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Stress in the Workplace

Canadians are stressed! According to a study released by the Canadian Mental Health Association and Desjardins Financial Security, 83% of Canadians say they have gone to work while they were sick or exhausted and they've done on average six times within the last year.

The Conference Board of Canda shows that stressed workers are absent from work twice as often as those with little stress.

photo by Nina

The cost to the Canadian economy is in the billions - thirty billion to be exact. Participants in the study beleive that stress-related mental-health problems such as burnout, anxiety, and depression have increased over the years. Mental health claims, especially claims related to depression, are the fastest growing sector of work days lost due to diability.

According to the CMHA press release, "The silence surrounding mental health in the workplace is particularly alarming considering how prevalent the issue is at work. Approximately 43% of Canadians have had a colleague who has had a mental health issue and 34% have had a co-worker leave work for a period of time because of a mental health issue. Interestingly, 26% of those respondents noted that their colleague never came back to work."

This study was released as part of National Health Week (May 7 - 13).

Stress, Pregnancy, and Infertility

These links from Google News highlight some of the latest research on the impact of stress on women who are trying to get pregnant.

Stress could make women infertile
Cutting stress may increase chances of pregnancy

It's good to talk if you want to get pregnant, scientists say - how stress counselling can help women who are stressed and are having difficulty getting pregnant
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Can Help Some Women Become Fertile
Learning how to beat stress coul be the best fertility treatment
Counselling 'can boost fertility'

Stress and Burnout at Work

Are you experiencing stress and burnout at work? If so, you are not alone. According to the following article by United Press International,

"Most U.S. workers report feeling under great stress at work and a large majority complain of burnout.

A nationwide survey by CareerBuilder.com, released Wednesday, of more than 2,500 workers found 77 percent said they feel burnout and more than half said they work under a great deal of stress.

Workers most often blame colleagues for their office anxiety, with 16 percent citing difficult co-workers as their primary cause of stress at work.

Other top workplace stressors include unrealistic workload, tight deadlines, last-minute projects and difficult supervisors.

'High-pressure work environments are taking their toll on workers` morale,' said Rosemary Haefner, a CareerBuilder.com vice president.

'Twenty-three percent of workers say they frequently or constantly feel burnout at work. This can be detrimental to both workers, whose health and career progress may suffer, and employers, who pick up the tab in higher insurance costs and lost productivity.'"

Copyright 2006 by United Press International, CHICAGO, IL, United States (UPI)

Road Rage

If you are an angry, aggressive driver chances are you think you are a pretty good driver and the fault lies with other drivers. Aggressive driving includes honking the horn, flashing your headlights rolling down your window at yelling, obscene gestures, and swearing. The typical aggressive driver is young, male, extrovert, highly stressed, competitive, and impatient. Aggressive drivers will run more red lights, speed, and get into more accidents.

Some suggestions for managing anger while driving:

• Give yourself plenty of time to get where you need to go. We often get angry and stressed when we are running late and do not anticipate possible delays due to traffic, weather conditions, etc.
• Listen to music that you enjoy and that you know puts you in a good mood.
• Use deep breathing as a way to slow down your heart rate and keep your cool.
• Try being cooperative. Let other cars merge into your lane, use your signals, don't tailgate.

If you are struggling with managing your anger studies show that anger management counselling is effective is reducing the amount of road rage people experience. Anger isn't good for your health nor your driving!

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Anger is Bad for Your Heart

If you have difficulty managing your anger you are putting your cardiac health at risk according to a study researcher Dr. Edward Suarez.

Anger, hostility and depression appears to increase the levels of C-reactive protein which is implicated with narrowing of the arteries and heart disease. C-reactive protein is released in the boyd when, among other things, you are stressed. According to the  study published in Psychosomatic Medicine (Sept 2004) the findings point to the possibility that 50% of heart attacks are linked to how we manage our anger, hostility and depression. Other studies show that people who are chronically anger have a three times greater risk of having a heart attack.  (Circulation Vol. 101, No. 17).

 

Learning to manage anger:

People who find a way to manage their anger constructively have lower resting blood pressure than people whose coping skills are weak. (Karina Davidson, PhD, International Journal of Behavioral Medicine (Vol. 6, No. 3).

 

It seems that how long you stay angry is the biggest risk factor and learning how to manage your anger so that you shorten the length of time that you are angry is a good place to start in your step towards anger management.

