Over 300 life units means a person has an 80% chance of developing a stress related illness.
Evaluation of the SRRS
Individual Difference: The SRRS assumes that each stressor affects people the same way. Not necessarily true e.g. divorce can be amicable or even a relief.
Most 43 life changes in the SRRS aren’t everyday events. Kanner et al (1981) has designed a Hassles Scale which are more common, e.g. losing things, traffic jams, arguments, disappointments, weight and physical appearance.
Mcleod, S. A. (2010). Simply Psychology; SRRS - Stress of Life Events. Retrieved 8 November 2011, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/SRRS.html
Interactional model of stress
Lazarus and Folkman (1984) propose a model that emphases the transactional nature of stress. Stress is a two way process; the environment produces stressors and the individual finds ways to deal with these.
Cognitive appraisal is a mental process by which people assessed two factors:
- Whether a demand threatens their well being
- Whether a person considers that they have the resources to meet the demand of the stressor
There are two types of appraisal:
- Primary
- Secondary.
Primary and secondary appraisal
Primary appraisal
During the primary appraisal stage a person will be seeking answers as to the meaning of the situation with regard to their well being. One of three types of appraisals could be made:
- It is good (positive)
- It is irrelevant (neutral)
- It is stressful (negative)
Secondary appraisal
Secondary appraisals occur at the same time as primary appraisals. A secondary appraisal can actually cause a primary appraisal. Secondary appraisals include feelings of not being able to deal with the problem such as:
- I can't do it-I know I'll fail
- I will try, but my chances are slim
- I can do it if I get help
- If this method fails, I can try a few others.
- I can do it if I work hard.
- No problem-I can do it.
Interactional model example
Imagine there was a snow blizzard.
Positive - You might consider the blizzard a blessing because this means that your college would be cancelled and you can go sledging.
Neutral - You might consider that the blizzard would not affect you, as you do not have to go to college as it’s your day off.
Negative - The situation could be stressful because you have to get to college and driving conditions would be hazardous.
http://www.uwic.ac.uk/shss/dom/newweb/stressintro/Interactional.htm
Primary stress intervention
Individual
Primary stress interventions reduce the risk factors or change the nature of the stressor.
Organizational
Primary stress interventions remove the hazard or reduce it’s exposure to the employee.
Personal time/ work-life balance as a primary stress intervention
Achieving a balance between home life and working life is not always the easiest thing in the world to do, but in order to achieve this goal several things should be prioritised and strategies should be put in place by the individual and the workplace.
If a proper work – life balance strategy is put in place by a company then they are bound to achieve great reward such as;
- A motivated and loyal workforce – Motivated employees help companies succeed, as these types of employees promote a positive atmosphere and a positive attitude in the workplace.
- Increased productivity
- Reduced turnover
- Improved staff relations - Building a strong staff relations program means that you create an environment which delivers what people want today. They want to feel good about who they are, what they do and where they work and producing that will make the happier and allow the company to achieve.
- Good PR
In order for the strategy to be successful, it should consider:
- Family friendly policies – Family friendly policies such as paternity leave, parental leave, flexi time, and child care provisions/ help with child care costs will all help in making it easier for employees with family to know they have suitable help with allowing their time to be flexible while knowing their job is safe.
- Employees with dependent relatives
- Employees balancing work with further education
- Employees at the end of their careers balancing work with leisure opportunities
Certain factors will influence the work-life balance such as;
- Increased number of women in employment
- Women returning to work sooner after childbirth – women are now feeling pressure to return to work sooner after giving birth, because of job security and financial pressures.
- Increase in one parent families
- Increased life expectancy
- Increased responsibility for elderly relatives
- Difficulty recruiting staff
- Employees wanting non- monetary benefits
In order for work-life balance to be achieved the individual also has to play their part by;
- Eliminating wasted office time
- Learn to delegate - The purpose of delegation isn't just to have someone else do something; it's to free you to focus on using your talents and skills most productively. The big advantage is that if you delegate enough of the right things, you can be incredibly more productive.
- Set boundaries
- Plan their personal time
Workplaces can help achieve the goal of a proper work-life balance by;
- Hiring balanced- minded employees – Hiring employees that take time to enjoy life and relax are more likely to be productive while working, instead of a employee who spends most of their life at work.
- Encouraging flexi time ( employees gain better balance when they have control over work arrangements)
- Help out with “chores” (childcare, elderly care etc)
- Organise social outings ( arrange fun events as a respite from typical work place arrangements)
Secondary stress intervention
Individual
Secondary stress interventions alter the way an individual responded to a stressor.
Organizational
Secondary stress interventions improve the organisation’s ability to recognise and respond to stress problems.
Stress Management strategies
Associate with people you enjoy and who support you.
Negative people will always bring you down. They pick away at you with all of the things you can't do and all of the things that are impossible. They barrage you with bad thoughts, the problems in their lives; remind you of the problems in your life and of all the terrible prospects for the future. On the other hand, when you are around people who are positive, enthusiastic and supportive you feel encouraged and inspired. You start to pick up their attitude, and you feel as if you have added strength to pursue your own goals. Develop friendships with people who are positive and supportive. So you spend more and more time in the company of people, who have these traits, you will then develop the same great characteristics and put them to use in your life.
Do a vigorous physical exercise that is convenient and which you like and get a friend to exercise with you.
