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Unit 12: Handling Stress at Workplace

is required for survival. However, most research focuses on distress because it is a significant Notes
concern in the organizational setting.
12.1.1 General Adaptation Syndrome

Dr Hans Selye, a pioneer in stress research, concluded that physiological response to stressful
situations is fairly consistent among people. This response is called general adaptation syndrome,
and it provides an automatic defence system to help cope with the demands of the environment.
There are three stages as per the general adaptation syndrome:
Stage 1: Alarm Reaction: Whenever there is a stimulus for example, a speeding vehicle on the
road while one tries to cross the road, facing an interview without much preparation, etc. the
brain sends a biochemical message to various parts of the body, which results in different
physiological reactions. Some of these reactions include increased respiration rate, blood pressure,
heart beat, and muscle tension. The person’s energy level and coping effectiveness decreases
because of the initial shock. Extreme shock in this situation may lead to incapacitation or
sometimes even to death as the body is unable to generate enough energy quickly. In most of
the cases, the alarm reaction alerts the person to the environmental conditions and preparation
is made for the resistance stage.

Stage 2: Resistance: During this stage, the capacity of the body to cope with the demands of
the environment increases above the normal level because the body activates various
biochemicals, psychological, and behavioural mechanisms. For example, there is higher than
normal secretion of adrenalin during this stage, which gives more energy to remove or overcome
the source of stress.

Stage 3: Exhaustion: This stage is achieved if the sources of stress persist for a longer period
than usual, which ultimately diminishes or lowers the individual’s capacity to resist the stress.
Employees resolve tense situations before the destructive consequences of stress becomes
manifest, or they withdraw from the stressful situation, rebuild their survival capacity, and
later return to the stressful environment with renewed energy. However, people who frequently
experience the stages of the general adaptation syndrome have increased risk of long-term
physiological and psychological damage.

The term stress had none of its contemporary connotations before the
1920s. It is a form of the Middle English destresse, derived via Old French
from the Latin stringere, to draw tight.

12.2 Nature of Stress

An individual experiences stress when he perceives the presence of the factor creating stress
as representing a demand that may exceed ability to respond. The factors that cause stress have
been referred to as stressors. When individuals are under stress, their reaction varies from
physiological, psychological to behavioural responses, as have been discussed earlier.
12.2.1 Fight-or-Flight Response

As a result of the reaction to stress, breathing and the heart rate changes and brain activity goes
up to allow the brain to function maximally. Hearing and sight become more acute and muscles
ready themselves for action. These biochemical changes in the body represent a natural reaction
to environmental stressors; the fight-or-flight response. When a predator attacks an animal in
a forest, it has two choices, either to fight back or to flee. The animal’s body response to the
stressors (predators) increases its chances of survival.

The human nervous system responds in the same way to stressors from the environment. This
response enables survival in a true emergency. However, for most of the people most of the

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