regarding stress pt2

Some people claim that reasonable amounts of stress help them perform better in their proffesional lives. Such a claim can be medicaly justified. High stress levels mean high blood pressure. High blood pressure means that our blood circulates faster in our bodies and especially in our brains. Higher blood pressure in the brain means faster thinking and of course faster decision making. However, faster thinking does not necessarily means correct thinking. Some decisions made under extreme stress can be categorized as panic decisions, which may lead to unexpected plan failures. That phenomenon is not only observed within proffesions that require mostly mental labor, but also within those that require physical labor. You may have caught yourself dropping things while under stress even at home. The above is only a sign that stress effects not only our brains but our bodies as well.



Our body reaction to stress is not always obvious. As described above, stress is destined to increase blood pressure and heart rates. Chronic stress conditions are proven to lead to heart failures and strokes. These two types of illness are among the 3 most deadly in North America but not the only ones related to stress. Sometimes, emphasis is given to these two ignoring at the same time psychological disorders which come as a result of increased stress. Among the later, depression is the most common one. It is also the one that can be harder identified by the individuals. Some of the symptoms of depression could be sudden changes in mood with extreme behaviours, sleep disorders, lazyness, fatigue, absentism and many more. The patiens usually notice the symptoms and often seek medical help. That is a significant mistake because the real reason is not fought, while on the contrary heavy sedatives use and other types of drug abuse may lead to unwanted addictions and carry risks of dependancy adding to the original problem, if not properly diagnosed. Another side effect of stress could often be the overuse of tobacco, which in its turn can prove fatal or can accelerate the degeneration of the human biomechanisms. All these cases are often of the type "what came first? The chick or the egg?".

The only conclusion from all the above could be that at least biologicaly stress cannot do any good for anyone. It could be though good for productivity for short periods of time. Some people just need a bit of stress to go on with their tasks at work. One thing has to become clear though, that whatever stresses someone does not necessarily mean that it stresses everybody. Let's take for instance the typical hotel environment. Most people working in hotels hold a non managerial position. A managerial position has many predefined requirements, including personal skills and abilities. The rest of the positions can be filled with unskilled personell. It is commonly accepted also that positions with higher responsibilities such as the managerial positions carry more risk and with that more stress. That is a common belief among people of the hospitality world. It is not always true though. There are many people who have the skills to get promoted but they constantly reject their promotions. The most common reason is the increased level of stress coming with them. For some others, however, a lower position could include significantly more stress because these people are always under supervision. It becomes obvious that managers and their subordinates develop stress because of their fears. For the first the major fear is a decision's failure which could lead to financial disasters and for the second a failure to follow their manager's orders and directions leading to their dismissal.

Most people directly link their high stress levels to their working environment. Few blame their personal problems, including those of their relationships and family. People with whom we are co-existing may cause unbelievable stressful situtions even though they might not realise it. A parent has arguably higher stress amounts than someone without children.