent more likely to die from a heart attack, and have 50 per cent higher odds of suffering a fatal stroke”. The impact of stress cannot therefore be underestimated.2

Professionals have to proceed up the sharpest learning curve in the shortest time to try to master the additional skills of communicator, business personal, promoter, counselor and vigilant warrior against the powers that would corrupt. But perhaps the hardest skill of all was mastering the ancient order of silence and passivity as the shackles of stress began to attempt to close around one’s wrists. Professionals labor long hours with an enthusiasm that slowly diminished as it’s found to work in less than perfect conditions, working to a rigid schedule and enduring the wrath of some if ran late (which is often done). The work could sometimes appear repetitive and even mundane.4

We can all feel stressed at times when we feel as though everything becomes too much, when things get on top of us, or when we feel as though we are unable to cope. It affects us in different ways at different times and is often the result of a combination of factors in our personal and working lives.

“Workplace stress is one of the biggest causes of employee absence – and also one of the more difficult issues to manage. The Management Standards will

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help employers identify and manage stress at work by providing a framework to pinpoint particular causes of stress, as well as achievable solutions.” CIPD 3

In ‘Managing Workplace Stress’ the authors split the symptoms into two categories – physical and behavioral. Physical symptoms •

Tiredness

•

Lethargy

•

Nausea

•

Bowel disturbance

•

Headaches

•

Loss of sexual drive

•

Muscle tension

•

Nervous twitches

•

Altered sleep patterns

Behavioral symptoms •

Irritability

•

Aggression

•

Anxiety and apprehension

•

Poor decision-making

•

Preoccupation with trivia

•

Inability to priorities

•

Difficulty in coping

•

Mood changes

•

Difficulty in concentration

•

Feeling of failure

•

Lack of self-worth

•

Isolation

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If we can identify the symptoms of stress or possibly even see an emerging pattern to our stress, we can then start to think about possible causes.2 “Stress is often a symptom of poor employment relations and can seriously affect productivity. Organizations who talk regularly with their employees and have sound systems and procedures in place for dealing with issues like absence and discipline are much more likely to avoid work-related stress and to be able to deal with potentially stressful situations when they arise.” Acas3

Dealing with fear effectively but quickly sometimes causes stress levels to rise. Similarly stressful will be dealings, when diminished communication and constant interruption to procedures are common. Furthermore, the quality of one’s work depended greatly on the support of assistants, colleagues and the forward planning of seniors. Some of these individuals are marvelous, but others are less dedicated than we might desire, and just the odd miscommunications could complicate things further still. Those of us who acknowledged stress consciously or unconsciously battled it daily through trial and error and without much of a support system. Comprehension of character may be a key to understanding response to stress. Research suggests that the characteristics of many professionals may have a link with inadequate nurturing in childhood, which leaves the adult ultimately lacking in self-esteem and yearning for recognition. This behavior is learned early in childhood and is linked with reward for tasks successfully completed. It is also linked with coronary heart disease. It is not unreasonable to infer that for a successful work, control of stress is mandatory. But it would appear that employee who compel

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themselves to work in an obsessive manner begin to see little other than the walls of their dislikes. They feel guilty about taking holidays and worry about decreased productivity. Hence, much-needed leisure is denied and more stress created. It is of concern that we as a profession downplay and sometimes even deny the existence of the stress levels under which we operate. Failing to acknowledge, identify and deal with this chronic erosive force can drain us of vitality, inspiration, sense of orientation and rationality, making us slaves to stress.4

