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Over The Cliff
(I)
What can happen
if stress gets out of control
?
The long term
effects of stress do not begin all of a sudden. It gives sufficient
early warning for one to be able to take the necessary precautions.
Where you are under excessive levels of short-term stress, then you may
find that your performance goes to pieces. Afterwards, however, you will
be able treat this as a learning experience and can adopt stress
management strategies to avoid the problem in the future.
However the
effects of long term stress going out of control can be much more
severe. If you do not take action to control it, this can lead to:
-
Fatigue and
Exhaustion
-
Irritability and
Agitation
-
Depression
-
Burn Out
(Part II)
-
Breakdown
(Part II)
Part I explains what
happens during
And suggests
strategies in brief to avoid or cope with them.
Fatigue and
exhaustion
On getting up in the
morning one ought to feel as "fresh as a daisy". One should be able to
work hard without undue haste or agitation, calmly and methodically the
whole day long. In the evening one should feel tired but in a pleasant
way. This is normal natural fatigue, which can be banished by a good
night's sleep, and the same cycle should begin the next day.
But a person under
long term stress becomes incapable of relaxing, resulting in fatigue and
exhaustion. Under these circumstances the daily routine of ones work
becomes a constant effort, even disagreeable and stress starts taking
its toll.
Irritability and
Agitation
A weary person
rarely experiences the early morning freshness. On the contrary he knows
clearly that from morning to evening he will have to "put up with
himself ", and that he will have to endure fatigue inertia and lack of
willpower. He knows that he will have to make a great effort to keep a
smiling face, that one tension will be added to another etc. It is
therefore easy to understand that the tired person will have "had
enough". Of whom? Of himself, of other people, of everything. All this
will give rise to irritability often manifesting as agitation.
Remedial Measures
Steps to remedy this
can be as simple as going to bed earlier, or taking a good break.
When you feel that you are getting exhausted very easily during
your work hours you can try out some of the following suggestions:
-
Take a stroll when
you are stressed, it can help restore your perspective.
-
Take a five
minutes break from your work every hour or so.
Avoid the habit of
taking work home with you every night.
Next time you feel
you have too much work to do delegate at least one task.
Learn from those
who do not suffer from stress.
Avoid routinely
working late and at weekends.
Arrange to have
lunch with your partner or a close friend at least once a week.
Learn to talk
openly about your emotions and feelings with your close friends and
confidants.
Relieve pressure
by discussing work problems openly.
Spend an hour or
two alone each week away from work and family.
Learn to say 'no'.
You have the right to refuse other peoples excessive demand on your
time.
Do not ignore your
problems acknowledge them as they arise.
Alternatively
re-examine your life and check whether the things you are doing lead to
you meeting your personal goals. This may show you which jobs or
commitments you can drop. Implementing time management strategies may
also help you to work more effectively, giving you more time to relax.
Where the problem
is serious, go to see your doctor.
Handling Depression
Depression may often
be initiated by high levels of long term stress, by failure associated
with stress-related under-performance, or by life crises.
Deep depression
is a clinical illness should be treated medically. It is important that
if you are depressed that you take this seriously. Severe depressions
that can cause years of unhappiness and low performance can be
neutralised quickly with drugs, by the appropriate form of
psychotherapy, or by other forms of personal action. An important part
of intelligence is knowing when there is a problem, and when to ask for
help.
Depression may
start when:
-
you miss important
deadlines
-
projects fail
-
you are passed
over for promotion
-
you feel out of
control
-
you are very tired
-
you are feeling
inadequate while getting to grips with a new, difficult job
-
you are bored for
a long period of time
The following
points may help in handling depression before it gets serious:
-
An important way
of guarding against depression is getting your attitude right:
positive thinking really can help. As long as you can draw useful
lessons from failure, then failure can be positive.
-
Similarly, talking
about problems to a partner or to a respected colleague can often help
a lot. They may have been through a similar situation, seen the
problem before, or may be able to gently point out that you have the
wrong perspective on a situation.
