Coping with anxiety on the job

By JEFFREY STEELE, Special Advertising Sections Writer

For all too many Americans, work is literally a pain in the neck.

Workplace stress sends them home many nights fatigued and in need of a couple aspirin and a back massage.

In the most recent StressPulse, a recurrent survey undertaken by Chicago-based ComPsych Corp., a provider of employee assistance programs in the U.S., 69% of the 1,000 respondents reported experiencing high levels of workplace stress, manifested by extreme fatigue and feelings of being out of control.

Some 52% said they come to work one to four days a year when they are too stressed to be effective, said ComPsych spokeswoman Jennifer Hudson. One in four reported arriving at work five or more days annually feeling too much stress for effective performance.

Some of the reasons for these astronomical stress levels are evident in the most recent Workplace Index Survey conducted by office furniture maker Steelcase. In its survey of 700 U.S. office workers, Steelcase found 56% work on the weekends, 10% work both Saturday and Sunday and 42% believe they work more hours than they did five years ago.

If you’re among those experiencing growing levels of stress on the job, there’s good news, however. Your future doesn’t have to be a litany of ever-worsening headaches, backaches and muscle tension brought on by trying to do the work of two people in half the time.

Increasingly, medical professionals and organizations are offering workshops and one-on-one training sessions that focus on teaching people how to deal effectively with stress in their work environments.

Among those at the forefront is Dr. Judith Orloff, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and the author of “Positive Energy” (Harmony Books, 2004).

The book examines the extent of workplace stress and suggests ways to cope.

“Among my patients and my workshop participants, it’s huge, and it’s growing,” Orloff said of workplace stress. “It’s getting worse because people are never taught tools to help them deal with stress. I wrote ‘Positive Energy’ because there’s an epidemic of stress in America, and people don’t know how to deal with it. But, once you have techniques, you can cope with it.”

Energy vampires

Part of her book and workshop is devoted to dealing with fellowx employees she refers to as “energy vampires.” These are people who suck the positive energy out of their co-workers.

“They eat up your time, make you anxious and deplete your energy,” Orloff said.

Orloff provides “Positive Energy Workshops to Decrease Stress” nationwide to the public and businesses. In the Los Angeles area, her workshops are held about every two months and take place Friday evenings and all day Saturdays, attracting an average of 50 participants.

For more information, call (800) 395-8445, ext. 154 or visit www.drjudithorloff.com.

Also helping people learn to deal with stress is Dr. Jay Winner, a Santa Barbara family physician who founded Sansum Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic’s stress-management program.

“We really need to do more to help our patients deal with stress, because stress can contribute to two-thirds of the problems that bring patients in to family doctors,” he said.

Stress ages women

A number of studies have probed the harmful effects of stress on health and aging, Winner said.

One study of women experiencing prolonged stress found chromosomal changes equal to aging an additional 9 to 17 years.

Another study indicated people who participated in stress-management programs enjoyed a 74% reduction in recurrent cardiac events.

Winner’s two-hour stress-management workshops are held on three consecutive weekday evenings about every two to three months at the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara.

Decreasing anxiety

He also provides on-premise workshops for companies and organizations throughout Southern California. Workshop participants learn how to change thoughts to decrease stress, how to improve communication, how to take the stress out of decision-making and how to relax for specified periods and throughout the day, Winner said.

Visit www.stressremedy.com or call (805) 681-7582 for more information.

A new company headed by Philadelphia-based corporate psychologist Larina Kase is focused on providing workshops and training to Los Angeles-area businesses and high-ranking executives.

Called Extreme Communicator, the company is devoted to teaching stress reduction through appropriate communications, said Kase, a clinical faculty member at the Center for Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kase said she believes workplace stress is growing for a number of reasons. The most important may be that companies have downsized, and those employees who remain face greater demands, she said.

In such an environment, employers can afford to be highly selective, which may lead to feelings among employees that they may be replaced or their jobs eliminated.

Feeling out of control

“You feel out of control, which is one of the keys to stress,” she said. “Stress results when you feel your ability to cope with multiple demands and external pressures are taxed, and are less than what you need to cope. That’s why people feel overwhelmed. . . . It may feel like an elephant is on your back, resulting in backache, headaches and muscle tension.”

Extreme Communicator offers a dozen programs. An example is “Control Stress, Achieve Success,” a 90-minute to half-day workshop held at employers’ work sites that can be customized to the employers’ needs, providing individual or group coaching or a workshop.

For more information, visit www.extremecommunicator.com.

In addition, many area colleges and universities offer classes on topics such as time management, planning and goal-setting. These can provide employees with tips and tools that could lower their stress levels in the workplace.

For instance, Cal State Fullerton offers a project-, time- and cost-management class through its extension education program. Check local college web sites for information on similar courses.

Jeffrey Steele is a freelance writer based in Chicago.

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