We go on holidays to get a break from work stress, but we need to tackle it in the long term, writes Kate Holmquist
That special place in the sun is all about experiencing - for a few fleeting weeks - life as it should be lived: relaxed, upbeat and stress-free. And when you return to work afterwards, the trick to managing stress is keeping that holiday feeling going, right?
Wrong. In fact, relaxing for too long and too deeply is only going to make returning to work harder, says work and organisational psychologist Patricia Murray of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). "Those who have adapted well to stress don't completely switch off on holiday," she says. On a two-week holiday, for example, the "adaptors" usually spend the first week winding down and putting their work preoccupations to the backs of their minds, have a day or two when they are completely focused on being on holiday, then use most of the second week to start gearing up mentally for returning to work.
Work should not be so stressful that you baulk at the thought of returning - and it's not just the employee's problem. While workers have a responsibility to learn work-life balance, employers too have a moral, as well as legal, obligation to ensure that workers do not become so stressed that they collapse, the HSA maintains.
This week the HSA launched Work Positive: Prioritising Organisational Stress, a programme that advises organisations on how to meet the HSA's management standards for work-related stress. It includes case histories of the following companies which have worked with the HSA to solve problems of stress: National Library of Ireland, where bullying and harassment, poor communication and absence due to sickness were issues; Meteor Mobile Communications, where poor communication, lack of involvement in decision-making, shift work and management skills were amongst concerns; and the National Standards Authority of Ireland, where stress was being caused by lack of positive feedback/rewards and excessive travelling.
Stress-related illness - which includes heart disease, some cancers, stomach complaints, sleep disorders and a multitude of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and panic attacks - will be the top work-related health problem by the year 2020, states the World Health Organisation.There's no need to wait 15 years for this day to come - stress is already the top work-related health issue and costs Irish industry a minimum €370 million annually, asserts Veronica O'Brien, occupational health manager at Bupa.
"Stress in an individual is usually not recognised until it has gone so far that they can't stop it," she adds. In these cases, people become so accustomed to unreasonable stress that they mentally override all of their bodies' warning systems.
USING CAFFEINE, CIGARETTES, alcohol, food, "retail" therapy or promiscuous sex to "relax" is a common response, yet these habits increase stress long-term until, one day, mind and body call a halt. Inability to concentrate, irritability, isolation, aggression and tearfulness are all symptoms of stress that has gone too far. Some people may appear on top of their games at work, then take stress out on the family at home.
"Self-awareness is key to managing stress," advises O'Brien. A balanced life requires a certain degree of self-respect, as well as a sense of perspective. Feeling "powerless despite having a lot of responsibility", feeling "like a victim" and thinking "I can't cope" are emergency stress signals. A good employer will be receptive to listening to the employee's issues and will have expertise on hand to help employer and employee together change the situation. It's a two-way street - not just a matter of the employee taking some time off, getting counselling or learning relaxation techniques, although these can be part of the strategy.
Two-thirds of white-collar workers will get stressed out at some point. To avoid it when you return to work after a holiday, set aside the first morning for de-cluttering your in-box and e-mail, delegating what you can to others, dumping as much as you can and focusing on urgent tasks without procrastination, O'Brien advises.
Outside work, everyone needs to have relaxing activities, both social and solitary, built in to their lifestyles. If you and your partner are so busy juggling responsibilities that you need to get your diaries out to organise a dinner date, you've already gone too far down the stress road, Murray warns. And while a life-enhancing new activity for autumn can be part of a fresh start, overachievers need to ensure that the activity does not become yet another arena in which to compete.
"If you're choosing a night class, for example, pick the opposite of the one that first attracts you."
Flower arranging, anyone?