Recruitment HomepageLibraryHow to Reduce the Cost of Stress

Stress at work is growing and it has its cost. Not only in terms of personal happiness and health but also in financial terms.

In Ireland stress related productivity losses are costing an estimated €150m a year. In the UK 40 million working days a year are attributed to stress which costs almost stg£800m. And in the United States, the world's largest economy, 65pc of workers surveyed said their productivity was reduced by stress. So what can we do about it?

Senior clinical sports psychologist Tom Moriarty has experienced stress at first hand. He was adviser to Dr Pat O'Neill and the Dublin senior football team which won the All Ireland title in 1995.

Work related stress is similar to the kind of stress experienced by a football team at the peak of their fitness. "Think of the stress in preparing nine months for an eighty minute make-or-break match and compare it with a 20 minute presentation of a project which took months of preparation,'' he says.

Mr Moriarty works at the Dublin County Stress Clinic at St John of Gods in Stillorgan, Dublin. Most of his work is with companies which want to improve productivity, reduce the costs of stress-related absenteeism and have a happier workforce.

The macho culture of many employers means that stress problems can be supressed or ignored until they blow up. Recognising the symptoms is the first step towards solving the problem. Early indicators are frequently personal such as irritability, anxiety, poor concentration, hyper-sensitivity to criticism and heavy smoking, drinking or eating. Other personal indicators are fatigue, low self-esteem, and impaired ability to sleep.

"When you are in stress mode your body gears up and the adrenaline starts pumping. However when stress is sustained there is health damage if you never really come down from that excited state'' he says.

Stress causes a range of health problems from faintness to asthma, coronary heart disease, ulcers to rheumatoid arthritis. It can acerbate absenteeism, poor punctuality, staff turnover and industrial-relations problems.

Good stress management depends on belief about your ability to exercise control over events that effect your life. Mr Moriarty believes that healthy exercise and a balanced diet are central to effective stress management.

"It is most important to leave work at work" he says. Physically leaving the workplace for a break can help. "Instead of grabbing a sandwich for your lunch at your desk while you keep working why not walk for 20 minutes, eat your lunch and then walk back another 20 minutes. That way you get two bouts of exercise which will provide benefits for up to three hours afterwards" he says.

Using Leisure Time to Reduce Stress

There's not much point in being involved in sport or leisure activities at weekends if it involves competition which increases, rather than reduces stress.

If you are stressed out at work and are involved in the final rounds of some sports competition you may suffer. Playing golf competitively with work colleagues or your boss can also increase stress.

"Fresh air is great. But it's what you do with it that's important" Tom Moriarty says. He suggests spending more leisure time with family and friends.

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