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4. SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE We can address the Christian specifically on this issue because the world knows not our God (John 17:25) but we as Christians do know our God. Let us look at two reasons why we allow stress to build up in our life: A. We do not trust God - The sovereignty of God or the sovereignty of man? It is an exchange principle which happens millions of times each day. Compartmentalization: God you handle this and I will handle that. This creates a dual sovereignty in a single Christian life. We relegate the sovereignty of God to the sovereignty of man by a single action called worry. Why worry if God is sovereign? If He is not, then He is not God! It is as simple as that. Complexities need not be the ruling despot either. "Trust and obey for there’s no other way" as the hymn goes. Can water and oil homogenize? Can worry and trust homogenize? B. Insecurity - This is a person that is unwilling to say no, but “can’t." This person becomes involved with many things and the eventual result is an overwhelming life with seemingly no way to back out of all the commitments. With many people stress can be reduced by a simple tactic, instead of going for tranquilizers, go for a letter of resignation. Those who are insecure in home, vocation, or worse, in God, are those who still try to please God by their ridiculous amount of "good works," not realizing that Christ pleased God by His sacrifice. For those who feel they must work like crazy to please God, we need only look at Luke 10:38-42. (Luke 10:38-42 KJV) Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. {39} And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. {40} But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she helps me. {41} And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and

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troubled about many things: {42} But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus while Martha was "careful and troubled." The word "careful" may be translated "you are anxious." We know what the response of Jesus was to this situation. He chided Mary for not getting busy and for loafing when she should have been doing ten things simultaneously. Of course not, Jesus said Mary had the better part. Why? Because the Prince of Peace was on the scene and anxiety has no place in His presence. Our insecurity and anxiety have no place in His presence either. There is a plethora of reasons that Christians find themselves in stressful situations, some are: refusal to deal with small problems before they mushroom into large problems; avoidance; no functional approach to Scripture (unable to apply Scripture to situation owing to shallowness); mind thinks earthly in contradistinction to a heavenly sovereign God; we rate present situations by past failures; we compare ourselves to others (normally to those in the upper social class but why never to those in a lower social class); envy; jealousy; we seek happiness and not joy, etc. With all this as our introduction, let us attend to the meat of this essay, and that is stress management. Before we get into what stress management implies, we must first know what God states about stress and how we are to deal with it when it rears its ugly head in our life. So how do we deal with stress according to Scripture? How to Deal with Stress from Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7 - Prayer and supplication - Result the peace of God will keep (guard) our hearts and mind. Psalm 119:165 - If we love God’s Word - Result is great peace. Isaiah 26:3 - Keep our mind on God - Result is perfect peace. Isaiah 48:18 - Heed and obey God’s Word - Result is peace like a river.

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Matthew 6:31-34 - Take no thought - Why? Because God knows exactly what we need and how to supply it. If we seek the kingdom of God first, all needed things will be given to us, therefore, we need not concern ourselves with tomorrow. Matthew 11:28-29 - Being yoked to Christ (Remember Prince of peace) Find rest for your souls. 1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all anxiety on the Lord - Give it to Christ If we could summarize these seven basic principles of handling stress biblically, it would be as follows: When a stressful situation arises in our life, we must immediately pause, give it over to God by prayer and supplication who will guard our minds from outlandish scenarios which we tend to turn into believable facts (not in evidence). God knows our very need in peaceful times as well as stressful times and if our mind is stayed on Him, He will keep us in perfect peace. If we love God’s Word and are yoked to Christ through salvation, our souls will experience a peace that does pass all understanding and peace shall flow like a river. This is how God expects us to handle stress. He is totally involved in every part of our life. After all, our life is hidden with Christ in God as Colossians 3:3 states. Stress management implies we are capable of keeping a stressful existence while possessing the ability to manage it. Anyone knows that in business management presides over the company setting policies and directing the affairs. The word management also carries such synonyms as governing and control. If we choose to maintain a stressful existence void of the principles of Scripture on this subject, we live under a cloak of deceit. What deceitful umbrella do we live under? -We believe low level or moderate level stress will not affect us if we can manage it. - If we believe we can manage stress, we can pile on more "good works."

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-We believe we are in control and can handle all our situations. It builds false confidence. -Stress management deceives like an alcoholic who tries to control his drinking, it simply does not work. -Stress management exchanges the truth of Scripture for man’s failed theories. -Stress management causes us to change Gods, from Christ to us. Christianity is a dependency upon the all-sufficiency of Christ and not independent of it. If God tells us to give over our anxiety to Him, there must be a reason. That reasoning is simple, He knows we are unable to manage it and part of the spiritual benefits of salvation is the fact that we may truly live a peaceful Christian life in the midst of a hostile world. Remember, Psalm 23. (Psa 23 KJV) A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. {2} He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. {3} He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. {4} Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. {5} Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. {6} Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Look at the two bold parts of this psalm. It is possible to lie down in green pastures and sit by the still waters in a hectic society. This only depends on our assessment of God. If we believe He can supply peace in our lives then we will give it over to Him, if we do not then we will not and the end result may be disaster for us. God offer us such peace and fulfillment without man’s failed gimmicks. Isn’t it interesting that we have so many stress management seminars and books and yet, anxiety is at an all time