-
Where you are
under stress caused by excessive demands, using effective time
management can improve things. Similarly taking an enjoyable break may
reduce stress.
-
Where you are not
under enough pressure, you can set personal challenges to increase
stimulus.
If you are
already suffering from a mild form of depression, then the following
suggestions may help you to deal with it:
-
Self-confidence: where lack
of self-confidence is a factor, there are a number of things you can
do:
-
Start to set
personal goals. This will help you to give yourself direction in
life, and will help you to acknowledge that you can achieve useful
and important things.
-
Write down a
list of your negative points. Challenge each item on the list
objectively, asking yourself 'is this fair?', or 'is this really
serious?'. You should find that many of your negative beliefs are
wrong or insignificant. Where you identify serious failings, set
measurable personal goals to eliminate or neutralise them.
-
Similarly, bring
your anxiety and negative self-talk up to the surface of your
consciousness. Ask yourself whether it is realistic to worry about
the things you worry about: if you have no control over them, then
worry does no good. When you look at them rationally, you may find
that worries are irrational or out of proportion.
-
Write down a
list of the things that you can do well, and of the positive parts
of your personality. Ignore 'virtues' like humility and modesty -
these are not good for your self- confidence or well-being. Be proud
of your good points - they can help you to contribute positively to
the world.
-
Positive thinking: almost
all apparently negative experiences have positive elements to them.
Learn to identify these positives: this will help you to draw the best
from every situation. Even failing at something can be an intense and
valuable learning experience.
-
Relationships: You may find
that the root of problems lies with:
-
Assertiveness:
if you are failing to assert yourself, you may find that other
people are not paying attention to your wants and needs. This can be
upsetting and humiliating. Learn to express your wishes firmly, but
only be confrontational if absolutely necessary. Assertiveness
training can be beneficial in learning to do this.
-
Social Skills:
if your relationships are difficult, then you may identify that
difficulties lie in the way in which you deal with other people. In
this case some form of Social Skills training may be beneficial.
Alternatively if you can identify where things are going wrong, you
may be able to set goals to overcome the problem.
-
Other people: it
is easy to assume (especially when you are depressed) that the fault
in relationship problems lies with you. This may or may not be the
case. Examine your relationships rationally: you may find that
people around you are causing problems - there are some extremely
rude, awkward, arrogant or confused people in the world. If people
are making your life worse, then you may be better off without them.
-
Standards: You may find that
you have set your standards unrealistically high. This will typically
occur where you believe that a certain standard of achievement is
necessary, but where you do not have either the financial or time
resources available to achieve those standards. In this case it may be
realistic to assess the standards that you can reasonably achieve
within the set constraints, and aim at these.
-
Fatigue and exhaustion: If
you are very tired, or have been under stress for a long period, you
may find that a good break helps you to put problems into perspective.
When
Depression interferes with the functioning of a person it ought to be
taken seriously. Note that Major Depressive Disorder is a clinical
condition, remediable by drugs and should be treated by qualified
psychiatrist. Delay might result in fatal occurrences. So do not
neglect.
Next Up: Over the Cliff (Part II)
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Over The Cliff
(II)
What can happen
if stress gets out of control
?
In Over The Cliff (Part
I ) we discussed:
-
Fatigue and
Exhaustion
-
Irritability and
Agitation
-
Depression
In Part II we shall
concentrate on:
This section
explains what happens during these, and suggests strategies in brief to
avoid or cope with them.
Burn-Out
What is it?
It is the gradual
process by which a person, in response to prolonged stress and physical,
mental and emotional strain, detaches from work and other meaningful
relationships. The result is lowered productivity, cynicism,
confusion...a feeling of being drained, having nothing more to give.
Thus Burn-Out is
said to occur when highly committed people lose interest and motivation.
Typically it will occur in hard working, hard driven people, who become
emotionally, psychologically or physically exhausted.
Have a look at
the following instances, if you seem to fit into any or most of the
following then beware you have been working too hard and maybe a future
burnout candidate.
- You forgot to
keep your date with Brooke Shields.
