Job Stress

Over the past few decades, many people are hearing more about job related stress. With many households depending on duel incomes, people are working more and having less leisure time. Many claim that job stress has contributed to such illnesses as heart disease, depression, gastric problems, exhaustion, and many other related illnesses. This paper will focus on the background issues surrounding stress; as well as, the steps that need to be taken by one’s self and the employer. According to The Random House Dictionary, stress is defined as “physical, mental, or emotional tension.” Job stress occurs when demands are imposed upon the workers in which they can not meet those demands, or when there are not enough adequate supplies or information available for the employee to perform their job as required (Paine, 1982, pg. 68). In the book The Overworked American, author Juliet Schor (1991) reports that 30 percent of adults have reported experiencing high levels of stress on a daily basis. There is an even higher percentage of adults who have claimed to have high levels of stress at least once or twice a week. In 1965, only a quarter of the population reported that they are rushed to get things done resulting in high stress levels. Today, that number has increased to one-third of the American population claiming they are rushed on a daily basis (Schor, 1991, p.11). King 2 Prolonged severe stress can cause emotional depression, the exhaustion stage is not depression, but a physical process. Long-lasting excessive stress can cause a variety of physical illnesses. Among them: high blood pressure, ulcers, colitis, arthritis, diabetes, stoke, and heart attack. The same type and level of stress can effect individuals differently. It depends on the person’s physical condition (age, sex, genetic predisposition) and on certain external factors (diet, or treatment with certain drugs or