Ways to Deal with Work Stress

Stress is one of the most important factors affecting human physical and mental balance. Expressing that people should develop their own methods against stress, which has become an indispensable part of today's business life, Yeditepe University Koşuyolu Hospital Psychiatrist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan Atalay explained the measures to be taken in the face of stress.

Mankind has been living under stress in an effort to survive since it existed. Disruption of the working order of an organ or what happens in traffic on the way to work, the state of the weather, and bilateral relations can cause stress. Stating that a person whose life is getting more and more complex, one must develop different skills than before in order to cope with their stress, Yeditepe University Koşuyolu Hospital Psychiatrist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan Atalay pointed out the source of stress in the workplace.

Stress is higher in the workplace. The places we work create more and more sources of stress with the way we work, the places we work, and the way we relate. Workplaces are much more crowded, more distant from our homes, and jobs and relationships are more complex. Hence, today's people are expected to recognize these new challenges and develop their own unique methods to deal with them.”

Biological Signs of Stress

Stating that stress or strain can have many biological, psychological, or social signs and consequences, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atalay: "Determining the dimensions of the situation is the first step. We can personally observe stress with interpersonal symptoms such as fatigue, boredom, anxiety, even depressive situations, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, gastrointestinal problems, hormonal changes, intolerance in relationships, unhappiness, irritability, and loneliness. In such cases, it is useful to evaluate the measures we will take together with their various dimensions. The first step is to try to organize our lives accordingly from the beginning, knowing that modern life can lead to all these problems. For instance, choosing a job we love, making our lives and relationships outside of work relaxing, not stressful, enriching our worldview.”

“Get to Know Yourself and Try to Enjoy Life”

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atalay listed what should be done if stress does not go away despite the measures: "If we think that we are under physical, mental and social strain for inevitable reasons, developing our own coping methods in these areas and ourselves will reduce the level of strain felt and reduce the damage that may occur, on the contrary, it will enable us to enjoy life. For example, realistically evaluating our physical capacity, directing things appropriately instead of trying to do everything ourselves, taking time for ourselves outside of work, resting, taking our bodies out of tranquility as much as possible, avoiding harmful habits, paying attention to our diet and sleep patterns are measures that can be useful in protecting our biological balance. Psychologically, getting to know ourselves better, improving our mental skills, wondering, and learning throughout life, being interested in different areas, reading, improving our hand skills, seeing different cultures, and gaining the ability to look at things from different perspectives, efforts can lead to a reduction in the strain felt.”

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atalay also warned against the various charlatans who appear under the names of 'breathing therapist', 'life coach', 'regression therapist', 'healer', and 'bioenergist'. Stating that these new types of professionals, which are "trendy" today, show the source of the problems not as social design but as the individual's own mistakes, laziness, ignorance, and inadequacy, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan Atalay says that such charlatans have deceived people for centuries. Charlatans deceive people whom scientific knowledge cannot enlighten.

Since the current relations of production and the modern way of working are contrary to human nature unless the general way of working and organizing, purpose, and functioning change, all measures against stress will remain temporary. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atalay:  “I think we, mental health professionals, will also manage with suggestions until we move to a way of working that is more in line with the nature of people, more in harmony with the nature of the earth, based on living and producing together, not on making a profit. I think under these conditions, every workplace, every way of working will continue to produce stress.”

To Reduce Stress...

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan Atalay lists the measures and suggestions that can be found everywhere to minimize the damage that stress can cause:

Differentiate Your Coping Methods According to Personality Traits As with everything related to our profession, the ways of coping in this regard should be personal. For example, an obsessive person tries to do well and is constantly burdened with work because he cannot object to new work, while a narcissistic person may create the impression that he is only interested in the visible parts of the work and doing a lot of work. In such cases, the duty of both managers and other employees is to support those who do their job and to prevent those who seem to do their job. One of the most important tasks that obsessive people have to do is to learn to refer to the tasks given as chores to their original owners because they do not accept the workload that comes too much. It may be helpful for people with high social anxiety to focus on their own actions and practice improving their relationships with other people. Dependents can be made to work with more supportive managers.

You Must Rest Your Body

In general, we should not neglect the measures that rest our body and brain. (For example, a good sleep, taking breaks from work, short exercises, appropriate breathing exercises, paying attention to the way you sit, creating rest/self-improvement areas outside of work, walking/sightseeing, not neglecting reading/watching activities, maintaining social relations, etc.) 

Be within Realistic Expectations

Expectations can cause the intensity of anger to increase. Realistically assessing the situation at work and adjusting expectations accordingly, as well as developing a sense of empathy for the mood of others, can facilitate anger control and thus reduce stress levels. Moreover, a broad evaluation of the situation can help protect brain and body health by using humor instead of anger.