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high. The reason is simple, managing stress does not work and it will never work, especially for the Christian because God has already written in His word how we are to handle it. If we ignore it, we pay the penalty, if we heed it we benefit. (Acts 5:29 KJV) Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. (Psa 4:8 KJV) I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. (Psa 29:11 KJV) The LORD will give strength unto His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace. (Psa 85:8 KJV) I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints: but let them not turn again to folly. (Psa 85:10 KJV) Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Psa 147:14 KJV) He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. (Isa 26:12 KJV) LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. (Isa 32:17 KJV) And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. (Isa 53:5 KJV) But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. (Isa 54:13 KJV) And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

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(Isa 57:2 KJV) He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. (Jer 29:11 KJV) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Luke 1:79 KJV) To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Now we got the picture. God offers us great peace as part of our salvation inheritance, just appropriate it.

7

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5. EXISTENTIAL AND PHYSICAL PERSPECTIVE Meaning in Review The idea of considering meaning/existential stress to be an important or central element in human nature did not start from any one individual person.

Indeed, there is strong support for this thought in the works of

Dostoyevski [1821-1881], KierKegaard [1813-1855], Nietzsche [1844-1900], Heidegger [1889-1976], Sartre [1905-1980], and Buber [1878-1965] (Corey, 1991). In terms of psychological emphasis, existentialist theory is largely based on the work of Victor Frankl, Rollo May, and Irvin Yalom (Corey, 1991). In particular, Frankl claimed that all people have a basic desire to find and fulfill meaning and purpose in their lives. suggested

that

the

frustration

of

the

will

Furthermore, it was

could

lead

to

negative

consequences such as neurotic symptoms. Where meaning is derived is up to any one individual and is highly contextual in nature (Dollarhide, 1997). Frankl (1984) discussed the journey to find meaning in life as one's creative work (Dollarhide, 1997). According to Frankl, the will to meaning is the ultimate and central drive of human existence. When people are denied this will to meaning, they may suffer depression, aggression, and addiction (Dollarhide, 1997). Frankl suggests that the key aspect to helping clients is to access the meaning in their lives is through creativity (Dollarhide, 1997). Meaning is defined by Wong (1989) as “an individually constructed cognitive system that is grounded in values, and is capable of endowing life with personal significance and satisfaction” (p. 517 cited in Krause, 1998, p. 242). In other words, meaning is the cognitive belief system that aids people in making sense of their world and in interpreting things that happen to them. According to this understanding, a sense, or lack of the sense, of meaning impacts people greatly in all areas of life.

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An existentialist view does not concentrate on techniques; rather, on what makes people human i.e. finding meaning/purpose in life and in maintaining one’s identity. Humans, from this perspective, are in a constant state of transition.

People are always emerging or becoming

something. Existentialism also suggests that there are basic dimensions to the human condition that include: "(1) the capacity for self-awareness; (2) freedom and responsibility; (3) creating one’s identity and establishing meaningful relationships with others; (4) the search for meaning, purpose, values, and goals; (5) anxiety as a condition for living; and (6) awareness of death and non-being” (Corey, 1991, p. 179). Recent research seems to indicate that the topic of meaning is gaining more attention in many disciplines.

