Introduction
The topic of occupational stress is important as it helps us coexist with other employees. Also by understanding its causes and effects we can become more productive both in the workplace and at home. This is because stress resulting from poor or unfavorable working conditions is often unknowingly projected by individuals to their families. Severe cases of stress may also trigger coronary heart disease and consequently the individual's family and private life suffer greatly. It is, therefore, important to study the subject of occupational stress to create more awareness in employees.
Occupational stress refers to the physical, emotional or mental strain which is the psychological response of the body to work-related demands or threats (Byrne & Rosenman, 1990, p. 223). Stressors are a set of conditions or events leading to stress and include unfavorable working environments, increased workloads with high demands, toxic environments, under-staffing, isolation, lack of job security, harassment and hiring freezes among others. These conditions eventually lead to low individual or organizational productivity (Spielberger et al., 1990, p. 253). Common signs and symptoms of occupational stress include behavioral changes (such as absenteeism, reduced work performance, irritability, anxiety or poor morale) or physical (headaches, fatigue, high blood pressure or stroke). Extreme levels of stress can lead to suicidal tendencies or violence. However, signs and symptoms of stress may vary between individuals depending on the stressors involved and nature of the person (Arnetz & Ekman, 2006, p. 97).
Coronary Heart Disease, also know as Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, refers to the narrowing of lumen in arteries as a result of building up of plaque along the inner walls of arteries in the heart. This consequently reduces the flow of blood to the heart. Coronary heart disease is responsible for most heart attacks in the world. Most individuals do not show signs of the disease as the disease is often noted in its later, more advanced stages. Heart attacks most often occur when the disease is uncontrolled. Some common symptoms of Coronary Heart Disease include decreased exercise tolerance and chest pains. The risk of narrowing of the arteries increases with high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, age and diabetes. In this context, we will focus on the risk factors of the disease that are prevalent with occupational stress. By so doing we will establish a link between the two to realize the effects on society, behavioral characteristics of people with occupational stress and control measures.
Karasek's demand-control model
Karasek's demand-control model has played a significant role on occupational health literature and job design since it is both clear and practical. It shows how job demand and individual control are related to workplace stress. The result is the creation of four job types; low strain (I) and high strain (P), and passive (A) and active (E). Psychological stressors are represented by job demands in the workplace and include a variety of factors such as time pressures, amount of work, the amount of concentration required, interruption rate and conflicting demands among others (Arnetz & Ekman, 2006, p. 98).
Decision latitude refers to the control an individual has over tasks. This involves both discretion (personal freedom), decision and skill of the individual. High strain job individuals (P) do not mind challenge as they are intrigued by gaining new experiences and in so doing may refuse good opportunities with the aim of seeking more excitement. They enjoy levels of stress that other people cannot endure. Passive (A) job individuals will gain satisfaction when a job results from successfully forestalling interruptions (Perrewe & Ganster, 2010, p. 238). Active jobs individuals tend to be more protected in their work environment and have no immediate stressors (E). They are the only individuals who do well in active situations among the PAEI styles. Low strain jobs individuals(I) have so much control over their situations and would rather indulge in the management of tasks than indulge in stressful situations. However, Karasek noted that significant intraction between job control and demand is not a necessity in supporting the model (Perrewe & Ganster, 2010, p. 239).
Discussion
Work is an essential aspect of human life as it enables one to satisfy their basic needs as well as providing satisfaction where one share and celebrate accomplishments with others. However, when one fails to gain the satisfaction or is denied the opportunity to demonstrate and utilize their ability or made to feel like they do not belong they can become stressed. Prolonged or repeated bouts of stress can cause strain to blood vessels during the fight or flight response. Acute stress results to reduced blood flow to the heart, making the heart beat irregularly. At this point, chances of a blood clot are high and when blood clots in the vessels it results to poor blood circulation. Heart attacks and sudden death are the most common results of this and mainly happen to people with acute stress.
The traditional assumption of stress management in the workplace has, for a long time, been to blame the victim for being unable to handle their problems or for their inability to adapt to a stressful environment. It is, therefore, necessary to impart training to be able to recognize signs of stress. Sources of occupational stress take many forms including eyestrain from prolonged staring at a computer and anxiety resulting from an unpredictable outcome in the workplace such as a disciplinary outcome among others. In relation to Coronary Heart Disease, occupational stress can be attributed to various personal characteristics such as hostility, age, aggressiveness, too much preoccupation with work, excess anger. According to various research findings, these are the most prevalent signs of occupational stress.
Occupational stress also accounts for various other types of health issues such as hypertension, psychological disorders and neurological disorders. Most practitioners in demanding professions such as teaching, law and medicine have been diagnosed with the disease. This is because these professions, among others, require extremely high levels of concentration. Teachers often experience very high levels of stress as they experience high workloads, standing for long periods of time and intensive verbal communication. Teachers also have to endure student disturbances and strict superiors or management. Female teachers are the most commonly affected by these stressors as they shoulder other responsibilities at homes and societies and, therefore, exhibit high levels of blood pressure. However, the number of cases of the disease vary between professions. Research has shown that many intensive psychological factors at the workplace account for the development of coronary heart diseases and other metabolism complications.
