It's hardly news that stress causes illness, alcohol and drug abuse and divorce, among other things. But what we're just starting to understand is how the effects of stress do harm in the workplace. Stress leads to a host of adverse effects on business including early retirement, absenteeism, increased turnover and unsafe behaviors. Consequently, companies are coming to recognize that they need to help their employees manage stress. More often than not, the company expects the safety director to play a leading role in that task. To help you meet the challenge, I'd like to propose 12 ideas to share with your employees to help them do a better job of stress management.

The Physiology of Stress & Distress

Many confuse stress with distress. Distress resulting from tragic or unhappy events in our lives certainly creates mental adversity. But distress is, for most people at least, a finite and limited experience. Stress is ongoing. Stress is generally a reaction to the silly, little things and inconveniences we all encounter in our lives, such as having to wait in line or getting stuck in traffic that rev up our fight or flight engines most often.

And every time you start up your fight or flight engine over a minor inconvenience, you're causing your body harm. Here's what happens to your body when you experience distress and stress:

• Cortisone is released from the adrenal glands;
• Thyroid hormone is increased in the bloodstream;
• Endorphin is released from the hypothalamus;
• Sex hormones are reduced;
• The entire digestive tract shuts down;
• Sugar is released into the blood;
• Insulin levels are increased to metabolize the extra sugar;
• Heartbeat races;
• Blood thickens; and
• All five senses become acute

(Source: The Joy of Stress by Hanson Stress Management)

12 Ways to Manage Stress

Thinking about what stress does to our bodies, is very, I guess, stressful. I suggest that you share the above description of the physiology of stress with your employees. And let them know that they can do something to minimize the physiological wear and tear that stress inflicts on them. Stress can be managed. Here are 12 suggestions that can help your employees handle the effects of stress:

1. Work on Your Attitude

Dr. Paul J. Rosch, president of the American Institute of Stress, says that the single most important point you can make about stress is to impress on people that the problem is not the stimulus but the reaction to the stimulus. Stated differently, getting stopped at a red light doesn't release hormones and blood sugar; "stressing out" because the light turned red does.

In short, stress can only hurt you if you allow it to. Changing the way you think shields you from stress. Impress on employees the importance of not letting the little things bother them.

2. Think about Something Else

Anything that will help you shift your perspective instantly is useful when you're under the gun. You want to distract yourself - to break whatever chain of thought is producing the stress. Thinking about almost anything else will do that.

3. Think Positive

Thinking about a success or a past achievement is excellent when you're feeling uncertain, such as before a presentation, meeting with your boss or other dreaded or distasteful task. You're instantly reminded that you've achieved before, and there's no reason you shouldn't achieve this time.

A corollary to the power of positive thinking is to learn to view adversity not as an occasion for fretting but as a challenge and an opportunity. Thus, a difficult assignment can be seen as an opportunity to improve skills and prove one's value.

4. Take a Mental Vacation

According to Ronald Nathan, Ph.D., director of Family Practice and Psychiatry at Albany Medical College, taking a mini-vacation in your mind is a very good way to relieve and manage stress. "Visualize yourself lying in warm sand on a beach in the Bahamas, a cool wind blowing in off the ocean, the surf rolling in quietly in the background. It's amazing what this can do to relax you."

5. Count to 10

Refusing to respond to stress immediately can help defuse it. Making a habit of pausing and relaxing, just for a few seconds, before responding to the routine interruptions of your day can make a clear difference in the sense of stress you experience. Although it's a bit of a cliché, cutting off an instant reaction and counting to 10 really settles the mind and the senses.

6. Use Affirmations

Remember Stuart Smalley - the character played by Al Franken on Saturday Night Live? When faced with difficulty, he'd recite the self-affirming mantra, "I'm good enough; I'm smart enough; and doggone it, people like me."

The lisping, wimpiness of Stuart's behavior belied the soundness of his technique. The fact of the matter is that self-affirmation works. Your employees should have their own mantra of affirmation to use when they feel stressed. It doesn't have to be complicated. Just chanting "I can handle this" to yourself or "I know more about this than anyone here" can work. It pulls you away from the animal reflex to stress - the quick breathing, the cold hands - and toward the reasoned response, the intellect - the part of you that really can handle it. The result - You calm down.

Conclusion

To help your employees manage stress, you need to educate them about what stress is and show them the techniques they can use to manage it. I think these six suggestions represent an excellent start. Next week, I'll give you six more.

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