OfficeStressHisVsHers

1、Office Stress: His Vs. HersToo much work, too little money and not eno ugh opport unity for growth are stress ing us out on the job, accord ing to a new survey from the America n Psychological Associati on.On e-third of employees experie nee chronic stress related to work, the survey found. Wome n r

2、eport higher levels of work stress tha n men, as well as a gnawing sense that they are un derappreciated and un derpaid.Fifty-four perce nt of the 1,501 employed adults surveyed say they feel they are paid too little for their contributions, and 61% said their jobs dont offer adequate opportunities

3、to adva nee. Only half of the adults polled said they feel valued at work.Wome n feel especially stuck and ten se, the associati on survey in dicates. Thirty-two perce nt of wome n said their employers dont provide sufficie nt opport un ities for internal adva nceme nt, compared with 30% of men. Wom

4、e n are more likely to feel tense duri ng a typical workday, report ing more ofte n that their employer does nt appreciate what they do.The ann ual survey, con ducted in Jan uary and released Tuesday, found the proport ion of chronically stressed individuals has shrunk to 35% this year, compared wit

5、h 41% in 2012, suggest ing an improvi ng economy and job market are maki ng some peoples work lives easier. But smaller perce ntages reported satisfact ion with their jobs and work-life bala nee compared with 2012 - two areas that had bee n on the upsw ing.Womens stress is rising as families rely mo

6、re on womens earnings. An employed wifes contribution to family earnings has hovered, on average, at 47% since 2009. But in that year, it jumped from 45% - the biggest single-year rise in more than two decades, said Kristi n Smith, sociology professor at the Un iversity of New Hampshire. The compara

7、ble figure in 1988 was 38%.Emotional responses to stress often divide along gender lines, with men more likely to have a fight or flight reaction while women are more likely to have a tend and befriend resp on se, seek ing comfort in relatio nships and care of loved on es, accord ing to research by

8、Shelley E. Taylor, health psychology professor at the Uni versity of Califor nia, Los An geles, and others.Physically, the body resp onds to stress by secreti ng horm ones into the bloodstream that spur accelerated heart rate and breathing and tensing of muscles. People who experience stress as a po

9、sitive often have in creased blood flow to the brain, muscles and limbs, similar to the effects of aerobic exercise. Those who feel frighte ned or threate ned, however, ofte n have an erratic heart rate and con strict ing blood vessels. Their blood pressure rises and hands and feet may grow cold. Th

10、ey may become agitated, speak more loudly or experie nee lapses in judgme nt.Either way, too much stress is harmful to individuals and eompanies, says David Posen, a physieia n and author of the book Is Work Killi ng You? A Doctors Preseripti on for Treati ng Workplace Stress.Chronic stress reduces

11、all of the things that help productivity - men tal clarity, short-term memory, decisi on-mak ing and moods, Dr. Pose n says.Kare n Herbis on, 46, experie need symptoms of chro nic stress after man ageme nt cha nges in her department three years ago, and her management style was criticized as not tou

12、gh eno ugh, she says. She says she was told that while her bosses liked her, theres just someth ing miss in g.She stretched her 45-hour workweek to 55 hours. Even so, Ms. Herbison recalls. I felt like I was doing everyth ing wron g.She began to experienee insomnia and irritability, and she had heart

13、 palpitations at work.I was short-tempered and yelli ng at my kids, she recalls. I felt like I was los ing my min d. She saw a psychiatrist briefly and decided, I have to remove myself from the situation. This is not who I am.Ms. Herbisons stress vanished as soon as she left her former employer earl

14、ier this year to ope n a senior home-care eompa ny, Visit ing An gels, with her husba nd in Eau Claire, Wis.Such a react ion isnt un com mon in healthy in dividuals who leave a highly stressful situation. But if harmful levels of stress continue for too long, a person may lose the ability to relax,

15、a con diti on lin ked in research to nu merous health problems.Wome n tend to in ternalize, which con tributes to their stress, says Lois Barth, a New York-based bus in ess and relati on ship coach. Many wome n hesitate to speak up for themselves or challe nge behavior they see as un fair. Wome n ha

16、ve to give themselves a voice, she says.Sarah Broadbe nt Man ago, 41, was used to meeti ng deadli nes as an in formati on tech no logy con sulta nt. But she says she bega n to doubt herself whe n she felt un derm ined by a man ager. She now works as a senior in formati on-tech no logy project man ag

17、er for ano ther eompa ny and says the experie nee left her believ ing wome n in particular feel stressed whe n they are challe nged or devalued by their man agers.Wome n man agers in male-do min ated fields sometimes find the stress of juggli ng family resp on sibilities in tolerable. In terior desi

18、g ner Kay Kean ey, 40, rose fast at a California medical group, tak ing on resp on sibility for in terior and facility pla nning and con structi on man ageme nt for health-care facilities. With her 60-hour workweeks, plus early-m orning and late-night meetings and a 1.5-hour commute each way, she se

19、ldom had time with her two small childre n. Yet she hesitated to compla in.There was too much work to be done, and playing the Mommy card was bad form, Ms. Keaney says.Whether stuck in traffic on her way to a 6 p.m. pickup at day care, or torn betwee n her childre n and urge nt work emails, I just wan ted to crawl out of my skin, she says. I was overwhelmed.Ms. Keaney had feeli ngs of pan ic, headaches and a raci ng heart. It was a wake-up call, she says, whe n her 2-year-old son Stanley grabbed her BlackBerr