Anxiety and Coping Mechanisms in the Workplace

Abstract

The human body reacts in a different way to any alteration in normal functioning. To stress for example, the body reacts in anxiety. Dictated by the environment they work in; health care service providers experience a lot of stress and anxiety is a common diagnosis for them. While health care professions are very demanding, health professionals need support and coping mechanisms to deal with anxiety because the coping mechanisms help them to remain productive at work and there is a myriad of mechanisms not limited to medication. The literature discussed is diverse and ranges from studies conducted to establish the effectiveness of coping mechanisms to writing that supports the need for a critical observation of the psychological health hazards that healthcare workers are exposed to. The literature divulges the importance of providing support and coping mechanisms to healthcare professionals and the availability of diverse treatment and management options. From the literature, it is evident that anxiety among health professionals is prevalent and there is need for healthcare workers to identify the sources of their anxiety and learn to manage. The studies validate the proposition that healthcare professionals need coping mechanisms to alleviate the stress and anxiety they experience in the workplace and that many effective coping mechanisms are at their disposal.

Anxiety in the Workplace

This essay addresses the need for support and coping strategies for healthcare employees who face increased anxiety and stress in the workplace. It discusses the preemptive strategies and tools used by healthcare professionals to detect and treat anxiety. The healthcare employee should be able to identify the cause of their anxiety and seek treatment and education to develop skills and coping mechanisms to reduce their anxiety. Addressing concerns in the workplace and being able to communicate effectively are helpful tools that can help with anxiety. Anxiety treatment options are not limited to medications but also encompass non-pharmacological treatment as well. Also, with education related to anxiety, healthcare workers can develop effective coping mechanisms and strategies that can positively impact their work performance.

Literature Review

In light of the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2016, Khalid et.al conducted a research to identify the emotional stressors that healthcare workers experienced and the coping mechanisms they employed. While it was evident that anxiety was a major reaction to the stress the pandemic caused, coping strategies employed by the healthcare workers helped to alleviate the stress. Changing the work environment was a material strategy that reduced the levels of anxiety the employees experienced and gave them motivation to carry on with work (Khalid et.al, 2016). In addition, familial support, therapy and acknowledgement by management were some of the strategies that helped the workers alleviate their stress.

The prevalence of anxiety in healthcare workers has an exponential increase. An assessment on nursing professionals reveled that over half of the nurses experienced significant levels of anxiety (Alharthy et.al, 2017). The awareness of possible causes of anxiety and the population affected influences the way it is managed by the health administration and the workers. Professionally prescribed medication was identified as possible strategy to combat anxiety while non-pharmacological treatments like counselling and administration support also proved effective.

Non-pharmacological treatments of anxiety are employed widely depending on the severity. Brief mindfulness is a technique used by healthcare employees to ease their stress while on the job. In a study evaluate its effectiveness, Gauthier et.al (2015) determined that given the necessary tools, healthcare workers were able to learn how to self-manage their stress and control their reaction to stress. The use of brief mindfulness meditation while at work, improved the stress levels experienced and reduced the anxiety levels suffered.

Similarly, long term practice mindfulness-based stress reduction technique proved effective as an intervention for stress and anxiety. Mindfulness based stress reduction is a cognitive based therapy that can be practiced without the help of a trained professional provided an initial training is conducted. After using the mindfulness meditation technique, healthcare workers expressed significant improvement in their anxiety and stress levels (Suyi et.al, 2017). The effects of this intervention strategy held up long after the research and proved sustainable as a coping mechanism.

The center for disease control and prevention recognizes the possible hazardous psychological health effects caused by the pressure on healthcare workers. Stress and anxiety pose a particular crippling effect that trickles down to the patients. It proposes a combination of organizational interventions such as adjustments in the workplace and employee motivation to reduce the stress levels in the workplace. It also suggests the use of worker focused strategies particularly cognitive behavioral therapy, relaxation and available non-medical intervention to help the workers deal with the stress levels and prevent anxiety (CDC, 2008).

In an attempt to make known the prevalence and need for coping strategies for healthcare workers, the authors of “learn how to become” draw the picture of the possible mental crisis that healthcare workers face in the workplace. They account for the dedication of healthcare workers and the busy schedules that don’t allow them to direct focus to their wholeness and wellbeing. The authors also insist on the importance of knowing the stress points and stressors for the health workers in order to create effective intervention plans. They suggest non-pharmacological treatments such as drinking water, therapy and relaxation techniques that help to reduce anxiety levels (‘Learn how to become’, 2019).

This literature points to the existence and possible dangerous effects of anxiety in healthcare workers. It also highlights the availability of versatile treatment and intervention strategies that can be combined to help reduce anxiety levels or otherwise help them manage stress. The authors and researchers agree on the effectiveness of non-pharmacological strategies to reduce anxiety levels but do not rule out the use of medical treatment in severe cases.

