by: Conrad Hays
One of the problems with distress is that its negative effects can start to take hold before people start to recognize that this is happening. It may take a crisis in an individual’s life to trigger the realization that something is going wrong, such as an extremely negative performance appraisal, being avoided by colleagues at work, extreme weight gain, alcohol or drug abuse, being shunned by friends, the collapse of a relationship or children having behavioural problems. Warning signs that may indicate the existence of significant levels of distress include the following:...
• losing your sense of humour or joie de vivre, • losing concentration or experiencing memory losses, • having more difficulties solving problems or making decisions at work, • feeling that you always have too much work to do or failing to meet work deadlines, • increasing level of complaints from customers or clients that you deal with, • becoming more irritable or aggressive with the people you work with, • wondering why you bother doing your current job, • constantly taking work home, • feeling that you are losing control over your life, • becoming aware that friends seem to be avoiding you, • increasing tension or arguments with your partner, spouse or children, • abusing alcohol, smoking or using recreational drugs, • regularly chewing or biting your fingernails, • waking up tired and/or suffering from insomnia, • using sleeping tablets on a regular basis, • not caring about your appearance, • binge eating or putting on weight, • loss of libido and sexual drive,
People experiencing more than a third of these symptoms may be starting to suffer from the effects of occupational distress and should consider developing strategies to deal with these. If they ignore them, the situation may worsen. Research has shown that, once ‘activated’, the human stress response goes through three distinct phases.
An alarm phase
The sympathetic nervous system gives the body an ‘all stations’ alarm. This is an emergency response and can only endure for a few hours at most. The heart will start to beat faster to pump blood to supply more energy, particularly to the muscles. This also forces the body to pump stress hormones, such as adrenaline, cholesterol and cortisol, into the bloodstream creating a burst of energy and arousal.
A resistance phase
This is where the body tries to adjust itself to the stress. At this stage, a lot of energy is burnt up just coping with the attempt to function normally. Managers may become aware of feelings of tiredness, a lowered sense of well-being and experience more difficulties with decision making.
An exhaustion phase
If fight–flight responses occur frequently, over a period of time the body’s defence mechanisms will start to weaken. At this point, an individual may develop physical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches and insomnia, and psychological symptoms such as impatience and aggression. Over extended periods, they may then develop medical problems, such as a weakened immune system, high blood pressure and psychological changes such as depression. High levels of distress have the potential to affect all three major sub-systems of an individual’s physiology: the central and peripheral nervous systems, the endocrine system (which deals with hormonal balances in the body) and the immune system, the body’s defence against external infections. High and sustained levels of stress levels also cause cortisol to be pumped into the bloodstream. Over time, this steadily weakens the human immune system, and reduces the body’s ability to fight off the production of cancer cells (Sternberg, 2000).
Sustained distress and exhaustion phases can then lead to the following:
• Reduced higher-order brain functioning, leading to lower cognitive and creative functioning abilities. The fight–flight response effectively shuts down an individual’s higher-order and creative faculties until the threat has passed. • Greater intolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty, leading to an inability to cope with ‘fuzzy’ situations. • Reduced ability to deal with complex problems, slower decisionmaking capabilities and an increased chance of making mistakes at work. • Greater anger, impatience and hostility towards others. • A reduced ability to manage time, leading to the classic ‘headlesschicken’ mode of polyphasia (trying to do too many things at once). This means that tasks may not be completed on time, and the emergence of a self-perpetuating vicious circle with an increasing number of tasks to complete in less and less time. • Insomnia, and even more stress as a result of feeling perpetually tired, but not being able to sleep well and recover at night.
In summary, distress can have a number of negative effects. These range from minor problems, such as fatigue, insomnia and irritability, to full-blown depression. Some consequences, such as poorer concentration, forgetfulness, mental blocks and lowered attention span, may also be cognitive. Other effects of stress can include greater risk of accidents, alcohol and drug abuse and explosive temper losses. Increased occupational stress may also have an impact on marital relationships. In some cases, sustained exposure to high levels of distress can lead to complete psychological burnout. In a few extreme cases, severe distress can eventually kill people (Lazarus, 1999; Levi et al., 1998; Levi, 1984; Toates, 1995; Asterita, 1985; Staw et al., 1981; Selye, 1974).
