It can be helpful to distinguish two different types of stress. The first is the immediate reaction to a particular stressor -- such as a deadline that has just been imposed -- or second, longer-term unrelenting pressure to perform week in, week out.
Research finds that gastrointestinal problems and sleep disturbances are related to more immediate stressors.
Chronic stressors tend to be associated with a raft of physical symptoms, including headache, backache, fatigue, sleep and disturbances.
"There can be changes in thinking (difficulty concentrating, slower processing), emotional changes (feeling anxious or distressed) and changes in behaviour (procrastin-ating or working more and more)."
And stress, along with other emotions such as happiness, is catching. A study published in July found that just watching another person in a stressful situation can stress people.
"This effect of getting stressed by watching someone else getting stressed was stronger when it was someone we care about (partners rather than strangers)."
Grogan says nearly everyone who comes to therapy has some form of work-related stress.
Although not a bad thing in itself, when work-related stress feels overwhelming people may need help.
Those who have lots of "people contact" are at higher risk of burnout -- counsellors, teachers, HR managers and customer services staff.
"The culture of an organisation has a large part to play in perpetuating the 'work hard' mentality, which often actually means just long hours, being not very effective."
She sees a number of people who see work as a marathon to be finished by the end of the year.
"It doesn't matter what condition they are in, the important thing is getting to the end, and the holiday is about recovering. In these cases we look at different ways to manage time and energy and how to focus on self-care, which ironically serves everyone much better."
Stress is not always about workload and multiple deadlines that need to be met before the end of the year.
Other causes that can show up at any time include role ambiguity; work hours, organisational constraints, interpersonal conflict, lack of autonomy and others.
She says organisations are doing a range of things from providing employee assistance programmes, to wellness workshops on nutrition, exercise and mindfulness, to subsidising gym memberships.
"I'd love to see a broader approach to how to get organisational results that focus more on people's emotional health. That way you'd get a lot more engagement and less stress/distress as people would know how to deal with difficult thoughts/feelings and problems."
Self-care strategies to navigate stress seem like common sense. That can be figuring out how to set and keep boundaries (working reasonable hours) and doing things that enhance ourselves as people (who exercise, eat well, take breaks, notice and name stress/workload pressures before it's too late).
"We all know these are the basics but why is it they are the first things to go when we are under stress? They need to be strengthened not reduced when under pressure. Being able to say to your manager 'I know this new deadline is important, but doing it means I won't be able to do x' -- naming the consequences that otherwise will have a negative impact on your health."
So don't stress -- turn off the computer, or equivalent, take a holiday and leave the workplace behind for a while -- you can't go wrong with that.
