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- Seek out someone in the Human Resources department or a sympathetic manager and communicate concerns about job stress. Work with them in a non-confrontational way to improve working conditions, letting them know that productivity can be improved by reducing the pressure on employees.
- Establish or reinforce a network of friends at work and at home.
- Restructure priorities and eliminate unnecessary tasks.
- Learn to focus on positive outcomes.
- If the job is unendurable, plan and execute a career change. Send out resumes or work on getting a transfer within the company.
- If this isn't possible, be sure to schedule pleasant activities and physical exercise every day during free time.
Caregiving
Caregivers of Family Members. Studies show that caregivers of physically or mentally disabled family members are at risk for chronic stress. Spouses who care for a disabled partner are particularly vulnerable to a range of stress-related health threats, including influenza, depression, and heart disease. Caring for a spouse who has even minor disabilities can lead to severe stress.
Specific risk factors that put caregivers at higher risk for severe stress, or stress-related illnesses, include:
- Wives: Some studies suggest that wives experience significantly greater stress from caregiving than husbands.
- Having a low income.
- Being African-American: African-Americans tend to be in poorer physical health, and have lower incomes, than Caucasians. They therefore face greater stress as caregivers to their spouses than their white counterparts.
- Living alone with the patient.
- Helping a highly dependent patient.
- Having a difficult relationship with the patient.
Intervention programs that are aimed at helping the caregiver can reduce stress, and help the caregiver maintain a positive attitude. Moderate-intensity exercise can also be very helpful in reducing stress and improving sleep in caregivers.
Health Professional Caregivers. Caregiving among health professionals is also a high risk factor for stress. One study, for example, found that registered nurses with low job control, high job demands, and low work-related social support experienced very dramatic health declines, both physically and emotionally.
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Review Date: 10/14/2010
Reviewed By: Reviewed by: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor
of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts
General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical
Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
