True Cost of Stress

Employers are beginning to discover the true cost of workplace stress. Conversely, employees are keenly aware of the toll that stress takes on their job performance and personal lives. While the financial costs are staggering, the costs in employee health, morale, and absenteeism have led some businesses to seek help for stressed-out employees.

A 20-year study by the University College London completed in the early 1990s found that unmanaged reactions to stress were a more dangerous risk factor for cancer and heart disease than either cigarette smoking or high-cholesterol foods. According to a 2006 study at Rockefeller University in New York City, stress can even shrink your brain cells and prematurely age your immune system. A person’s response to stress causes neurons in the hippocampus—the part of the brain with a central role in memory processes—to shrink, resulting in memory loss. The same phenomenon can occur in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain used for decision making and maintaining attention or focus.

This isn’t to say that stress is all bad. Stress is our bodies’ way of reacting—both physically and emotionally—to changes or demands in our life. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester says there are two main types of stress: 

Acute stress, also known as the fight-or-flight response, is your body’s immediate reaction to a threat, challenge, or scare. This response is intense, and in some cases, thrilling. Situations that may cause acute stress include a job interview, a minor accident, or an exhilarating ski run.

Chronic stress results from long-term exposure to acute stress. The response to this type of stress is much more subtle than that of acute stress, but the effects can be more problematic. Stressors include day-to-day issues as relationship problems and financial woes.

Stress is the body’s way of keeping us alert and safe from danger, but it’s our response to stress that can cause health problems. The Mayo Clinic notes that acute and chronic stress can affect all the body’s primary systems:

* Stomach aches, diarrhea, and weight gain are symptoms of stress in the digestive system.

* When the immune system experiences stress, the whole body is more susceptible to infections.

* Depression, sleep disturbances, loss of sex drive, and loss of appetite are symptoms of stress in the nervous system.

* In the cardiovascular system, chronic activation of stress hormones can raise your heart rate, blood pressure, and blood lipid (cholesterol and triglyceride) levels, putting you at risk for heart disease and stroke.

* Stress can worsen or cause many skin conditions (psoriasis, eczema, hives, and acne) and can trigger asthma attacks.

According to the Mayo Clinic, when a person encounters a stressful situation, an area at the base of the brain called the hypothalamus sets off an alarm. In response, the adrenal glands located above the kidneys release a rush of hormones, mostly adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline increases heart and metabolic rates and blood pressure, while cortisol allows the brain to take in more glucose and makes tissue-repairing substances readily available to the body. Cortisol also suppresses the digestive system and other processes that could hamper the response to a stressful situation. A person with chronic stress is exposed to stress hormones over an extended period of time and has an increased risk of suffering from heart disease, depression, insomnia, and obesity.

Survival of the Stressed

Increasing hours on the job, the quickening pace of the workplace due to technological advances, and the lack of perceived (or real) control over work situations contribute to the mounting stress for U.S. employees. It all adds up. According to a 2006 study by HR.com, a Web site devoted to human resources issues, stress costs U.S. businesses more than $300 billion annually. That number has doubled in a little over 10 years. Stress not only accounts for 40 percent of employee turnover; half of the 550 million working days lost each year in the United States from absenteeism are stress related. In a 2004 American Psychological Association poll, one in four people said they have taken a “mental health day” due to work-related stress.

Part of the problem with stress is that it contributes to poor lifestyle choices. A 2006 poll of 2,200 British working men found that one-third used alcohol to combat stress. Not getting enough sleep or exercise and an accompanying weight gain are other reactions that ultimately hamper a person’s ability to manage stress.

To add to the problem, there is still a stigma associated with admitting to being “stressed out.” To get ahead, employees work longer and harder, and they try not to let their boss or colleagues know if they are having a difficult time. Men are just as likely to be stressed out as women, but they are less likely to seek help. Typically, women are better at talking about their problems, seeking help, or admitting to stress. In fact, according to “The Sex Divide: How men and women react under pressure,” an article on London-based Channel 4’s Web site, men usually only visit their doctor when physical symptoms of stress appear. According to Healthandage.com: