(123rf.com image)

Tight deadlines, long hours, and a toxic workplace often give rise to stress that can sometimes be overwhelming.

And if it’s chronic, experts say, it can lead to long-term health problems ranging from anxiety and depression to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

“When our bodies are under stress, we release certain chemicals, like cortisol and adrenalin, that are very bad for our bodies,” says Greenville psychologist Dr. Martha Durham. 

“It can make you physically sick and emotionally unwell,” she says. “It’s not all in your head.”

“A lot of the health problems we see are from chronic stress,” adds Dr. Christopher Sege, a clinical psychologist at the Medical University of South Carolina. “Especially in today’s world.”

Some stress, he says, can be positive. It can help people operate at high levels, such as completing a project under deadline, for example.

“The issue is when it starts to be chronic and never ending,” he says. “You feel like you don’t have a lot of control over anything. It’s a learned helplessness and you feel overwhelmed … and you start to see danger everywhere, too.”

When that happens, he says, it becomes easier to focus on the negative and harder to see the positive. And that kind of stress can lead to a vicious cycle where you’re not as productive and effective at work as you want to be, either. 

“It bleeds into your home life, too, of course,” Sege says. 

And nowadays, it’s not unusual for both people to be under stress, which can put a lot of strain on the relationship, he says.

For some, this can lead to arguing, he says. For others, it can look like isolation by withdrawing from people. 

“It makes it harder to work as a team,” he says. “Even if you’re not at each other’s throats, when you’re under so much stress, you’re just focused on surviving.”

Durham says the first thing she advises people to do when they’re under extreme stress is track what’s causing it because they often feel so overwhelmed and distraught that they can’t express why they’re upset. 

“You start to shut down because it becomes so overwhelming,” adds Sege. “You can’t think things through.” 

Durham says that in the workplace, the stress may be caused by long hours or low pay or because people don’t know what the boss thinks about them. There are many other causes too, she says, including coworkers who want to chat during work hours.

“For a lot of people right now, as we watch people get laid off (around the country) it’s very stressful,” she says. “(They) worry about their jobs and how they’ll make a living.” 

Once you figure out what’s going on, it’s important to develop healthy responses to it and set priorities, she says, adding that turning to alcohol or other unhealthy choices can be counterproductive.

“Let’s say it’s tax season and you’re an accountant. You will be super busy,” she says. “You need to take breaks and healthy breaks. Exercise when you can. Walk up and down the stairs. Take a lap around the office. And make sure to take time to eat, and eat healthy if you can.”

It’s also important to get enough sleep, Durham says, and one way to do that is to keep to a regular bedtime routine. 

She also advises people to avoid watching or listening to anything activating like the headlines and to refrain from checking the phone or social media. 

“If a real emergency is happening,” she says, “you will hear about it.” 

Limiting liquids and exercise before bed also helps, she says.

Natural sleep aids, like magnesium supplements, also can help people relax, she says, and a light box in the morning can help to reset your circadian rhythm, which helps you sleep at night. 

Durham advises seeking medical help for serious problems such as sleep apnea.

Sege says that finding ways to unplug from the stress is important. Just taking a break for 20 minutes at different intervals over the course of the day can be helpful. 

“What I observe these days is people take a working lunch – they’re eating lunch but typing on a screen or are on a video call,” he says. “Take your sandwich outside and eat without working.”

As an alternative to unplugging, he says, find ways to work in different settings. 

“Spending all day in one office, you’re kind of conditioned with all the stress,” he says. “And sometimes, just changing your venue – a park, the back yard – you’re not trapped in the same place all the time.”

Other tips include physical activity like taking a walk, doing some yogic breathing, connecting with nature, and having a self-care routine, he says. 

For those who need help remembering to do these things, he says a set schedule can keep you from abandoning them, like going for a walk every day at 5, or having reminders on the phone.

“Getting away from stress is work,” Sege says, “but you need to carve out that time.” 

It’s important to take time to recharge, adds Durham. 

“There’s no way you can be working endlessly without time away from work,” she says. “Anybody who has to work 80 hours a week probably needs to find a new job.”

People also need to learn how to relax, she says. Yoga and mindfulness – which affect breathing and thinking patterns – can help.

“Often, if you can help people do those things,” she says, “they can relax better even when things are stressful.”

It can also be beneficial to talk with your boss about your concerns, limit energy drinks and caffeine – which can aggravate the stress, and get support if you need it from friends and colleagues while having people around you who support and encourage you, she says.

And try to find a community of like-minded people.

Seeking therapy, of course, is another way to cope, she says. 

People who work in jobs they love are less likely to have stress, she says.

But no workplace is perfect, and people need to learn how to function if they stay, she says.

“Not every workplace where you’re not doing well is toxic. And not everybody who makes us mad is a narcissist,” she says. “Sometimes you may be trying to fit yourself into a job you’re not suited for. And sometimes our job is to say, why are you doing that job.”

But if you’re in a toxic workplace, she says, it probably won’t change the stress level. In that case, she says, she often coaches people to look for another job – even what she calls a bridge job – to get out of a terrible situation.

“You cannot feel better if you have a poisonous boss or a toxic workplace. That won’t change,” she says. “No one has to be in the job forever. You can pay the bills, but you want an exit plan. Maybe get some new training.”  

Meanwhile, Durham says it’s important for people who’ve suffered any kind of trauma to get it under control.  

But whatever the cause of the stress, Durham and Sege agree, you can feel better by adopting some of the coping techniques.

“Stress can feel so much less stressful if you take care of yourself,” Sege says. “You invest so much in your job and work, it’s good to invest in yourself as well.”