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Identify the Causes, Physical Effects and Symptoms of Stress

Presented To
Perry Barton
Course Number 41930 & Team Project MGMT 2215

By
Lidia A. Smith

Date
23 February 2015

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In todays society many people are going through changing times with the economy,
work, juggling a family and the demands that brings on the impact of life and stress. When one
hears the word stress they often think of someone at work being stressed out, maybe someone
facing financial obligations, or simply someone that is not able to handle all of the demands in
his or her household or even at work for that matter. Stress is a concern for many people across
the world because this serves as a large problem in almost everyones life. In this paper, one will
be able to have a better understanding on how to identify the causes, physical effects and
symptoms of stress. There are many approaches for different situations on handling stress and
this will be discussed further on how to manage and control stress through ones personal
obstacles based on stress level.
Centers for Independent Living describe stress as, is your body's way of responding to
any kind of demand. It can be caused by both good and bad experiences. People in general, feel
stressed by something going on around them that he or she has no control over, and their bodies
react by releasing chemicals into the blood (1). For example, John an employee for ABC
Company comes into the office on Monday morning after a hard week the week prior, he may
already have a planned schedule of how the job processes will be handled to avoid having a
terrible week as the week before. The manager calls John in the office and informs him the
Status Report needs to get done and gives him a short suspense time of 12:00 noon. John looks at
the clock on the wall and notices that the time is 10:00am. As John walks back to his office he
can feel the pressures of the short suspense. The entire planning John has done during the
weekend to prepare for the upcoming week is out the window. John further starts to feel the
stress as the suspense time approaches. This could cause some discomfort for John because he
still needs to gather the data to compile the information for the report. There are many causes
when it comes to stress for an individual and the way the person handles the stress can either be
positive or negative based on the circumstance.
Signs of stress can be seen at work or while running errands. One may pay attention to
the person in line as one waits for the customer at the register fumble through the purse to find
the correct change. The person waiting in line is getting very agitated because he or she now has
to wait in line longer. The cashier now has to deal with this customer because they now have to
deal with the customer being moody and frustrated, and being very belligerent. Signs of stress
can also be seen when the manager or supervisor comes in the office from a very important
meeting with a large amount of work that needs to be done before the close of business and one
was getting ready to leave for the day. Signs of stress can also be seen as one checks mail after
work and discovers that he or she just received an unexpected bill in the mail that was not in the
budget and are now starting to worry as to where he or she will get the money to pay this bill? In
recent surveys work is determined as stress and this could stem from an employee being
unhappy in their role, having a large work load or a large responsibility, working more or longer
hours than expected, having unclear expectations of what is required, concerned about the
chance of a promotion or advancement, termination, lay-off, giving presentations and facing the
unknown (WebMD 1).
Stress is majority work-related but not always. That is why in the workplace one may
hear management make comments such as every employee needs to have work-life balance.
This may not always happen because everyones personal life is very different for instance being
single, being a single-parent, a home with both parents with kids, or empty nesters. The other

