Relationship Between Workplace Stress and Illness

7/22/2018

Abstract
This paper is being prepared to provide information about the relationship between workplace
stress and illness and the factors of the operational environment that cause stressful
circumstances and negative health concerns of the workplace stress. This paper will highlight
the stress at work and its negative effects on the mental and physical health of a worker.
Introduction
Stress is an outcome of social relations in a way that an individual may experience stress due
to the people around him/her in their social circle. An individual may experience stress
particularly when he undertakes a danger to his social esteem (Yusoff, 2010). Stress holds
both positive and negative consequences. Stress is generally a reaction to the danger. When
an individual notices danger, spontaneously indications are conveyed to the mind and
response to that danger is generated. In the positive sense, stress appeals to us in the direction
of essential response and solution in contradiction of the threat in front of us. In the negative
terms, stress is an obstacle that decreases productivity and plays a major role in generating
obstacles to attain the targets. In a company, stress carries behavioral changes, which
eventually reduces the teamwork among employees.
The state of poor health is known as Illness and on the side; the word stress is utilized to
define the psychological and physical reaction to the demand from the atmosphere.
Psychologist and other various professionals of health have debated about the relationship
between workplace illness and stress and there is definite proof to support these arguments.
Hans Selye (2013), examines the response of the body to the stress by utilizing his
experiment on the rats; he discovers repetitive exposure to stressor decreases the ability of the

body to fight against illness. Selye claimed that human and other various animals’ react to
diverse physical and psychological situation with the similar physiological instigation.
The body reacts to the stress in two conducts: a eustress situation will result in the hormone
release ‘the fight or flight’. However, when a situation becomes tense, which results in the
state of pain, the body will become exhausted that will also result in hormones reserve been
fragile. This will damage the immune system of the body resulting in stress-linked situations
like ulcers, depression, and blood pressure (McKittrick & Blanchard, 2009). Stress can
disturb the immune system of human body i.e. it can result in the issue of ACTH from the
gland pituitary, which results in the function of inflammatory hormones that will constrain
the release of white blood cells (Jackson, 2014).
Kiecolt-Glaser and Glaser (1989), discussed that momentary stress period like meetings and
presentations at the workplace can result in a substantial destruction of the immune system.
Another model psychologist utilized to relate illness and stress is by behavior, like social
behavior and morals of a group or a team of people. For example, Culture is not about people
but it is about the way of interactions. It has been recommended that these learned manners of
interactions might be able to affect the response of the individual to stress. People who work
as per the pattern of the shift, for instance, need to adjust their body according to the clock,
which results in the significant accidents related to stress at work (Ganster & Rosen, 2013). It
has been identified that a physical shift in the industrial locales in Utah, USA connected with
an increasing rate of accidents, chronic feelings, and absenteeism. It has been argued that
sleep deprivation decreases the capacity of work and is liable for major of heavy accidents of
the vehicle that mostly happens at 4 am and 7 am (Glaser, 2002).
A psychologist has also discussed the relationship between stomach ulcer and stress; Brady
1958 first presented a supportive proof, he studied the link between the high level of stress

and hormone production that ultimately results in stomach ulcer (Integrated Socio
psychology, 2013). In his test, he engaged monkeys in the order of restraining chairs and
trained them to press a lever, which was giving them regular shocks in every 20 seconds if
the lever was pressed. Due to this experiment the monkeys died, though after the post-
mortem it was clear that they died due to the stomach ulcer, which was caused by an increase
in the gastric hormones apparently caused by the extreme stress level. However, Sceptics
have claimed the reasonability of generalizing a trial on the monkeys and connecting it to
humans (Payne, 2013).
Additionally, Psychologist also contended that the immune system is also affected due to the
indirect effect of the stress; people dealing with stress incline to uncover themselves to
diseases triggering organisms that might result in physical illness. It has been broadly
described that individuals suffering from stress are attracted towards smoking, alcohol, and
are involved in less physical activities such as exercise (VanGeest, Johnson & Alemagno,
2017). Goldback (2016), discussed that teenagers who go through the phase of extreme stress
are more likely to begin smoking than their colleague whose are free from stress or have a
low level of stress. Carey 1993 also discussed those grown-ups who are expected to resume
their habit of smoking after giving up this habit due to re-experiencing the stress.
Nevertheless, this statement raises the question that Does this shows that all the smokers are
dealing with stress. There is a big discussion that few of the smokers do smoking because
they take it as a trend of the society.
A research was also conducted on the relationship between personality and diseases related to
stress. The research was done after the study of 9 years which involved 300 men identified
that individual of Type A personality are impatience, hostile and restless behaviors which
upsurge the chances of high blood pressure, a main reason of stroke, heart attack, and other