Discussion

The literature verifies that healthcare workers experience high levels of stress due to demands that their profession puts on them. The need to be educated and equipped with anxiety coping mechanisms cannot be ignored and needs to be a critical service available to them. Current literature also recognizes the effectiveness of non-pharmacological anxiety treatment with a backdrop of possible side effects and problems caused by medicine-based treatment. Evidence shows the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy techniques that help healthcare workers prioritize their mental health particularly feelings of anxiety and effects of high stress.

The literature also suggests several interventions strategies that can be used by healthcare workers to reduce stress and help them manage their anxiety. Proved by research, these mechanisms of coping with stress and anxiety show high levels of effectiveness. Mental health professionals and health organizations are in agreement with literature and strongly advocate for the use of coping mechanisms and availability of support for healthcare workers to help them manage with the anxiety they are exposed to.

Conclusion

Health care occupations have long been associated with high levels stress than many other occupations. Health care workers are exposed to a web of stressors. Stressors such as overworking, time pressure and a variety of patients can lead to physical and psychological symptoms like anxiety and lead to substandard services to patients. However, literature points to a combination of interventions that can successfully reduce stress and prevent anxiety symptoms among health care workers. Organizational strategies and initiative by the workers effectively reduce levels of stress and anxiety. Although organizational interventions that address the sources of stress are preferred, combined interventions have significant effectiveness.

Anxiety and Coping Mechanisms in the Workplace

References

Suyi, Y., Meredith, P., & Khan, A. (2017). Effectiveness of mindfulness intervention in reducing stress and burnout for mental health professionals in Singapore. Explore, 13(5), 319-326.

Khalid, I., Khalid, T. J., Qabajah, M. R., Barnard, A. G., & Qushmaq, I. A. (2016). Healthcare workers emotions, perceived stressors and coping strategies during a MERS-CoV outbreak. Clinical medicine & research, 14(1), 7-14.

Alharthy, N., Alrajeh, O. A., Almutairi, M., & Alhajri, A. (2017). Assessment of anxiety level of emergency health-care workers by generalized anxiety disorder-7 tool. International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research, 7(3), 150.

Gauthier, T., Meyer, R. M., Grefe, D., & Gold, J. I. (2015). An on-the-job mindfulness-based intervention for pediatric ICU nurses: a pilot. Journal of pediatric nursing, 30(2), 402-409.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2008)

Mental Health in the workplace: Coping with depression and anxiety. (2019, April 19). Retrieved from: https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/career-resource-center/mental-health-at-work/

Anxiety and Coping Mechanisms in the Workplace

Annotated Bibliography

Suyi, Y., Meredith, P., & Khan, A. (2017). Effectiveness of mindfulness intervention in reducing stress and burnout for mental health professionals in Singapore. Explore, 13(5), 319-326.

This research investigates the effectiveness of mindfulness intervention among health professionals. The results suggested significant improvement in the anxiety levels of health professional and stress management. These strategies led to a significant reduction of burnout instances for health professionals.

These researchers took to evaluate the emotional health of workers during the MERS pandemic. They identified stressors that largely affected the health workers and the coping strategies they employed to facilitate them to continue working. The research is focused on the impact of the anxiety surrounding the pandemic particularly on the healthcare workers.

The researchers, in an attempt to prove the prevalence of anxiety resulting from stress in healthcare professions, identified a common form of anxiety and tested a number of emergency care workers. From the grading system, over half of the workers exhibited signs of anxiety while a big part of his half required professional medical attention. They express the need for an implementation of coping strategies and the involvement of the health administration in identifying and reducing instances of anxiety.

Gauthier, T., Meyer, R. M., Grefe, D., & Gold, J. I. (2015). An on-the-job mindfulness-based intervention for pediatric ICU nurses: a pilot. Journal of pediatric nursing, 30(2), 402-409.

Gauthier’s research is recognized by many authors predominantly the employment of brief mindfulness in stress management. While mindfulness meditation needs training, space and a lot of effort, brief mindfulness can be done while on the job and goes a long way to reduce long-term effects such as anxiety. In his study, the choice of population which is pediatric ICU nurses increases the feasibility of the technique considering the pressure these nurses experience. Clear results, discussions and conclusions are included in Gauthier’s research to demonstrate the exact efficiency of these technique.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2008)

The center for disease control and prevention is a world known health organization that provides information on various diseases and health concerns in the world. In this article, it expresses concern on the stress that the makeup of the healthcare workplace causes and the consequent effects on the healthcare workers. The CDC identifies possible stressors and follows with an outline of possible interventions that are and can be used by healthcare workers to manage stress and feelings of anxiety.

Mental Health in the workplace: Coping with depression and anxiety. (2019, April 19). Retrieved from: https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/career-resource-center/mental-health-at-work/

The authors of this article identify the general landscape of mental health and also express the importance of a healthy workplace. They acknowledge the dedication put in by workers and the undeniable effects that this has on their mental health. The article also informs on several ways that health workers can identify and manage stress and anxiety. They recognize the role of administration in addressing employee anxiety and stress.

Anxiety and Coping Mechanisms in the Workplace

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