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12 Friday, February 20, 2009 HAMILTON COUNTY HERALD
Local expert offers tips on dealing with work-related stress
By David Laprad
Ben Franklin said nothing
in life is certain except death and
taxes. These days, you can add
stress to the list. With
the threat of a terrorist
attack looming over the
US like a dark scepter,
the economy tumbling
like Jack and Jill down a
sharp hill and employers
cutting jobs like they’re
going out of style, no
one can escape the
mental pressure cooker
into which our culture
has been thrown.
And the effects of
stress can be devastating.
On a personal
level, constant worry
and tension can damage
one’s health, relationships
and quality of life.
On the job, the reverberations
can be seen in
reduced productivity
and an increase in workplace
accidents.
Ben Miller III of
EAP (Employee
Assistance Program)
Care spends his working
hours dealing with stress
in the workplace. And
he says recent developments in
America have made minimizing
the effects of anxiety and pressure
a whole new ballgame.
“We’ve never had to manage
security issues resulting from
terrorism and it’s been a while
since we’ve had to deal with men
going to war,” he says. “We have
soldiers returning home, kicking
the dust off their boots and going
to work the next day. That’s
stressful.”
Historically, economic concerns
have always been a factor,
but Miller says the heat has
become excruciating, which
makes doing one’s job difficult.
“Say you make widgets at a
factory. As you watch what’s taking
place in the economy, you’re
going to worry about whether or
not you’ll have a job tomorrow.
Then at home, you have a kid
acting up and a wife or husband
spending too much money. Can
you function properly at work
with all this going on? No.”
Job performance suffers,
Miller says, because of the physiological
effects of stress.
“Our bodies are phenome-
Stress on the job isn’t always a result of too much work and too little time. It can also arise from outside
factors, such as economic turmoil, family stability and global crises. Unless managed, the effects of stress
can be devastating. (David Laprad)
nal. When we’re stressed, only
the things necessary for survival
continue to function.
Everything else slows down,
including your digestive system.
Ironically, serotonin — the antidepressant
our bodies produce —
is made in the small intestine.
So after we’ve been stressed for a
while, depression sets it.”
This puts a person on the
fast track for anxiety, anger, hostility
and hate. Many individuals
cope with this process in
unhealthy ways, such as turning
to drugs or alcohol, ending their
marriage or quitting their
job.
Miller’s responsibility
as an EAP rep is to prevent
stress from taking
root, which he does
through early intervention,
diagnosis, assessment
and treatment at the lowest
level — and in the
most cost effective manner.
As part of his work,
he might determine a person’s
stress level by administering
the Homes-Rahe
test, which assigns numerical
values to things that
induce tension, and offer
advice on changes the
individual can make.
To demonstrate,
Miller grabs a pen and a
piece of paper and scribbles
a crude drawing of a
man juggling several balls,
some of which are on the
ground.
“All of these things
we get ourselves into create
stress,” he says, pointing
to the balls in the air.
“And we’re likely to overextend
ourselves. So which one of these
can you put down? Do you have
to be involved in this civic club
or that organization? You have
to evaluate what’s truly of value
to you.”
Sometimes, there’s no
escape, especially when work
piles up and time is tight. To
alleviate the ensuing stress,
Miller suggests a number of
activities centered on relaxation,
including deep breathing,
stretching, exercise, taking a
bath, getting a massage and eating
well.
“Most people don’t know
how to relax. It’s as easy as sitting
up straight, taking a deep
breath in through your nose,
holding it and then letting it
slowly out through your mouth.”
In addition to eating well
and getting eight hours of sleep,
Miller says exercise is one of the
best things a person can do to
counter the effects of stress. “For
years, I went to the Y every
morning at six o’clock and did 30
minutes of aerobic exercise and
some strength training before
showering and going to work.
Exercising on a regular basis does
wonderful things. It burns up the
chemicals your body produces
when you’re stressed.”
It’s just as important for a
person to address his mind and
spirit, says Miller. Talking with a
friend, seeing a funny movie, crying,
reading and doing something
you love can release pent-up
emotions and relax your mind.
“Feeding our spirit is just as
important and keeping our bodies
healthy.”
In the end, reducing stress
through the techniques Miller
suggests can better equip a person
to follow the advice of
Franklin, who also said, “Don’t
anticipate trouble or worry about
what might never happen. Keep
in the sunlight.”
For more information about
Miller’s EAP programs, email
eapcareinc@aol.com. ❖