Meaning has been found to be an

important concept in understanding spirituality, occupational therapy, criminology, alcoholism, the elderly, inmates, psychiatric symptoms, positive mental health, bereavement, death anxiety, prayer, and the use of prenatal care services (Gerwood, LeBlanc, & Piazza, 1998; Adams & Waskel, 1991; Ebersole & Quiring, 1989; Shek, 1992; Ulmer, Range, & Smith, 1991; Reker, 1977; Rappaport, Fossler, Bross, & Gilden, 1993; Francis & Evans, 1996, Carroll, 1993; Spence & Holliman, 1995; Crabtree, 1998; McShane, Lawless, & Noonan, 1991). In particular, the literature suggests that meaning is linked with spirituality and spiritual issues; therefore, it is important to include the topic of spirituality when discussing meaning. Linking Stress to Meaning Traditional stress management, as it currently stands, is somewhat inadequate in that it fails to adequately address the issue of meaning. This is seen as a significant oversight in that personal meaning seems to be a pervasive concept in people’s lives. Indeed, recent research suggests that existential concepts may act as a buffer against stress (Rennemark & Hagberg, 1999). Hence, it is suggested

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that an additional taxonomy of “existential coping” would be beneficial to a traditional stress management approach. Existential coping helps people look at the “big picture”. The cognitive approach, although an excellent step in the right direction in terms of describing stress, is not enough (Wong, 1993). There seems to be some people that are better prepared for stress than others (Wong 1993). These people seem to be more creative and rely on the additional coping strategies of keeping things in an existential and spiritual perspective.4 Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) The fact that we have a reaction to stress, either psychologically or physically is not necessarily a bad thing because the reaction is part of our body’s defense mechanism. However, the effectiveness of the body’s natural defense mechanism is greatly reduced if we are in poor emotional, physical or mental health. Keeping them is therefore essential.2 In the mid-1950's Dr. Albert Ellis became impatient with the slow progress of his patients and felt that change would come with a difference in the way they thought about themselves. He felt therapy would progress faster if they focused on their personal beliefs. He developed the psychological theory that evolved in the 1990's to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy or REBT for short. This theory is logical because it explains human behavior as a combination of effects from biological, psychological and social factors. It also suggests that human emotion and behavior are the result of what people believe about themselves, other people and society. This concept is where stress reduction comes into play. Wayne Froggat wrote in A Brief Introduction to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: "For a person to go beyond feeling better to actually get better, that is, to achieve fundamental and lasting change, involves

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modifying the underlying core beliefs that create difficulties for them in a range of situations." This process isn’t easy and this is not a quick fix promising an overnight cure. It takes self awareness and practice but this involves changing the way we perceive events around us and changing our thought processes and in effect, changing our reactions to stress. Looking for a permanent solution, it will work with practice.5

Eliminating Stress As we have seen, positive stress adds anticipation and excitement to life, and we all thrive under a certain amount of stress.

Deadlines,

competitions, confrontations, and even our frustrations and sorrows add depth and enrichment to our lives. Our goal is not to eliminate stress but to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us. Insufficient stress acts as a depressant and may leave us feeling bored or dejected; on the other hand, excessive stress may leave us feeling "tied up in knots".

What we

need to do is find the optimal level of stress which will individually motivate but not overwhelm each of us.

Optimal Stress There is no single level of stress that is optimal for all people. We are all individual creatures with unique requirements.

As such, what is

distressing to one may be a joy to another. And even when we agree that a particular event is distressing, we are likely to differ in our physiological and psychological responses to it. The person who loves to arbitrate disputes and move from job site to job site would be stressed in a job which was stable and routine, whereas the person who thrives under stable conditions would very likely be stressed

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in a job where highly varied duties. Also, our personal stress requirements and the amount which we can tolerate before we become distressed changes with our life-styles and our ages. It has been found that most illness is related to unrelieved stress. If we are experiencing stress symptoms, we have gone beyond our optimal stress level; we need to reduce the stress in our life and/or improve our ability to manage it.

Managing Stress Better Identifying unrelieved stress and being aware of its effect on our lives is not sufficient for reducing its harmful effects. Just as there are many sources of stress, there are many possibilities for its management. However, all require effort toward change:

changing the source of stress and/or

changing your reaction to it. How do we proceed?

1. Become aware of our stressors and your emotional and physical reactions •

Notice distress. Not to ignore it. Not to gloss over our problems.

•

Determine what events distress. What are we telling ourselves about the meaning of these events?

•

Determine how our body responds to the stress.

Do we become

nervous or physically upset? What specific ways?

2. Recognize what we can change •

Can we change our stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely?