- Again you
couldn't say no to your boss when he handed 6 extra files for the week
end.
- Forgetting
your marriage anniversary was nothing new, but this time round the
block you forgot your own Birth Day and no body bothered to remind
(wish) you.
- Cant remember
the last vacation you went on.
- You and the PC
have become one.
- You think 'Bajpay'
is some new type of pie.
- You lose your
nights sleep worrying when you delegate work to your colleagues.
- Its become
impossible to last the day without 5 cups of coffee.
- You got lost
on the way home last night.
- You regularly
say hallo to the night watchman.
- Your
sweetheart cant remember when she last heard the three magic words
from you. I love U.
Did you identify
yourself, if not well and good, if yes time to slow down buddy.
Often burn-out will
manifest itself in a reduction in motivation, volume and quality of
performance, or in dissatisfaction with or departure from activity
altogether.
Burn-out doesn't
occur in a single day, it will normally occur slowly, over a long period
of time giving adequate warning and time to take evasive action. It may
express itself physically or mentally.
Symptoms of burn-out
are shown below:
-
A growing tendency
to think negatively
-
An incorrect
belief that you are accomplishing less
-
A feeling of lack
of control over commitments
-
Loss of a sense of
purpose and energy
-
Increasing
detachment from relationships. This may cause further conflict and
stress, adding to the problem.
-
Emotional
Exhaustion
This occurs when
you methodically do what you are supposed to but withdraw emotionally
from what you are doing. In the health care industry this could be
characterized by a nurse who follows correct medical procedures and is
cordial with the patients, but no longer cares about them personally. If
you begin to see others as objects rather than human beings, beware, you
may be on the burnout path.
Avoiding Burn-Out
If you working very
hard, then you should take great care not to burn-out. Those in helping
professions or positions that have significant inter personal contact
are more susceptible e.g. customer service departments, health care etc.
You can avoid
mental burn-out by ensuring that what you do remains fun: there is a
limit to your mental energy that you should respect. One of the first
thing that you should do is decrease the pressure on your self by
slowing down your sense of time. Try out the following:
- Do not work in
front of the clock: When you have a clock staring at you or over you
shoulder, your perception of time is that it goes by quickly. Hide the
clock and work at your own pace. You will accomplish more in less time
than if you monitor yourself. Of course, you still have to keep loose
track of the time, cause have it form the horses mouth your wife wont
like it if she has to wait for an hour with the entire weeks grocery
at the shopping arcade.
- Do not set
unrealistic time frames: When you foresee a particular assignment to
be an hour long it might take up two. Examine the contingencies and
allow enough time. After estimating the time it will take to do
something, multiply that by 1.5 and you will have a more realistic
time frame.
- Avoid working
under deadline pressure: Any time you face a deadline, time will seem
to run faster. In some cases you can't do anything about them. Try to
arrange time so that you don't face them as often and you will gain a
greater sense of control over your time.
- Get the
required equipment: Do not grudge invest in equipment which will help
you attain your goals quickly and easily. Get a Pentium III if your
486 drives you crazy while launching your word processor. Very soon
you will discover that the money that you spent has got you greater
returns as higher productivity lower stress levels and peace of mind.
Make these investments intelligently and don't add to your stress by
indulging in champagne taste in beer budget.
As you get better
at what you do, people may want increasing amounts of your time, and
will rely on you more and more. It is easy for commitments to get
bigger: people tend to be quite happy to consume other peoples mental
resources without worrying about the consequences. You must learn to say
'No' to commitments that you do not want to take on - otherwise you will
be in severe danger of burning out. The next time your boss dumps some
more responsibilities try one of the following:
- "Do you think
that with my current commitments I can do this new project justice."
- "I appreciate
your confidence in me, but my other responsibilities would prevent me
from doing an excellent job."
- "I'd be happy
to handle this assignment for you, but realistically I cant do it
without neglecting the file that you handed me yesterday. Of tasks y
and z which would you like me to do? Which can I put aside."
- "Of course I
can do this for you but currently I have x, y and z lined up in queue.