Physical exercise is great with dealing with stress as it can decrease ‘stress hormones' like , and increase endorphins, giving your mood a natural boost. It’s a great way to distract yourself for the problems of everyday life and also helps with things such as self esteem through increasing your body image. Exercising with friends is also a great stress reliever as it gives you a double dose of stress-relief with the combined benefits of exercise and fun with friends.
Maintain reasonable diet and sleep habits.
Getting enough sleep helps keep your body and mind in top shape, making you better equipped to deal with any negative stressors. Stress can sometimes lead to unhealthy lifestyle patterns, which lead to more stress. Also when we’re under stress, we tend to make poor food choices. Unfortunately, these food choices can create more stress in the long run, as well as other problems. Sleep is an important resource that keeps you healthy, mentally sharp, and able to cope with stress more effectively.
Effective time management.
Good time management is essential if you are to handle a heavy workload without excessive stress. By using time management skills effectively, you can reduce work and home stress by being more in control of your time, and by being more productive. This ensures that you have time to relax outside of your busy work day.
The attitude to have to use time management is to concentrate on results, and not just on the activity itself.
In using this attitude it should force you to embrace a range of skills that help you to:
- Assess the value of your time, understand how effectively you are using it, and improve your time use habits
- Focus on your priorities so that you focus on the most important jobs to do, delegate tasks where possible, and drop unimportant jobs
- Manage and avoid distractions
- Create more time.
Time Management helps you to reduce long-term stress by giving you direction when you have too much work to do. It puts you in control of where you are going, and helps you to increase your productivity. By being efficient in your use of time, you should enjoy yourself more, and should find that you are able to find the time to relax outside work and enjoy life.
Find a time and place each day where you can have complete privacy.
Finding time to yourself throughout the day can be hard but is an integral part of dealing with stress, as throughout a regular day we deal with many people wether it is through work or dealing with family members. The benefits of having time to yourself are important as you get to slow your mind down and go through the things that are on your mind in a calm matter. Rejuvenating ones self is significant in helping you deal with others and stressors that might arise, as the time you have alone thinking about yourself will then help you with the caring, giving, serving, helping, and doing that takes up the rest of your time.
Avoid using sleeping pills, etc to control stress.
To control your stress always look for natural methods, stay away from sleeping pills and medications as they’re simply an unnatural stop-gap-means of superficially addressing a deeper issue. They'll eventually begin to make you become groggy, anyway, and even less able to function using your own natural biological rhythms. Many will cause you to become dependent on them. Effective methods for coping with and handling stress are things such as exercise, meditation, reading, warm bath, massage, hobbies, conversation etc
Tertiary stress intervention
Individual
Tertiary stress interventions help heal the traumatised individual.
Organizational
Tertiary stress interventions help employees cope with stress at work.
Counselling as a tertiary stress intervention
Intervention at the tertiary level typically involves provision of counselling services for employee problems in the work or personal domain. Such services are provided either by in-house counsellors or outside agencies, which provide counselling.
Workplace counselling is very important tool for many reasons such as;
- It can reduce levels of stress by more than 50%
- Raise the level of job commitment and satisfaction
- Reduce levels of substance abuse
- Return work related symptoms to the normal range for more than half of clients
- Its effective in relieving the symptoms of both anxiety and depression
- Helps people respond differently and quickly to stressful or anxiety creating situations
- Successful results can be achieved after as little as 3-8 sessions
Workplace counselling is also very highly regarded by employees as a majority who take place in it say they are “highly satisfied” with it and would recommended it to their colleagues. Its also very beneficial to company as not only does it improve performance in the workplace, it is also very cost effective when compared to employees taking paid days off for personal reasons.
Physiology of the stress response
The stress response is when people perceive that they are in threatening situations that they are unable to cope with, and then messages are carried along neurones from the cerebral cortex (where the thought processes occur) and the limbic system to the Hypothalamus. This has a number of discrete parts.
Autonomic Nervous System
The ANS is an automatic system that controls the heart, lungs, stomach, blood vessels and glands. Due to its action we do not need to make any conscious effort to regulate our breathing or heart beat. The ANS consists of two different systems: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.
1. Sympathetic Nervous System
The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for action (the fight or flight response) which is the initial thought of wether to defend yourself or to run instead. In a stressful situation, it quickly does the following:
- Increased secretion of adrenalin (for flight), noradrenalin (for fight) and cortisol. ( Excess production of adrenalin is dangerous as the body requires more cholesterol to synthesise adrenalin therefore cholesterol levels are raised and this is a factor for CHD)
- Increases strength of skeletal muscles
- Decreases blood clotting time
- Increases heart rate
- Increases sugar and fat levels
- Reduces intestinal movement
- Inhibits tears, digestive secretions.
- Relaxes the bladder
- Dilates pupils
- Increases perspiration
- Increases mental activity
- Constricts most blood vessels but dilates those in heart/leg/arm muscles
2. Parasympathetic Nervous System
The parasympathetic nervous system conserves energy levels and returns us to a state of homeostasis (balance) after the perceived threat is no longer imminent. It increases bodily secretions such as tears, gastric acids, mucus and saliva which help to defend the body and help digestion.
The functions and systems that we do not need are suppressed in order to divert energy to the vital systems involved in increasing power and speed.
