Work Stress Management

Dealing with stress at work doesn’t have to be that taxing. 

You love your job. But sometimes, it can get so overwhelming at the office! And it’s not just the actual workload, the long hours, unpaid overtimes, and the pressure to do good that is driving you crazy. It’s the people too! It’s the bureaucracy and the lies and politics. You used to love coming to the office and kicking butt. Everyday was an opportunity to do great work and impress the bosses. You loved talking to your clients and doing them favors even if it means staying an hour later at the office. Then it all turned sour. The demand and the pressure was just too overwhelming. It’s hard to keep up especially in such a toxic, crab mentality environment. Now you dread having to go to work. What used to be your passion is now just a job. Something that you do to pay the bills.

If this sounds familiar, you’re probably one of the 6 out of 10 adults who have work as their number one personal stressor according to the 2019 Stress in America survey by the American Psychological Association or APA. Yes, stress at work is very common, to say the least. You’re not alone.

Do something about your stress before it turns chronic.

But just because it’s common doesn’t mean that you can’t and shouldn’t do anything about it. Chronic work related stress can lead to burnout. And burnout can lead to more serious mental health problems such as anxiety disorders and depression.

Stress is a normal body response to threat. It’s a very good motivator to get things done. When we’re stressed out, our fight or flight response gets activated. It’s what allows us to pull all nighters and get things done before deadline. It’s what drives you on the 11th hour.

However, the stress response is a tool reserved for emergency situations. It allows us to act quickly. But when it keeps getting fired up, it can put not just your psychological health at risk, your physical health too! Chronic stress can weaken your immune system, increase your risk of getting a heart attack, trigger tension headaches and increase the likelihood of you getting Alzheimer’s disease.

Coping with Work Stress with ThoughtWise

There are plenty of ways to manage stress at work. The key is to finding and developing healthy coping mechanisms. This can be hard when you’re in the middle of it all. Your judgment may be clouded with overwhelming emotions and it can be hard to think clearly. Your flight response might win the game and you end up withdrawing instead of overcoming the struggle. Click here to learn more about managing work stress.

When you’re stressed out, it’s sometimes good to vent out. It feels good to have someone hear you out and just get all your emotions out of your stress. However, this can sometimes be too much for your family and friends to handle especially if they have their own stress to handle too. They may not also be able to provide unbiased opinion and advice about your situation because they feel your emotions too.

Our therapists at ThoughtWise can help you look at the situation clearly and together with you, create a plan on how to deal with your stress, be aware of your triggers and try to overcome those even before the stress kicks in.

The goal is to help restore your emotional balance while learning new techniques on how to handle stress in the future.

Remember, you can’t always change the situation. But you can learn how to react to it differently.