Home
>
Stress Management
>
Why Stress Management Programmes Don?t Work

Why Stress Management Programmes Don?t Work

Why Stress Management programmes don't work?

It seems that every week there's yet another report telling us how serious the problem of Stress is becoming ? how many working days are lost (anything between 6.5 million and 90 million days depending on whose report you read), how much it costs industry, what percentage of workers experience Stress, and so on. And despite the publicity, nothing seems to be changing. If anything, Stress seems to be becoming even more widespread, and at an alarming rate.

So why are things getting worse instead of better, and why don't Stress Management programmes seem to work?

From an individual perspective, managing Stress is a bit like getting fit. There are people whose idea of getting fit is to walk down to the bookshop, buy a book on fitness and exercise, take it home and read it? and do nothing. Or even worse, not even walk to the bookshop at all but buy it on the Internet! People can only get fit by exercising ? getting fit means taking action.

It's the same with Stress. Some people think the way to manage Stress is to go to a Stress Management workshop. What they don't realise is that to manage their stress they need to do something different. And why don't people take any action to manage their stress better? Why do they seem to be stuck in Stress?

There can be many reasons, but one of the most common ones seems to be fear of the consequences, that is, fear of how they will be seen by their employers and colleagues. The message that many organisations give out is that "It's not OK to be stressed, and it's certainly not OK to take the steps you need to manage your stress effectively". It's rarely stated explicitly, but it's there in organisational cultures nevertheless.

Another reason is that when people are already stressed, and they then have to think about taking time to exercise or relax, the thought creates more stress. It's yet another task in an already busy lifestyle, and so people are reluctant to make time for it -- even though we know it leads to better health, more effective working and quality of life.

The third reason is that many people make other things more important than their own health and well-being. Bizarre though it may sound, people will put time and effort into meeting their boss's expectations in preference to looking after their own health.

The reality, of course, is that unless we look after ourselves properly as employees the job will never be done properly anyway. So self-management has to be a priority.

Most stress management courses fail because they are "band-aid" solutions. They try to treat the symptoms instead of the underlying causes. To make Stress Management truly effective needs a fundamental shift in attitudes, both in individuals and employers. Employees must begin to put themselves and their health first. And employers need to make it OK for people to say they are stressed and to take proper care of themselves.

Many companies penalise their staff for arriving at work late. But how many companies do you know who penalise their staff for staying late at the end of the working day? One senior manager at a large IT company was seen recently throwing people out of the building at 6pm, telling them to go home and chill out. He recognised the law of diminishing returns ? and realised that if his team were to be effective in their work they needed to have a healthy balance between work and personal life. He not only made it OK for his staff to develop work/life balance ? he made it mandatory!

So many companies claim that "people are our most important asset". If it's true, why are they still stressed?

Rob Mottram and Lichfield Associates offer Work/Life Balance programmes aimed at helping organisations to become stress-resistant. For more information contact Rob Mottram on 01886 833588 or visit http://www.lichfield-associates.com

emergency cleaning services Arlington Heights ...

In The News:

UCLA's PhoneBot turns old Android phones into the brain of a two-legged humanoid robot that walks, follows people and stands up after falling.

A fake Amazon invoice charging $988.18 for an iPad lists the same customer support phone number three times to steer panicked victims into calling.

A handful of food delivery robots from Uber Eats and other platforms have gotten kicked and knocked over in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Data broker opt-out forms may not protect your family. People search sites can still expose your info through a spouse's or parent's profile.

Apple's first touchscreen MacBook Pro starts at $2,899 with a PROLED XDR OLED display, but the non-touch M6 model costs $900 less at $1,999.

Black Friday deals are already drawing scammers who use fake delivery notices and gift card payment requests to steal your personal financial information.

Apple's iPhone Duo reportedly outlasted the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 by over three hours in battery tests, but its weight and repair costs raise concerns.

Florida Polytechnic University's Jetson ONE eVTOL police vehicle named Astro still awaits FAA authorization before officers can fly operational patrols.

OpenAI's new locked chats feature lets you protect ChatGPT conversations with a PIN, Face ID or Touch ID, but there are key privacy limitations.

A phishing email disguised as an Evite fooled a man even after he emailed his friend to verify it, revealing how compromised Gmail accounts aid scams.

Microsoft's AI diagnostic system identified 83% of complex medical cases in a study, more than doubling the 36% accuracy of generalist doctors.

Account takeover threats go beyond stolen passwords as criminals exploit session cookies, SIM swaps and MFA fatigue to bypass your login security.

SpaceX is reportedly pursuing access to 80,000 cell sites to turn Starlink into a major wireless carrier rivaling Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile.

Tech advocacy groups warn that foreign nationals at AI companies like OpenAI and Google pose a national security threat amid a lack of federal oversight.

Singapore researchers built the world's first touchscreen woven into clothing, surviving 50 machine washes while displaying images and responding to touch.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

A startup founder woke to $449 in unexpected OpenAI and Anthropic charges after stolen API keys were exploited during the "Black October" cyber wave.

Educational Testing Service hackers stole millions of California student records, but families who moved out of state years ago may also be affected.

Apple's iPhone Duo screens are cracking near the hinge just days after its $1,999 launch, and iFixit's CT scans may reveal what's going wrong.

Travel expert Katy Nastro says 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles vanished from her account after someone redeemed them without permission.

Google AI Overviews can't be permanently turned off, but adding -AI to your searches and using the built-in Web filter can help bypass AI summaries.

Attaxion researchers found 30 fake Texas campaign merchandise stores traced to just two sellers hawking gear for competing Republicans and Democrats.

GM plans to debut eyes-off driving in the Cadillac Escalade IQ by 2028, but safety testing reveals how long distracted drivers take to regain control.

Data brokers assign labels predicting your health, finances and religion based on browsing and purchases, then sell those profiles to businesses.

Elon Musk says he'll give one SpaceX share to every kid in America in 2027, but key details about eligibility and distribution remain unclear.