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stress causes that one may not consider is when a person has a loss of a loved one, getting
married, or going through a divorce, being laid off or the loss of a job, increase in financial
obligations, moving to a new area or home, emotional problems, being a caregiver, or going
through a life changing event (WebMD 2).
What are some general causes of stress? Some general causes of stress for example, may
be an employee is working as a Project Manager and because of other work related problems
they find out that the project to the customer is due in a week and they may be three weeks
behind schedule due to miscommunication from a project team member. If the Project Manager
discussed this with the client and the client mentions to them that the project needs to be
completed as scheduled in a week or less, and if not done to expectations they are fired. This is
called a threat which increases stress of the employee to perform in his or her role (Changing
Minds 1). In the workplace today, many employees fear that he or she may lose their job due to
the company underperforming. The employees may also begin to feel stressed as he or she listens
to the announcements on the news of companies having lay-offs or while reading the morning
newspaper.
Uncertainty is a form of fear because one cannot predict what is going to happen, one
feels out of control and may feel fear or threatened because the employee does not have control
the worry and concern can get the best of them from being in the unknown (Changing Minds 1).
Cognitive Dissonance is also a form of a stressor which can involve playing the nice guy in the
situation and having to have a difficult conversation because one may be a manager (Changing
Minds 1). Although one may like an employee and get along with them when its time to discuss
his or her performance if the employee is negatively impacting this conversation can be very
awkward. One may feel perceived differently or disliked. This is part of the managers or
leaders responsibility to take notice.
When a person feels their body is going through stress one may feel their heart pounding
faster, aches and pains in the muscles, an increase in blood pressure, physical changes and an
increases in speed, strength and stamina as ones body is trying to determine how the body is
going to react or fight the stress (Help Guide 1). Stress is raising more and more as our economy
goes through daily demands of life obstacles. Did you know that 44% of Americans feel more
stressed than they did 5 years ago, 10% of stress increases in stokes, stress is the basic cause of
60% of all human illness and disease, 3 out of 4 doctors appointments are stress related, while
44% lose sleep every night and 40% of stressed people overeat or eat unhealthy (The American
Institute of Stress 1-3)?
For someone that abuses drugs, alcohol or tobacco this can make the physical effects
even worse on the body (Wed MD 1). Consider these recent study statistics; 43 % of all adults
suffer adverse health effects from stress, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) declared stress a hazard in the workplace and having an emotional disorder is more than
50% often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions (Wed MD 2). Stress is part of our everyday
life and if one does not address these concerns or issues stress can become a long-term chronic
condition. It is important to learn ways to cope with stress and to learn the effects and how one
can overcome this chronic condition that is affecting millions of Americans.
How does one determine they have physical effects of stress? When ones body feels
threaten or perceived to have a threat for example, someone who is scared of clowns, snakes or

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animals ones nerves and hormonal signals releases adrenaline and cortisol (Mayo Clinic 1).
Ones adrenaline can have an increase in the blood stream and the brain while cortisol involves
the immune system while communicate mood, motivation and fear (Mayo Clinic 1). The
combination of ones adrenaline and cortisol increasing gives off a stress response to ones body.
This is why if someone is scared or one feels their nervous the stress response shows and
others surrounding can see if someone is showing a sign of fear or if the person can take on a
challenge that they may not be comfortable with as this determines if the individual believes they
can handle the problem or situation. When dealing with stress one may want to consider the
genetics and how they can fight the stressor or decreasing the stressor depending on the situation
(Mayo Clinic 2). For example, when going to a job interview, the employer will tell you to relax.
In some cases it is easier said than done, because one still fears the unknown questions that will
be asked. The employer will ask situational questions to see how one will respond to the problem
or situation or how one will handle being placed in a difficult situation. If one believes they can
fight the stress and handle the stress in a positive approach this will ensure the stress can be
handled effectively. If one cannot reduce the stress the individual may have an increase in a
chronic condition or disease.
Life experiences also play a huge role in stress. If a parent, child or loved one is at home
and are having problems because of a divorce, recent move, job loss or transition, grade school,
college, or loss in the family his or her behavior needs to be closely monitored through the
difficult time as this may cause headaches, muscle and tension pain, chest pain, fatigue, stomach
up-set, sleep problems, lack of motivation and focus, depression or irritability (Mayo Clinic 1).
If one believes ignoring the life experience is appropriate that is not acceptable. The most
important disadvantage stress brings to Americans is that stress affects everyone regardless of
gender or age. Stress can be found in children, pre-teens, teens and adults regardless of color,
race, religion, culture, or national origin. Stress also has to do with responsibilities and
expectations upon the individual. When a person is a child, there are no responsibilities as far as
facing financial obligations. Look around when one goes out shopping at a grocery or
department store. The child will start throwing a tantrum by screaming and crying causing the
parents stress levels or stressors to rise. All the child has in mind is that he or she wants the item
regards of cost.
When a child then becomes an adult there are all types of responsibilities and
expectations from financial, family, work, children and other activities that one may be involved
in socially or for work purposes. This is why its important to know how to monitor ones stress
and reduce the amount of stress. The purpose of having a healthy life is to have a happy life and
an individual cannot do this with having stress complications.
If one does not get his or her stressed monitored, cured or under-control they can go
through very serious medical conditions such as depression, anxiety, heart disease, high blood
pressure, obesity, menstrual problems, sexual dysfunction, hair loss, skin problems such as acne
or psoriasis and irritable colon problems (Web MD 3). Having long term stress causes distress
which identifies how the body is going to react negatively and is the stress going to worsen (Wed
MD 1). If an employee is at work this needs to be closely monitored as their behavior could
change depending on what is going on around them. In the workplace they could have anger
outbursts, social withdrawals and drug or alcohol usage (Mayo Clinic 1).

