Slide 2:
Can you have too much stress? When stress is too high or lasts too long, some of the negative effects of stress may be felt. These include —
· Depression
· Ulcers
· Headaches
· Hypertension
· Anger/Irritability
· Weight Gain/Loss
· Fatigue
· Spill Over Into Family or Work
Granted, the effects of stress in your life may not be felt immediately. They tend to accumulate. However, over the years stress may reduce your immune system’s functioning which may lead to some of the effects listed above as well as physical illnesses.
Slide 5:
Instructions: Score yourself on this Life Change Test*. Check only those events which you have experienced in the past year. Add the points assigned to each life event. The more change you have, the more likely you will suffer a decline in health. Of those who scored over 300 "life change units", 80 percent have a chance of a serious health change. With 150-299 life change units, you have a 50 percent chance of getting sick in the near future. With less than 150 life change units, your chances drop to 30 percent.
*Adapted from DA PAM 350-18, May 1983 (Original Source: Holmes, T.H. & Rahe, R.H. (1967). "The social readjustment rating scale”. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, pp. 213-18.
Slide 7:
STRESS AND PROFILES
Slide 8:
Workplace Stressors
The sources of workplace stress are many. The chart below lists some of these sources (see Chart 3.2). Perhaps you can identify additional sources of workplace stress.
Chart 3.2 *
Slide 9:
The right combination of intensity and duration of stress leads to optimal performance. Runners improve their performance by the appropriate mix of road work and speed work (intensity) and short and long work-outs (duration). This dynamic of stress is called the “inverted-U”. This “inverted-U” relationship was demonstrated first by Dr. Robert Yerkes and Dr. John Dodson (as cited in Harig, P., Halle, J., Mosier, R., Reagan, J., & Richardson, M., 1995). There is an optimal point at which stress increases performance, with either too little or too much stress associated with decreased performance.