Is Workplace Stress Pushing Employees to the Edge? Let's Talk About Prevention and Support

I'm deeply concerned about stress affecting job performance and leading to suicidal intentions. Stress in the workplace can have severe consequences on an individual's mental health and well-being. It is crucial for organizations to recognize the signs of stress in their employees and provide adequate support and resources to prevent such extreme outcomes. If you or someone you know is experiencing overwhelming stress at work, it is essential to seek help and address the issues before they escalate further. Remember, your mental health is a priority, and there are resources available to support you through challenging times.

I second Mr. Khadir. Please share what made you raise this question. Is it a project that you are working on? Stress in a job, coupled with personality issues, can collectively trigger suicide. However, it's difficult to comment without knowing the background to your case.

Regards,
(Cite Contribution)

Dear Friends,

What is Work Stress?

Work stress is a feeling created when we react to a particular event in the work environment, which may be due to an overload of work, strenuous tasks, fatigue, etc.

What is Attempting Suicide?

Attempting suicide is a screaming or alarming sound by an unnoticed or unrecognized person in the world to draw attention from the world or their near and dear ones. Suicide attempts should be considered a disease and not treated as an offense.

Interview Question: Can You Work Under Stress?

Expected Reply: All successful leaders have the ability to work under pressure and within the time frame to accomplish their tasks. I also have the ability to accomplish my tasks within the set time frame and can handle work effectively, as working under pressure often yields good results.

Stress: Stress can lead to many malfunctions in our body, such as hypertension, blood sugar issues, loss of appetite, heart attacks, liver function impairment, increased cholesterol levels, anxiety, migraines, severe headaches, heart pain, etc.

Remedies Available: That's why nowadays some IT companies are organizing Art of Living programs and yoga classes for their employees, which reduce stress and increase work efficiency.

Work tension, pressure, strain, and stress should be kept only in the workplace and should not be transferred into our mind or body, which could lead to committing or attempting suicide.

The above comments are of a generic nature and not specific to the case in question. As said by Ms. (Cite Contribution), it can be analyzed only when the query raised is clear and specific to the incident.

Regards,

Dear Mr. Bhaskar,

There are many more factors associated with stress that may trigger a suicide situation. While appreciating your reply, I would be glad if experienced members allow new members to respond to our queries rather than proceeding further with our suggestions, views, or opinions without even analyzing:

1. **The Nature of the Query - Generic or Practical**
2. **On What Grounds the Query Had Been Raised - To Analyze the Situation as Raised by Students or Professionals**
3. **Factors Associated with the Query - Actual Scenario Corresponding to the Query**

This will help us reply precisely and also assist members in posting their queries concisely. I hope you will consider my humble, sincere, and honest request.

With profound regards,

The Impact of Stress on Workplace Safety

Stress can trigger extreme actions, including suicide and violence, such as harming an HR manager if an employee is unhappy. Instances have occurred in the army and police forces. As these individuals have access to arms, they can easily commit acts of violence.

Salam, actually, this is my proposal to defend to our supervisor, so I need more information about this topic. For your information, I chose this topic based on the current trend showing an increasing incidence of suicide due to stress. Statistics show that over a period of fifteen years, seven to twelve people out of one hundred thousand in Malaysia died by suicide. This situation clearly indicates a serious problem that needs to be handled wisely.

Problem Statement:

1. To identify the relationship between workload, expectations, and leadership on the stress level of employees.
2. To identify whether personality variables have differing impacts on stress and suicide among employees.
3. To determine the factors associated with suicide, including demographics, social factors, and risk factors such as psychiatric illness, physical illness, and life events.

My target respondents are in the corporate sector, especially in the insurance industry. I hope you can share some information to help me defend my proposal.

Wa Alaikum Salaam. You have defined the perfect "PROBLEM STATEMENT," and kindly try to elaborate on the same by adding as much information as you can.

Suicide Due to Stress Factors

1) In any organization, STRESS is associated with ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, including the RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEAM MEMBERS - HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL LEVELS, TARGETS TO BE ACHIEVED, WORKLOAD, WORKING HOURS, and MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS (negative), which includes PAY FACTORS associated with PERSONAL COMMITMENTS, INDIVIDUAL GROWTH FACTORS associated with HARD WORK/SINCERITY/HONESTY, etc., which may be IGNORED, leading to FRUSTRATION, that gives birth to STRESS.

2) Every HUMAN BEING is EMOTIONAL (PSYCHOLOGICAL/MENTAL), but if the EQ is TOO HIGH, then an employee cannot control his feelings, and if the feelings are HURT, it can even lead to STRESS, possibly followed by SUICIDE.

3) PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS correlated with LIMITED POTENTIALITY can often be PSYCHOLOGICAL/EMOTIONAL FEELINGS (NEGATIVE THINKING).

4) PHYSICAL ILLNESS AND LIFE EVENTS may also be reasons for STRESS that may trigger SUICIDE.

Have you read any books pertaining to STRESS? If not, kindly let me know, and I will provide you with a link where you can download relevant information.

With profound regards

Understanding Stress and Its Origins

Stress is a self-created/self-driven phenomenon; it doesn't come from outside. Stress arises when things don't happen the way we like, or when we have to deal with something we don't like, whether it be something specific or for many other reasons. Stress is essentially fear inside us.

The only thing one can do in such situations is to adapt to the situation if he/she can't deal with it or doesn't get bothered by it at all.

Dealing with Stress in Professional Settings

Sometimes, a lack of experience and competing with peers or dealing with someone superior to you brings stress. To avoid situations like this, my suggestion is to respect all and try to learn the positive things rather than focusing on your own weaknesses. Each one of us has some superior quality compared to others in the group, so emphasize more on your strengths than weaknesses and work to overcome the weaknesses; that's the only cure.

All one needs is the fighting spirit, positive thinking, and to organize oneself and work hard to overcome the fear.

Meditation as a Stress Reliever

Meditation (like sitting quietly with eyes closed and no disturbance, not thinking about anything, like in total vacuum) is the best healer to help you overcome stress and give you inner strength. Try it for half an hour twice, once in the morning and once in the evening.