Stress is a leading cause of work absenteeism and can lead to problems that might be considered annoying, like a cold or flu, or much more serious issues like heart disease and high blood pressure.
Part of the problem is that stress is hard to define and consequently people tend to ignore it.
For example, it is good when it serves to motivate a person.
So if there is a challenge at work that makes the person work harder and maybe learn more, get more pay or lead to a promotion then the stress can be seen to be good.
By this definition, the person under the stress is aware of the stressful conditions and has a plan to remove this stress.
They remain in control of the situation.
The by-product of this experience is that they grow as an employee or as a person.
The problems arise when this understanding is lost.
Maybe the work goes on and gets harder or longer.
The person is no longer learning anything new or the purpose for doing the work becomes blurred or subverted by office politics.
Before you know it, the person is under bad stress.
They are doing something that causes a chemical change in their body and there is no way to discharge this type of stress.
This is often known as chronic stress and is the leading cause of illness.
In many cases the problem is confused even more when people think that it is their duty to do the long hours or increasingly futile work.
This is the issue of prioritizing what is important to them.
They need to work to feed their family, pay the mortgage or pay the school fees.
So they put up with the stress for the good of the family.
And this is a very hard problem to solve because people can't leave a job when they have this responsibility.
The strategy that people use in situations like this is to have stress relievers that do not so much address the issue causing the stress but give the person a break from this source.
Quick stress relievers are things that can take a persons mind off the issues that may be causing the problems.
Things like going for a jog or any other activity (squash or tennis game/ ten pin bowling) at lunch time can have this affect.
If a person becomes aware that they are getting panicked or their heart beat is rising they could resort to squeezing a stress toy.
Stress toys help them to work out the nervous energy that is often circulated by the increase of hormones in the body.
By squeezing a ball or toy there is an outlet for this energy, much like playing a game or other physical activity.
Although squeezing a toy may not be as effective as going for a jog it certainly will help and is a lot easier to do than jogging.
Other quick methods are to have a 15 minute meditation.
This is simply a bit of down time from the pressures of your work.
Clear your mind and think of nothing for this time and you will come away refreshed and better equipped to face the rest of the day.
Meditation is hard because it is very hard to meditate properly in such a short space of time and it may be awkward in the workplace.