*As originally seen on Forbes.com

Humans aren’t designed to live with excessive stress. Yet over the past few years we’ve come to normalize stress, some workplaces even condone or—yikes—celebrate stress. Sure, with stress one gets a rush of adrenaline similar to a super sugary snack—but then there’s the debilitating crash.

And more than ever, workers worldwide are having a hard time bouncing back from it.

The American Institute of Stress estimates the cost of stress to U.S. industry to be over $300 billion annually. WOW.

Symptoms Of The Over-Stressed

Are you over-stressed? Let’s find out. Mark which of the symptoms in the below lists apply to you.

Cognitive symptoms:

• Memory problems
• Inability to concentrate
• Poor judgment
• Seeing only the negative
• Anxious or racing thoughts
• Constant worrying

Emotional symptoms: Depression or general unhappiness

• Anxiety and agitation
• Moodiness, irritability, or anger
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Loneliness and isolation
• Other mental or emotional health problems

Physical  symptoms:

1. Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
2. Tension in body
3. Digestive problems
4. Racing heart, heartburn
5. Reduced desire to exercise
6. Loss of appetite or binge eating
7. Increased physical injuries, from trivial to significant
8. Addictions and addictive behaviors

How many symptoms did you recognize? If over 5, read on. You’re excessively stressed. Let’s first understand some of the causes, then we’ll work on the cure.

How We Create Stress In The Workplace

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized “burnout” with a code in its International Classification of Diseases, defining it as “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” I wrote a blog on it too.

Burnout is more than basic stress, it can result in feeling hopeless, helpless, worthless, depressed or consistently anxious. Here are a few ways leaders create stress:

• Jobs that lack both autonomy and support

• Just in time/last minute deadlines that interfere with personal commitments/recovery time

• Forgetting to check in and give/receive feedback

• An environment that doesn’t foster safety, belonging, mattering

The results of excessive stress include increased staff absence, low productivity, high turnover, low morale, low motivation, and increased employee complaints, and much more!

5 Steps To Crushing Workplace Stress

1 – Understand What’s Happening In Your Body – Check out this infographic to see what stress, change and isolation does to your brain. Now that you see yourself in this cycle, it’s easier to step back and get ready for a solution.

2- Get Clear On The Stories That Keep You Stuck – This infographic will help you understand and cure the narrative that’s keeping you in excessive stress.

3 – Work Through The Hardship – The tools on this infographic will help you get into motion as you work on your cure.

4 – Take Stock Of Your Organismic Rights – Is it ok to have needs? To be loved? Weigh in on these and more in this infographic by checking and boosting your Org Rights.

5 – Now Let’s Bring On The Compassion – Check out this infographic to boost your compassion for yourself and others.

How’s the stress in your workplace? How are you handling yours? Let me know!