Stress Case Study

Amanda, who graduated from university three years ago, has been encountering a lot of difficulties in her job. She always feels stressful at work. This feeling is getting stronger lately because her colleague left the job. Besides, it is not easy for her to get along with her colleagues. She perceives these issues as a threat so they become stressors which lead the individual to initiate stress responses (Olpin & Hesson, 2013), hence worsening her physical and mental health.

Stress is a demand made upon the adaptive capacities of the body and mind (Olpin & Hesson, 2013). Stressor, as explained above, is source of stress. Amanda’s stressors can be analyzed in two aspects. To begin with, the major stressor is her career. To her, the
First, Amanda’s body starts to show stress symptoms. The hypothalamus which reacts to stress activates the sympathetic nervous system. Then, it initiates the fight-or-flight response (Olpin & Hesson, 2013). Some body functions occur involuntarily in response to stresses. In Amanda’s case, she feels irritable, tearful and tense at work. The nervous system also disrupts sleeping schedule. This is the reason why Amanda suffers from insomnia which is reported as one of most common consequences of stress in Hong Kong (Heifetz, 2015). Apart from physical stress responses, the existence of thinking errors shows that the stressors affects Amanda’s mind too. All-or-nothing thinking is one of them. She sees everything as an extreme and no middle ground. For example, she thinks she is good for nothing and her colleagues are all very demanding. Another thinking error is assuming the worst. She looks at the worst of the situation and pessimistically believes that there will be no good outcomes in the future. In her eyes, things will be out of control
Instead, she can regard this as a great opportunity for growth. This strategy is about changing the level of responding from ineffective to effective. According to the article (Heifetz, 2015), family interaction is crucial for mental health. Thus, it is preferable for her to share the issues she faces with family member, hoping to strengthen the family bond and reduce stress.

On organizational level, the company Amanda works for should carry out some changes that help alleviate employees’ burden. One research reveals that a manageable workload is the key to controlling employees’ stress level and boosting their morale (Sim, 2009). Therefore, the company should be willing to discuss workloads with them. Other feasible company policies include after-work activities, monetary rewards for good work performance and counselling provision.

In conclusion, Amanda’s two main stressors are career and interpersonal relationship, provoking a series of stress responses on her body and mind. Strategies on various levels are advised for her to deal with her stressors appropriately, hence improving her psychological well-being. If her body resources keep being depleted by the stress but are never replenished, she may suffer from illness and the most severe condition can be