•

Can we reduce their intensity (manage them over a period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis)?

•

Can we shorten our exposure to stress (take a break, leave the physical premises)?

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•

Can we devote the time and energy necessary to making a change (goal setting, time management techniques, and delayed gratification strategies may be helpful here)?

3. Reduce the intensity of our emotional reactions to stress •

The stress reaction is triggered by our perception of danger, whether from a physical or emotional threat. Are we viewing our stressors in exaggerated terms and viewing a difficult situation as a disaster?

•

Are we expecting to please everyone?

•

Are we overreacting and viewing things as absolutely critical and urgent? Do we feel we must always prevail in every situation?

•

Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something we can cope with rather than something that overpowers us.

•

Try to temper our excess emotions. Put the situation in perspective. Not labor on the negative aspects and the "what if".

4. Learn to notice and moderate our physical reactions to stress •

Slow, deep breathing will bring our heart rate and respiration back to normal.

•

Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension.

Electronic

biofeedback can help us gain voluntary control over such things as muscle tension, heart rate, and blood pressure. •

Medications, when prescribed by a physician, can help in the short term in moderating our physical reactions. However, they alone are not the answer. Learning to moderate these reactions on our own is a preferable long-term solution.

5. Build our physical reserves •

Exercise for cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week (moderate, prolonged rhythmic exercise is best, such as walking, swimming, cycling, or jogging).

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•

Eat well-balanced, nutritious meals.

•

Maintain our ideal weight.

•

Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine, and other stimulants.

•

Mix leisure with work. Take breaks and get away when we can.

•

Get enough sleep.

Be as consistent with our sleep schedule as

possible.

6. Maintain our emotional reserves •

Develop some mutually supportive friendships/relationships.

•

Pursue realistic goals which are meaningful to us, rather than goals others have for us that we do not share.

•

Expect some frustrations, failures, and sorrows.

•

Always be kind and gentle with ourselves - be a friend to ourself.6

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6. PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Working together to reduce stress at work

Work-related stress can be tackled by working with employer to identify issues at source and agreeing realistic and workable ways to tackle these.

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What should we if we’re becoming stressed?

Try to identify the causes and what we can do to make things better. Ideally, tell our manager at an early stage. If our stress is workrelated, this will give them the chance to help and prevent the situation getting worse, while even if it isn’t work-related, they may be able to do something to reduce some of our pressure. If the source of pressure is our line manager, find out what procedures are in place to deal with this. If there aren’t any, talk to our employee

representative,

HR

department

or

Employee

Assistance

Programme / counseling service (if we have one). Alternatively, talk to our trade union safety representative or union representative, who can also provide advice on a range of work-related topics. Many employees are reluctant to talk about stress at work, due to the stigma attached to it. They fear they will be seen as weak. But stress is not a weakness, and can happen to anyone. Remember: no employer should subject their employees to work-related stress, and this is an issue both we and employer should take seriously.

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What do the Management Standards mean to us? As a result of new Management Standards: •

Our manager will have access to advice to help improve their understanding of stress and take it seriously.

•

If we are experiencing work-related stress, we should be listened to and help should be available from our manager or employee representative.

•

In the past, the causes of stress were Standards: well known but little if anything was done to fix them. The new Standards mean managers will now have to work with us to find solutions, so your problems should reduce over time.

•

The processes involved with the Standards mean that employees and their representatives will be given an opportunity to give their views and to help create action plans to help reduce stress at work How can we support our employer?

As an employee, we too have a duty to take care of our health and safety at work. We should: •

Familiarize ourselves with risk factors and Management Standards so we can contribute more fully to discussions.

•

Speak up if we’re experiencing a problem, and talk to our manager to find a win-win solution. Remember, its part of their role to help

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us do this. •

Help our manager to help us. To put effective plans in place, your manager will need information from us, so take an active part in any discussions or stress risk assessments, and make sure we complete any questionnaires when we are asked to do so.

•

Volunteer to attend discussion groups, action planning meetings etc. They’re for our benefit, and our managers will need your help in deciding what will work and what will not.

