Work-related Stress: Treatment And Keys To Improve

 of your identity. But others view their occupation as an unpleasant set of obligations. Tasks that qualify as irrelevant, monotonous, and demanding, making them victims of job stress.

What is work stress?

Stress related to the work environment can be defined as the set of emotional, cognitive, physiological and behavioral reactions related to certain adverse aspects of the organization, content or work environment. This state is characterized by high levels of excitement and anxiety, with a frequent feeling of not being able to cope with the situation.

A factor that is becoming more and more important every day is the imbalance between expectations about what work should be and the realities in the world of work. There is sometimes a great gulf between beliefs or the ideal represented and reality. Thus, the more unattainable or less realistic the aspirations, the higher the chances of feeling disappointed and being vulnerable to the harmful effects of stress.

Frequent symptoms of stress

These are the most frequent symptoms, signs that indicate that a person may be suffering from work stress :

• udoration, muscle tension, breathing difficulties, palpitations, stomach upset, dizziness, nausea, dry mouth, etc.
• reoccupation, fear, difficulties thinking, concentrating or making decisions, negative thoughts, fear, insecurity, etc.
• Motor symptoms : avoidance of dreaded situations, nail biting, motor restlessness, going from one place to another without a specific purpose, etc.

Treatment of work stress

The treatment of work stress is established, above all, based on the symptoms and discomforts that the person presents, as well as their intensity. Therefore, it will be adapted individually, favoring its evolution if the start of treatment is early. Although there are also group and organizational level treatments.

Normally, the interventions used are characterized by being of a cognitive-behavioral type such as coping with stress, cognitive restructuring, rational emotional therapy and behavioral rehearsal. From the cognitive perspective, work with erroneous cognitions, unrealistic expectations and false hopes will be emphasized.

Within the techniques and programs aimed at work stress, we can also highlight control or problem-centered coping strategies, problem-solving training, assertiveness training, and time management training.

Thus, at the individual level, they will try to improve protection or resistance resources to optimize coping with the typical stressors of the work environment and enhance the perception of control, self-esteem and the level of personal self-efficacy.

Keys to reducing stress level

Here are some guidelines to reduce high stress levels in the workplace :

• Plan rewarding activities outside of work. Disconnect when leaving work, both internally and externally, and spend some time doing something that relaxes us and allows us to disconnect.
• Do not leave everything to the last minute. Learn to manage time and flexibly plan our activity.
• Take care of the environment where you work (cleanliness, order, brightness, etc.).
• assertively.
• Learn to reduce tension through techniques such as meditation , relaxation, or yoga.
• Avoid catastrophic thoughts and disqualification for mistakes made . Errors are an inevitable part of performing a task at times, and can be a source of learning and improvement.

• build time to sleep and rest and maintain an adequate diet. We can also incorporate physical exercise into our daily routine, on a regular basis and adapted to our abilities, since it improves the mood in general, increasing self-esteem and reducing the level of stress.