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Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Stress Test for Professional Women
Stress Test For Professional Women
by Bee Epstein, Career Specialist
Stress is a word to describe a complex series of biochemical changes that occur in the body when the brain or central nervous system perceives a threat to its well-being. The body sets up the alarm response, a primitive response designed to help the organism protect itself.
In the distant past, the primitives were affected by episodic stressors such as natural disasters, thunderstorms or encounters with wild animals. The primitive's alarm response, which includes increased adrenaline flow, heart rate, muscular strength and other related physiological adjustments, helped her gather the physical strength to fight or run from the danger.
Modern woman also has her share of episodic stressors. However, she rarely fights or runs. Instead, her body adapts. Worry, guilt, long-term time pressures, confronting the problems of being a woman in the business environment, question her role in society, running a home and a career ? they are all stressors. These also cause similar adaptive biochemical changes in the body. Over a period of time, the body runs out of adaptive energy, and stress-related illness shows up.
Many women don't recognize stress until it gets out of hand, but we do have plenty of warning. The following are some of the common symptoms of stress:
headache
stiff neck
back pains
muscle tension
tics, nervous habits
digestive problems
appetite change
sleeplessness
loss of interest in sex
teeth grinding
colds, minor ills
mood swings
low self-esteem
irritability
isolation
anxiety
depression
fatigue
distrust
blaming
crying
excessive alcohol use
use of drugs
Most people are able to live with these symptoms, but when stress becomes prolonged, it results in serious health breakdown, research indicates that the following conditions are often the result of excess stress: high blood pressure, ulcers, kidney disease, respiratory problems, heart attacks, stroke, arthritis, cancer and accidents.
The questions on this stress test help you evaluate the chronic stressors that are part of being a woman in the workforce. Some questions concern your work and others your personal life. Some can be interpreted either or both ways since it is often difficult to separate the effects of work and personal stress. Score yourself on each questions:
0 - never
1 - rarely the case
2 - sometimes
3 - true about half the time
4 - often the case
5 - almost always true
Q1. I am not able to make many decisions concerning what I do.
Q2. I have the major responsibility for my household.
Q3. I try to please my husband and/or children.
Q4. I am a single parent.
Q5. My current life is in conflict with my upbringing.
Q6. I have no emotional support.
Q7. It is difficult to coordinate my professional and home life.
Q8. I have very little time for myself.
Q9. I feel I do not get paid enough.
Q10. I am the only woman in this department/level in the company.
Q11. I have no one to talk to about my job problems.
Q12. I feel I must perform especially well to prove myself.
Q13. I feel there is sexual discrimination/harassment where I work.
Q14. I have very little influence or authority.
Q15. I have a great deal of responsibility.
Q16. I operate under real time and performance pressures.
Q17. Most of my work time is spent a computer terminal.
Q18. My work does not challenge me.
Q19. I don't get enough feedback about my performance.
Q20. I feel insecure in my position.
Q21. My work is my life.
Q22. My ambition is thwarted/obstructed.
Q23. I am aware of my 'biological clock' or age.
Q24. I wonder if I have made the right decisions concerning my life.
Q25. I feel a great deal of resentment.
Add up the total score. This is an indicator, not an exact measure, because some people can tolerate a greater number of stressors than others, without feeling ill effects. If your score is below 40 you do not have much chronic stress in your life. If it is between 40 and 59, you shouldn't have too much concern. For scorer between 60 and 79, you would do well to practice stress management techniques, and if your score is 80 or above, you should make stress reduction a priority.
taken from sg.jobstreet.com
by Bee Epstein, Career Specialist
Stress is a word to describe a complex series of biochemical changes that occur in the body when the brain or central nervous system perceives a threat to its well-being. The body sets up the alarm response, a primitive response designed to help the organism protect itself.
In the distant past, the primitives were affected by episodic stressors such as natural disasters, thunderstorms or encounters with wild animals. The primitive's alarm response, which includes increased adrenaline flow, heart rate, muscular strength and other related physiological adjustments, helped her gather the physical strength to fight or run from the danger.
Modern woman also has her share of episodic stressors. However, she rarely fights or runs. Instead, her body adapts. Worry, guilt, long-term time pressures, confronting the problems of being a woman in the business environment, question her role in society, running a home and a career ? they are all stressors. These also cause similar adaptive biochemical changes in the body. Over a period of time, the body runs out of adaptive energy, and stress-related illness shows up.
Many women don't recognize stress until it gets out of hand, but we do have plenty of warning. The following are some of the common symptoms of stress:
headache
stiff neck
back pains
muscle tension
tics, nervous habits
digestive problems
appetite change
sleeplessness
loss of interest in sex
teeth grinding
colds, minor ills
mood swings
low self-esteem
irritability
isolation
anxiety
depression
fatigue
distrust
blaming
crying
excessive alcohol use
use of drugs
Most people are able to live with these symptoms, but when stress becomes prolonged, it results in serious health breakdown, research indicates that the following conditions are often the result of excess stress: high blood pressure, ulcers, kidney disease, respiratory problems, heart attacks, stroke, arthritis, cancer and accidents.
The questions on this stress test help you evaluate the chronic stressors that are part of being a woman in the workforce. Some questions concern your work and others your personal life. Some can be interpreted either or both ways since it is often difficult to separate the effects of work and personal stress. Score yourself on each questions:
0 - never
1 - rarely the case
2 - sometimes
3 - true about half the time
4 - often the case
5 - almost always true
Q1. I am not able to make many decisions concerning what I do.
Q2. I have the major responsibility for my household.
Q3. I try to please my husband and/or children.
Q4. I am a single parent.
Q5. My current life is in conflict with my upbringing.
Q6. I have no emotional support.
Q7. It is difficult to coordinate my professional and home life.
Q8. I have very little time for myself.
Q9. I feel I do not get paid enough.
Q10. I am the only woman in this department/level in the company.
Q11. I have no one to talk to about my job problems.
Q12. I feel I must perform especially well to prove myself.
Q13. I feel there is sexual discrimination/harassment where I work.
Q14. I have very little influence or authority.
Q15. I have a great deal of responsibility.
Q16. I operate under real time and performance pressures.
Q17. Most of my work time is spent a computer terminal.
Q18. My work does not challenge me.
Q19. I don't get enough feedback about my performance.
Q20. I feel insecure in my position.
Q21. My work is my life.
Q22. My ambition is thwarted/obstructed.
Q23. I am aware of my 'biological clock' or age.
Q24. I wonder if I have made the right decisions concerning my life.
Q25. I feel a great deal of resentment.
Add up the total score. This is an indicator, not an exact measure, because some people can tolerate a greater number of stressors than others, without feeling ill effects. If your score is below 40 you do not have much chronic stress in your life. If it is between 40 and 59, you shouldn't have too much concern. For scorer between 60 and 79, you would do well to practice stress management techniques, and if your score is 80 or above, you should make stress reduction a priority.
taken from sg.jobstreet.com
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