Will it be okay if I get back to you sometime next week or will that
be too long a wait for a file as important as this."
What ever you say
or do, do it with great tact and professionalism. All the while stay as
flexible as possible and be humble and true in your statements. Your
boss will appreciate it and your relation will improve resulting in a
lower stressed work enviornment.
If you are in
Danger of Burning Out...
If you feel that you
are in danger of burning out, or are not enjoying what you do, the
following points can help you correct the situation:
-
Re-evaluate your
goals and prioritise them
-
Evaluate the
demands placed on you and see how they fit in with your goals
-
Identify your
ability to comfortably meet these demands.
-
If you are
over-involved, reduce the commitments that are excessive
-
If people demand
too much emotional energy, become more unapproachable and less
sympathetic. Involve other people in a supportive role. You owe it to
yourself to avoid being bled dry emotionally.
-
Learn stress
management skills
-
Examine other
areas in your life that are generating stress, such as work or family,
and try to solve problems and reduce the stress
-
Get the support of
your friends and family in reducing stress
-
Ensure that you
are following a healthy lifestyle:
-
Get adequate
sleep and rest to maintain your energy levels
-
Ensure that you
are eating a healthy, balanced diet - bad diet can make you ill or
feel bad.
-
Get adequate
regular aerobic exercise
-
Limit your
caffeine and alcohol intake
-
Perhaps develop
alternative activities such as a relaxing hobby to take your mind off
problems
-
Acknowledge your
own humanity: remember that you have a right to pleasure and a right
to relaxation
Late Stages of
Burn-Out
If you are in late
stages of burn-out, feeling deeply demotivated and disenchanted with
your job or life, get help from a good psychologist.
If You Have
Burned Out...
If you are so
demotivated that for a time you do not want to continue with what you
do, then take some time off. Alternatively try to switch to another area
of activity within your organization. If you come back later, you may
find that you start to enjoy work again, and can take on only those
commitments that you want.
You may, however,
find that you have absolutely no interest in continuing with what you
are doing. In this case it may be best to drop it altogether. If you are
the sort of person who has burned out, i.e. highly motivated and hard
driving, then a complete change of direction may be appropriate. It is
very likely that you will find another area in which you will excel. You
will discover that you are only demotivated and listless in the area in
which you have burned out.
The difference is
that you will have already burned out once: next time you now know the
signs to look for and the things to watch. Providing that you learn
these lessons you will be able to pace yourself, and control your energy
much more effectively. This will help you to control stress so that you
operate at stress levels where you can give your optimum performance.
Breakdown
Where an individual
has been under sustained stress for a long period of time, has suffered
serious life crises, or has reached a stage of exhaustion and
demoralisation, then breakdown may occur.
This may show
itself physically as a heart attack, angina or a stroke, or may show as
'nervous' or 'mental' breakdown, where the sufferer becomes mentally
ill. In the latter case symptoms may not be seen by the individual, but
may be obvious to partners, friends and colleagues.
'Breakdown'
sounds sudden and dramatic - in the case of physical breakdown it may
be. Mental breakdown, however, may be slow in onset, and may be mild or
severe. The boundary between prolonged unhappiness or exhaustion and
breakdown is blurred - one definition of breakdown may be that the
sufferer finally carries out some act that makes it impossible to
continue functioning normally in society.
Symptoms of
nervous breakdown may be:
-
uncharacteristic,
uncontrollable, irrational behaviour
-
intense and
excessive anxiety
-
severe depression
-
obsessive activity
- persistent performance of an irrational activity, or of a normal
activity to an irrational degree
-
manic depression -
depression interspersed with periods of euphoria
-
destructive and
self-destructive behaviour:
-
sobbing
-
screaming
-
shouting
-
violence
-
self-mutilation
-
suicide
-
doing stupid
things:
-
giving up a good
job
-
breaking up good
relationships
-
shoplifting
-
becoming
dependent on drugs
-
schizophrenia
Where breakdown
appears to be underway, seek professional help immediately.
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