•

Remember that consultation is a two-way process. Our managers must take our opinions into consideration when deciding what actions to take and must communicate the reasons for their decisions.

•

Read all communications. Make sure we understand the reasons for decisions and provide feedback if required.

•

Attend any stress management training courses arranged by our employer, which will help us understand stress and how to deal with it.

•

Recognize that we have a responsibility for our own personal stress and try to help ourselves where possible.

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What is HSE’s new management Standards and how do they work? Under UK law, employers have a “duty of care” to protect the health, safety and welfare of all employees while at work. They also have to assess the risks arising from hazards at work including work-related stress. To help employers understand hoe to do a risk assessment for work-related stress, HSE has identified six key areas (or “risk factors”) that can be causes of work-related stress. These are •

the demands of job

•

control over work

•

the support received from managers and colleagues

•

relationships at work

•

role in the company

•

change and how it’s managed Employer needs to gain a detailed understanding of what these

risk factors look like where one works, identify which areas work may be presenting problems, and work with employees and their representatives to take action to reduce these problems. To assist with this, HSE has produced its new Management Standards, including targets for organizations to aim towards. There is one standard for each risk factor. “Demands”, for example, covers issues like workload, work patterns and the work environment, and includes guidance on what should be happening in organizations if the Standard is being achieved. As well as helping managers to understand the causes of stress at work, the Standard process provides a means of assessing how workplace is performing, and gives ideas on how to make

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improvements. The target is for all organizations to match the performance of the top 20% of employers that are successfully minimizing work-related stress. This means employer will need to: •

Assess the risk and potential causes of stress within organization – for example by looking at sickness absence records or attitude surveys, or conducting specific stress-related surveys or focus groups.

•

Use these to assess how the organization is performing in relation to the six risk factors. This includes mangers talking to their teams to identify stress “hot spots”.

•

Decide on improvements targets and action plans, in consultation with staff of their representatives.

For further information, please visit: www.isma.org.uk , www.hse.gov.uk , www.acas.org.uk.

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7. IMPLICATIONS Including existential/spiritual coping in stress management is useful for people.

The concepts of perceived stress and personal meaning are

negatively related. The more one has a sense of personal meaning, the less perceived stress they will experience. A better understanding of the relationship between these two topics has the potential to be a great aid to counselors that deal in the management of stress. In terms of direct implications for counseling, this thesis suggests that dealing with meaning may be useful in the counseling situation when stress is a factor.

Judging from the responses of the participants,

understanding existential and spiritual issues is helpful in dealing with stress. This is helpful information for a counselor as it provides him or her with an additional approach to managing the stress of the counselee. Indeed, it allows the counselors to approach stress from a more holistic approach.1

Biblical Theology believes in bringing in a spiritual regeneration by surrender the kingdom of a person’s heart to God the Holy Ghost and exhorts to maintain perpetually reverence and sanctity to transform into the Kingdom of Heaven. When the heart becomes tranquil and diabolic by the abidance of the Omnipotent inevitably the person’s mind, soul and strength can be divinely consolidated infinitely so that nothing can penetrate to invent havoc and chaos. At the same time appropriate existential, physical fitness and professional concepts have to be adopted (absorbed) so that the person doesn’t become so heavenly that he/she becomes of no earthly use. Establishing proper and perfect integrity among all the above aspects is ‘Spirituality’ undoubtedly keeping active (not dead) and practical (not just theoretical) faith in the one, the only and the eternal God the Incarnation Jesus.

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REFERENCES

1. Andrew Mark Haag, “The Contribution of Existential Coping to stress Management”, Thesis-M.A (Counseling Psychology), January 2000, Trinity Western University. 2. Ruth McGuire, “Keep things in perspective: stress management”, Tomorrow’s Pharmacist. 3. “Working together to reduce stress at work – A guide for employees”, 2004, International Stress Management Association. 4. Christine A. Botchway, “Slaves to Stress”, January 2000, Vol. 66, No. 1, Journal of the Canadian Dental Association. 5. Cathy Gariety, “Ultimate stress Management”, 2005, Professional Life Coach. 6. “Stress Management”, www.adm.monash.edu.au 7. Dr. Ken Motto, “Stress Management”.