 

Getting Over Anger: Teleclasses and individual counselling with Lucy MacDonald, M.Ed. Canadian Certified Counsellor lucy@lucymacdonald.com

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Mental Health Resources

A list of some mental health resources in Canada and the U.S.

Canadian Counselling Association www.ccacc.ca
Child and Youth Mental Health - British Columbia www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/mental_health/index.htm
About Bipolar.com  www.bipolar.about.com
Canadian Mental Health Association www.cmha.ca
Health Canada http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/index_e.html
Mental Health @ About.com www.mentalhealth.about.com
Center for Addiction and Mental Health http://www.camh.net/about_camh/
World Federation for Mental Health http://www.wfmh.com/
Mental Health Roundtable  www.mentalhealthroundtable.ca
Mental Health Recovery www.namiscc.org/MentalHealthRecovery.htm
National Mental Health Association (US) www.nmha.org
Canadian Mental Health Association - Ontario www.ontario.cmha.ca

Mood Disorders Society http://www.mooddisorderscanada.ca/links.htm

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How are you managing your anger?

How many of the statements apply to you?

People that I care about tell me I have a problem with anger.
I am not happy with how I am managing my anger.
I get angry very quickly.
I feel that my anger gets out of control more that I would like.
I have a difficult time forgiving people.
A small disagreement usually escalates into a shouting match.
I am easily irritated.
I feel stressed and pressure most of the time.
I usually retaliate when I feel I am being criticized.
People who are close to me are afraid of me when I am angry.
I avoid people and give them the “silent treatment” when I am angry with them.
I often think over and over about what was said long after the argument is over.

The more statements you check off the more likely you are struggling with a problem with anger.

The ability to manage anger is an emotional intelligence skill that anyone can learn if they are motivated to do so. Typically anger expression is a learned behavior that can be changed through awareness of the underlying causes and learning to be assertive instead of aggressive.

Getting Over Anger: Telephone Counselling with Lucy MacDonald, M.Ed.

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Dealing With Loneliness During the Holidays

For most of us, feeling down during the holidays is often the result of too much to do, not enough time, fatigue and financial stress. While some of us don’t have enough quiet, alone time, others have too much.  Some folks face a special challenge during the holidays – loneliness. Sometimes people are alone because a loved one has died; sometimes people are alone because of fractured relationships. Whatever the reason, feeling alone is an even heavier burden at this time of the year.

 

Negative self-talk. The first thing is to be aware of your self-talk. Self-talk is an ongoing series of inner messages about yourself, others and the world around you. What are you telling yourself about being alone and lonely during the holidays? Do you blame yourself?  Do you blame others?  Be aware that your negative self-talk is a self-fulfilling prophecy. One way to change your negative self-talk is to shift the focus away from yourself and onto others. Reach out to someone like yourself and invite them to join you for a meal or a cup of coffee. There are many people who would welcome the invitation to spend some time socializing. 

What can you do to combat loneliness this holiday season?

• Volunteer your time. Opportunities to volunteer are endless. They range from reading stories to children at your local school, driving seniors to doctor appointments, getting involved with Meals on Wheels, to preparing food baskets. Call your local volunteer bureau – the need for volunteers is especially great at this time of year.
• Re-connect with friends.This is the perfect time of year to re-connect with friends. Send them a card, an email, or give them a call. Offer to meet for a coffee or go to a movie.
• Do something.Get involved in a hobby that you can do in a group. Singing or painting or stain glass - find something that you’ve been meaning to do and give yourself the gift of time and enjoyment.
• Events in your community.Read your local newspaper for community events that would be of interest to you. Often your local library will invited speakers to discuss a wide range of topics. Get on the mailing list of your local book store so you will receive announcements of author readings. 
• Get moving. Join the gym, a running group, or take up a team sport like curling that will give you all kinds of opportunities to get together with likeminded people and make new friends.
• Use what you've got.If you are housebound you can still reach out to others, especially others who are housebound, by phone or by mail. Organize a small network of people and take turns checking in with each other.

You need not be alone during the holidays if you are willing to reach out to others in your community. Take a chance, get involved. Who knows – the holidays might not be so lonely after all.

 

All E-BOOKS $6.99: Men and Depression, Women and Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Stress in the Workplace, Your Child Can Succeed in School, Winning the Homework Wars, Raising Teenagers: How to Survive Your Child's Adolescence

 

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