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While the employee is at work the employee may suffer in their role or position by
calling out of work on a regular basis, poor time keeping, poor performance and productivity,
low morale, poor motivation, increased employee complaints and increased health incident
reports (University of Cambridge 1). This is why its important for the manager to become
proactive in their leadership role by sitting with his or her employees and being proactive to
finding out what is going well and what some opportunities are for their employees at work.
These sessions should be used as a coaching tool for both the employee and manager. This will
also insure that the employee knows that the company respects their well-being at work and
should reduce a lack of absentee at work.
If a person feels stressed at work or at home the individual may find themselves having
difficulty breathing, frequent sighing, sudden attacks of life threatening panic, frequent urination,
rapid or mumbled speech, problems in communication or sharing, constant tiredness, weakness,
fatigue and excessive gambling or impulsive buying (The American Institute of Stress 1). For
example, if a college student taking a large amount of coursework find themselves overloaded
with papers and homework whether taking online or ground coursework, the college student in
communicating with his or her team members may have a withdrawal socially and become tried
and probably would display a lack of communication and focus within the team atmosphere,
because of the amount of coursework load and responsibilities on the individual.
Its important to understand that the effects of stress play a course with the symptoms of
stress and how stress is handled. As discussed earlier, stress normally begins with the nervous
system and ones body determines if the threat perceived is going to fight the stress or if the
stress nerves are going to give in to increase complications with the adrenaline. The symptom
that ones body will find the pain or tension is in the muscles called musculoskeletal system (The
American Institute of Stress 2). Take for example, a person sitting down at work for 8-10 hours
daily working on a computer. If the employee at work is becoming stressed the muscles in his or
her feet may ache, headaches and migraines may occur or stress within the body or other body
parts may feel tense.
The system in the body that has the greatest impact is the way one may breath which is
called the respiratory system (The American Institute of Stress 2). If one sees a runner go past
them, they may see that the person is breathing extremely harder than a person walker. This has
the same impact with the respiratory system. If a person becomes stressed or has to do more
tasks or responsibilities there may be a different type of breathing than normal. If someone sees
that the breathing pattern is increasing and uncontrolled this should be closely monitored by a
doctor as this may be causing other health issues that need to be addressed.
Just like the musculoskeletal system with deals with the muscles and tension within the
body when stressed the cardiovascular system deals with the blood vessels and the heart when a
person feels the symptoms of stresses (The American Institute of Stress 2). If a person just
received bad news about a loved one, this may have an impact on the way the heart is pumping
its blood flow and if negatively this could increase to a heart stroke or heart attack. It is
important to closely monitor the person if one determines their blood pressure is increasing to
seek immediate medical assistance and help because this can increase to other diseases within the
body.