Self-employed individuals have been reported to be twice as likely to develop coronary heart diseases than employed people. This is because they tend to face a wide variety of stressors and this causes stress to rapidly build up. It is, however, not clear enough why coronary heart diseases are influenced by work demand. Age also plays a significant role in coronary heart disease development in a stressful work environment. Older people, especially those in the 40-60 age brackets tend to have a reduced tolerance to stressors. Age also comes with added health related issues, social and personal responsibilities such as school fees, mortgages and payment of bills. These demands tend to cause an overload on individuals and combined with stressful work environments they can have devastating effects on the health of an individual. Forced retirement and retrenchment with many demands may lead to insecurity in an individual's life can trigger stress. Most old people also do not exercise effectivelydue to their decreased tolerance when excercising. As a result, when they are faced with extreme situations they may experience heart attacks or stroke.
The sympathetic nervous system, when triggered by a situation that causes pressure or the fight or flight response, activates a variety of hormone secretions. The hypothalamus then triggers the pituitary gland to produce adrenaline-secreting hormones. Adrenaline provides extra energy to the body and raises the heart beat as well as the blood pressure in the veins. Acute stress and exhaustion is common in individuals in stressful professions and it can trigger the above processes. These processes and hormonal change if not controlled, can lead to a nervous breakdown or heart attack.
Occupational stress might also be brought about by workplace conflict. Conflict has been noted as the most common stressor in many workplaces. Such conflicts may arise due to differences in inter-personal opinions about tasks between workers at the same or different levels (also known as personality clash). Other conflicts may be a result of office romance and relationships. Factors that may influence conflict in a workplace are long working hours, an organization's hierarchical structure and difficuties in adjustment to a new working place. If the extent of emotional or psychological damage caused in the workplace is intense it may lead to stress. Conflicts between a supervisor and a subordinate may serve as a stressor especially to the subordinate as he/she will have little or no chance of being heard and this may result to quitting. When not appropriately approached or tackled at an early stage, these conflicts can develop into major disagreements and would require greater resolution efforts. Miscommunication results to delays or missed deadlines, confusion, reduced creative collaboration or cooperation problems can cause conflicts. Depending on how the situation is resolved, the affected parties might become stressed if they think that they were unfairly treated. Many individuals in such situations have lack of control over situations over the workplace and are faced with very demanding duties and responsibilities at the same time which tend to control them. These factors have been negatively linked to coronary heart disease.
Coronary heart disease can also be predicted by low intellectual discretion or personal freedom and high work demands. High job demands with no aspect of control can also lead to the progression of a heart disease. Although many researchers believe that social support variables and personality traits are significant in the prediction of the heart disease, there is the exemption of little evidence to support this notion (Byrne & Rosenman, 1990, p. 227).
Sexual harrassment is also a common stressor among many employees. Many women, especially those working in a male dominated environment, tend to be more affected. In most cases, sexual harrassment involves a subordinate and a supervisor where there supervisor takes advantage of their superior position to solicit sex from other workers in low-level positions. These workers are often threatened with losing their jobs and the only choices they may face is either complying or quitting. Such situations often lead to stress and victims may require professional psychological help. Low income especially in a mixed environment where there are considerable differences of income levels may lead to stress. This is because a person earning a low income possibly due to his low level of educational will tend to isolate himself or see himself as inferior. This may lead to low levels of productivity in the workplace. If the individual is not counselled early he may develop stress. These stressors all point to lack of control and can lead to the coronary heart disease.
The introduction of new technologies in many workplaces has resulted to the narrowing and fragmentation of tasks. This has in turn left many workers unsatisfied and disconnected from the final work products as they utilize limited levels of their skills. Most of these workers live in constant fear that someday they will no longer be needed as their jobs will be automated at some point leading to insecurity. In combination with their required daily job performance these workers become stressed. The increased automated processes have also resulted to reduced physical activities. Physical activity is essential as it tends to exercise the muscles. Inactivity increases the stress levels and can, consequently, cause coronary heart disease.
Counter measures of occupational stress.
Conclusion
Occupational stress is a crucial subject in society as it poses a major threat to both individual and organizational development as it can be undeniably linked to coronary heart disease. This link is consistent with popular heart disease beliefs and has been supported by a variety of research projects and case studies. There also exists strong statistical evidence to support the relationship between coronary heart disease and occupational stress. It is, therefore, important for organizations and agencies to adopt and implement strategies to improve working conditions as well as create awareness as many people cannot identify stress in the workplace. By using Karasek's demand-control model, firms and organizations can come up with meaningful strategies of managing stress situations.
References
Arnetz, B., B. & Ekman, R. (2006). Stress in health and disease. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Byrne, D., G. & Rosenman, R. H. (1990). Anxiety and the heart. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
Perrewe, P., L. & Ganster, D., C. (2010). New Developments in Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches to Job Stress. United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing.
Spielberger, C. D., Sarason, I., G., Strelau, J. & Brebner, J., M. (1990). Stress and anxiety. United Kingdom :Taylor & Francis
