One of the difficulties with stress is that people experience stress in different ways. This contributes to stress manifesting itself in different ways also. So it would be wrong to over-generalise when giving advice on how to identify stress in others. However, what we can say is that in some way ‘stress will out’. By this we mean that, because stress has negative effects, it will usually manifest itself one way or another.
This is a very simple framework that works equally as well in terms of prevention of stress as it does in helping someone who is not coping. In other words you can use ‘CUSP’TM proactively and reactively. Here, we look at using ‘CUSP’TM proactively to prevent stress.
Research and experience tells us that if you can:
Enable increased perception of control;
Reduce uncertainty, and the associated anxiety and insecurity;
Provide support, especially in highly pressurised or stressful situations;
Tackle sources of pressure (stressors) in your work area…
..then you will minimise the risk of stress-related illness and increase wellbeing and performance at work.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) now sees stress as the most important health and safety issue. It has now overtaken musculo-skeletal disorders as the biggest cause of lost days at work. On this page we provide links to the key pages relating to stress at work on the HSE website. Please check these out. The information you will find there is important for all employers and employees.
1. Treat the other person with respect
Remember that the other person is human, has feelings and can feel just as vulnerable as you. Be prepared for the fact that you may have misunderstood the situation. When you disagree with someone’s views, or have strong feelings about their actions, it is often too easy to show disrespect in the way you interact with them.
Stress-related absence can appear to be a difficult issue for managers to deal with. There is still a stigma associated with mental health problems. Managers are often reluctant to communicate with absent employees because they fear they will be accused of bullying and harassment.
Copyright © 2008 In Equilibrium