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Earlier one had a discussion about the endocrine system and how this increases stress
hormones and how cortisol and adrenaline can increase or decrease stress in the body. The major
part of the body that displays the symptoms the most and why people do not like discussing it is
because this plays a major role in our life called the gastrointestinal system (The American
Institute of Stress 3). This is when an individual feels the body stress takes advantage of the
stressor. For example, if someone is nervous or has butterflies this is when we would feel the
nerves kick in our system. If someone is overeating or not eating at all the body will show an
increase or decrease in food, alcohol and drugs which can be misused due to the stress that is on
the individual. Everything bad that one may not want his or her body to do when stressed may
have an overall impact on his or her health.
When someone finds out that their stress levels are increasingly high this may have an
impact on the reproductive system for both males and females (The American Institute of Stress
3). For both men and woman when stress is affecting the overall health of an individual the
sexual desire is limited and also woman can have an increase of pain during their menstrual
cycle. Stress not only effects the way a person performs their daily day to day activities, stress if
not controlled can take over someones life and could cause a chronic condition. How are
companies trying to save employee turnover and absenteeism in the workplace?
Companies today are even discussing how employees are losing hope for their work. If
someone is working for any employer in this economy they should be grateful for the
opportunity to work for an employer in the U.S. This is not always the case especially if an
employee is feeling burned out, stressed or worried at work. Everyone knows the entertainment
store Best Buy for their music, computers, and big screen televisions during the year and at
Christmas on Black Friday. Best Buy has reportedly had a large decrease in sales because they
wanted to use third party vendors and had a loss of sales on many large items. Best Buy lost
revenue forecasted which Amazon bet their projections as their competitor (24/7 Wall St 1).
When a company has a decrease in sales or loss of revenue, employees on all levels of a
company gets concerned for their jobs because in order to sustain as a business, the business has
to sell products to the consumer and get the consumers to buy. Who would believe that the
United States Postal Service (USPS) workers would lose hope in their jobs? One may remember
that a few years ago, the USPS workers would walk on foot to deliver mail and everyone would
be excited to receive mail.
The economy and is much larger in territory now. The USPS workers have to walk, drive
company vehicles and sometimes use a rental van or truck to deliver mail in the late evening and
after hours, one can see this especially during the Christmas season. With technology and the use
of emails, scanning and overnighting packages through the intranet and social media sites, the
USPS has reportedly been losing money which could cut thousands of jobs, close a large amount
of sites and may change the USPS delivery from 6 to 5 days a week (24/7 Wall St 2). Many years
ago, the USPS did not have much competition in the mail services market.
Now there are numerous companies and self-owned companies that are competing for
consumer services. Stress can have an impact on the USPS because many Americans used to
send letters to his or her love ones or paid the bills by mail. However, with new technology of
paying bills online, and the use of electronic mail (e-mail) to communicate with friends, family,

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and businesses this plays a huge role for USPS in the loss of revenue they face as a large public
company in America.
Some companies are even trying to find ways to keep their employees satisfied at work
and provide various services, so that they are happy in their jobs. Some of the companies that are
keeping their employees happy for example are; Google, Super Media, GE Capital Bank,
Rockwell Collins, Ernst & Young, Dyn Corp, Applied Materials and the Coca-Cola Company
just to name a few (Forbes 1). Employers are trying to make sure employees are happy at what
they do for the organization, so that there will be less turn over and that hopefully with the skills,
talents and abilities that they bring to the job and organization they can learn and grow in his or
her position.
One way to reduce high turnover and stress for an organization and the employee is to
make sure the employees come first (Deutschendorf 1).When employees feel valued and their
motivation is noticed this can have an impact on customer service internally and externally. If an
employee does not feel valued and his or her workload is steadily growing and there are no pay
increases being rewarded, this can have an impact on the way the employees value the company.
Many people may or may not agree to this as considering hiring attitude over technical skills or
experience (Deutschendorf 1).
When one sees the job posting for a Customer Service Representative (CSR) at Verizon
Wireless there is a list of attributes listed under the position in which Verizon Wireless hopes to
attract. Personality and attitude now play a huge role in business and when hiring is conducted.
For example, an employer may list words such as; team player, good communicator, has fun
doing the job, good personality, enjoys working in a team environment or is friendly.
These attributes allow an employer to know that this person is really going to enjoy what
he or she does every day. In hiring someone with the right attitude for the company could be nice
for the moment. What happens when an employee faces a life traumatic event, or has a loss of a
loved one or sees other employees being laid off and assigned a role that he or she may not be
comfortable with. All of these options should be considered in a workplace. Employers can also
increase employee awareness by looking after their employees in good and bad times
(Deutschendorf 2).
The airline company Southwest Airlines believes in looking after their employees by not
only working hard but also playing hard. If a family member has an illness, employees are able
to assist their families by cooking, cleaning, delivering meals and providing transportation when
employees are going through a difficult time (Deutschendorf 2). An employee working in this
kind of environment could very easily feel as though they have a second family because their coworkers are there to lean on them as well as go through the pain and suffering with the employee.
Many people may have heard of Googles hiring process and how intense the process can
be. Google is known to keep employees happy for a long period of time. Why is Google on the
top of the list for keeping employees happy with less absenteeism and turnover? Google is
known to have gyms, video games, laundry, dry-cleaning services, on-site haircuts, massages,
rooms to relax, on site medical staff and games such as ping pong and foosball (Strauss 1). In a
lot of major companies who can compete with this? If an employee is having a stressful day or