One of the problems with distress is that its negative effects can start to take hold before people start to recognize that this is happening. It may take a crisis in an individual’s life to trigger the realization that something is going wrong, such as an extremely negative performance appraisal, being avoided by colleagues at work, extreme weight gain, alcohol or drug abuse, being shunned by friends, the collapse of a relationship or children having behavioural problems. Warning signs that may indicate the existence of significant levels of distress include the following:...
• losing your sense of humour or joie de vivre, • losing concentration or experiencing memory losses, • having more difficulties solving problems or making decisions at work, • feeling that you always have too much work to do or failing to meet work deadlines, • increasing level of complaints from customers or clients that you deal with, • becoming more irritable or aggressive with the people you work with, • wondering why you bother doing your current job, • constantly taking work home, • feeling that you are losing control over your life, • becoming aware that friends seem to be avoiding you, • increasing tension or arguments with your partner, spouse or children, • abusing alcohol, smoking or using recreational drugs, • regularly chewing or biting your fingernails, • waking up tired and/or suffering from insomnia, • using sleeping tablets on a regular basis, • not caring about your appearance, • binge eating or putting on weight, • loss of libido and sexual drive,
People experiencing more than a third of these symptoms may be starting to suffer from the effects of occupational distress and should consider developing strategies to deal with these. If they ignore them, the situation may worsen. Research has shown that, once ‘activated’, the human stress response goes through three distinct phases.
An alarm phase
The sympathetic nervous system gives the body an ‘all stations’ alarm. This is an emergency response and can only endure for a few hours at most. The heart will start to beat faster to pump blood to supply more energy, particularly to the muscles. This also forces the body to pump stress hormones, such as adrenaline, cholesterol and cortisol, into the bloodstream creating a burst of energy and arousal.
A resistance phase
This is where the body tries to adjust itself to the stress. At this stage, a lot of energy is burnt up just coping with the attempt to function normally. Managers may become aware of feelings of tiredness, a lowered sense of well-being and experience more difficulties with decision making.
An exhaustion phase
If fight–flight responses occur frequently, over a period of time the body’s defence mechanisms will start to weaken. At this point, an individual may develop physical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches and insomnia, and psychological symptoms such as impatience and aggression. Over extended periods, they may then develop medical problems, such as a weakened immune system, high blood pressure and psychological changes such as depression. High levels of distress have the potential to affect all three major sub-systems of an individual’s physiology: the central and peripheral nervous systems, the endocrine system (which deals with hormonal balances in the body) and the immune system, the body’s defence against external infections. High and sustained levels of stress levels also cause cortisol to be pumped into the bloodstream. Over time, this steadily weakens the human immune system, and reduces the body’s ability to fight off the production of cancer cells (Sternberg, 2000).
Sustained distress and exhaustion phases can then lead to the following:
• Reduced higher-order brain functioning, leading to lower cognitive and creative functioning abilities. The fight–flight response effectively shuts down an individual’s higher-order and creative faculties until the threat has passed. • Greater intolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty, leading to an inability to cope with ‘fuzzy’ situations. • Reduced ability to deal with complex problems, slower decisionmaking capabilities and an increased chance of making mistakes at work. • Greater anger, impatience and hostility towards others. • A reduced ability to manage time, leading to the classic ‘headlesschicken’ mode of polyphasia (trying to do too many things at once). This means that tasks may not be completed on time, and the emergence of a self-perpetuating vicious circle with an increasing number of tasks to complete in less and less time. • Insomnia, and even more stress as a result of feeling perpetually tired, but not being able to sleep well and recover at night.
In summary, distress can have a number of negative effects. These range from minor problems, such as fatigue, insomnia and irritability, to full-blown depression. Some consequences, such as poorer concentration, forgetfulness, mental blocks and lowered attention span, may also be cognitive. Other effects of stress can include greater risk of accidents, alcohol and drug abuse and explosive temper losses. Increased occupational stress may also have an impact on marital relationships. In some cases, sustained exposure to high levels of distress can lead to complete psychological burnout. In a few extreme cases, severe distress can eventually kill people (Lazarus, 1999; Levi et al., 1998; Levi, 1984; Toates, 1995; Asterita, 1985; Staw et al., 1981; Selye, 1974).