Workplace Stress

Workplace Stress and its Impact on Employees

Work occupies most of people 's lives . While employment has brought humanity exciting challenges , it has also become a major source of stress as it demands more time and energy from the individual (Long 1995 . According to The American Institute of Stress , 40 percent of workers reported that they find their job extremely stressful , while 25 percent stated that the major cause of stress in their lives is their job . Harris Interactive also conducted a survey concerning the attitudes of Americans in the workplace . Results

show that 35 percent of employees feel that their jobs are causing harm to their physical and emotional health while 42 percent reported that the pressure from their jobs are negatively affecting their personal relationships

When stressors are left alone and properly unmanaged , it could be detrimental to health . A study conducted by The American Medical Association emphasizes this point , stating that all illnesses are 90 percent stress-related (Boyd , 2000 . These results imply that workers not only experience job-related stress , but also suffer because of it Hence , there is a need to discuss the effects of stress on an employee 's health and job performance

This aims to describe the impact of stress on the health and job performance of employees . First , the concept of stress would be explained and the different kinds stress would be explored . The type of personality and its relation to stress would also be examined . Finally the different sources of stress and the impact of stress on an employee 's health and job performance would be determined

The Concept of Stress

Selye coined the term "stress " in 1936 , defining it as a non-specific physical response of an organism to any demand for change (Rosch , 1984 It is a dynamic condition that leads to a set of phenomena that result in a physiological , psychological or behavioral change (Boyd , 2000 Differences in perception imply that human stress responses vary due to differences in personality , physical strength , or general health (Frey 1999

It is a natural part of our everyday experiences . Thus , it is imperative to recognize that by definition , stress is not qualitative in nature , i .e , neither positive or negative in and of itself . A distinction between good stress from bad stress could be determined by observing the length of time by which an individual is subjected to any stressor . Regardless of the situation , the stressed individual is susceptible to negative consequences at some point in time if no appropriate action to manage stress was done (Boyd , 2000

Boyd (2000 ) used an Olympic athlete to illustrate good stress and bad stress . An Olympic athlete needs the chemical change in the body that produces adrenaline in to maximize his or her performance during competition . This is a form of good stress desired by the athlete while competing . However , subjecting body to a similar level of stress indefinitely could bring about catastrophic results (bad stress ) which can even lea d to death depending of...