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they find that his or her work thoughts are not coming clear to mind, or have a personal problem
and just want to get away the employee can do this while working at Google.
Earlier in this paper, one should have learned how stress occurs, symptoms and the
effects of having stress and how this can play a huge role on ones body. There are ways to live a
happy and healthier life by trying to reduce stress as much as possible whether one is at work or
in ones personal life. In reducing stress, mediation has always been a tool to help those that are
stressed because this allows quiet time and peace (Moninger 1). This mediation technique is used
in many gyms, yoga and well-being classes. This is very simple to do and does not require a
large amount of ones personal time.
If one does feel stressed the best method is to turn on some soft music or sit quietly and
breathe in and breathe out slowly and say a line that can stick that is going to ease the mind. For
example, someone might say Today is going to be a good day! repeatedly to hopefully have a
good day at work, school or his or her personal journey in what he or she may want to
accomplish. The technique in breathing is a good method in making sure if someone does feel
stressed or has a mild symptom of stress is so that the individual will take time away for about 510 minutes to focus on deep breathing (Moninger 1).
As one may have learned in taking deep breathing techniques this does lower blood
pressure within the body and could decrease a heart attack or stroke. If someone finds that they
are worried, concerned or depressed speaking to someone that is close or someone that the
individual trusts can help with stress (Moninger 2). Sometimes the best therapy is running with a
friend, or enjoying a cup of coffee and while having a conversation with a friend or a love one.
Some people fight stress by going to the gym after work or taking a long walk at the park.
At Gwinnett Technical College for example, the college has what it calls Walk it
Wednesday where students of all ages, and faculty staff members meet at the Student Life
Center located at the rear entrance of building 100 at approximately 3:15pm every Wednesday,
and take an enjoyable walk around the Gwinnett Technical College campus. This not only helps
in reducing stress, but also helps in losing weight which in turn will help a person to decrease a
possibility of having health problems. This is a good way to relief stress while making friends.
Sometimes doing small things or changing a daily routine has an impact on the way this could
help decrease the stress levels because when life is normal and there is no growth professionally
and personally, as a human being one is not learning. This can have an impact on ones thinking,
thought processes and mind for creating new ideas.
In many companies, they are using healthcare insurance coverage to provide support
groups and professional help for an individual if they believe that they are not being heard or if
the individual needs a sounding board to release feelings and tension. A person can relief stress
by doing something that is priceless and it does not cost anything such as laughing out loud
while watching a television show, sitcom, reading a book or talking to someone that is humorous
to have comfort and relaxation with knowing that his or her stress is being released from stress
hormones in the body (Moninger 2).
In concluding, the economy is having an everlasting change within our society and this is
something that Americans cannot control. One now has a better understanding on how to identify
the causes, physical effects and symptoms of stress. Stress can be perceived as a threat if one

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allows it. Stress can have an impact on ones life and even can take control of the day to day
activities. If an individual is stressed, are they going to perceive this as a fight or flight? As
discussed, stress is all around us. Stress can be seen in the workplace, home, grade school or
college and in the juggling of life and family. Who wants to be the 43% of people that suffer
from stress caused by a chronic illness or condition?
When someone speaks of the word stress, they can feel this in their blood vessels,
brain, heart, muscle aches in ones body, a lack of focus and concentration and a lack of effort to
want to show up for daily activities and to be engaged. Some companies are trying to control
stress by having happy employees. Southwest Airlines are trying to find the right attributes to
keep an employee that fits the companys personality traits over technical skills. Google is
finding other ways to keep their employees entertained by providing free perks and services.
While such companies as Best Buy and USPS are losing revenue, these companies are having cut
backs, company layoffs and closures.
Stress does not have to take over ones life. Stress is a condition that can be closely
monitored and avoided if the individual wants to decrease or minimize the stressor. There are
different techniques and methods to help reduce stress while living a healthy lifestyle and wellbeing. If one believes that stress is taking over his or her life there are support groups to assist in
getting professional assistance through the use of support groups or therapy. Stress only has two
ways out which is to fight the stressor at hand or give in to the stress hormone. If one would like
to live a better life they should work at fighting this chronic illness and disease and decrease their
chance from being another statistic.

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