Visionjuice - THE STRESS CURVE

The Yerkes Dodson Curve – adapted from Yerkes RM, Dodson JD. The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. Journal Comparative and Neurological Psychology 1908;18:459-482

Stress is a good thing and a bad thing. When we have too little pressure we do not have the necessary stimulation to work to the best of our ability. We tend to underachieve, and this is known as hypostress. Typically people in this state will feel bored and under stimulated. Some people in this state can experience pathological symptoms as a result of the under stimulation. Having the optimum amount of pressure to keep us happy and performing our best is called eustress. In this state we feel comfortable. At the top of this range we may feel challenged and stretched and it is here that we reach our peak levels of performance. Peak performance is, however, a state that cannot be maintained for long periods of time. To work at our best we need to retreat from this level of pressure back into a more comfortable state of eustress. We need to recharge our batteries. The difficulty with the notion of peak performance is that many believe they are able to continue working at this level for prolonged periods. This fantasy often leads to a decline into hyperstress and distress. As pressure increases beyond our ability to cope, we can experience hyperstress. It is in this area of the curve that we feel out of control, and begin to experience pathological symptoms of stress. Usually, we try harder to regain a sense of control, at the expense of our own health and happiness. Despite putting in more work, performance will decline, and relationships at home and work suffer. Eventually this state will lead to distress which means that our effectiveness is reduced. It can take many forms, such as clinical depression, anxiety, nervous breakdown, or physical illness. One of the common causes of workplace stress is the belief that many managers have that their people will work better under increased pressure. They do not appreciate that different individuals can have different stress curves. They may also not appreciate where their people sit on the stress curve. Remember, the curve looks like an objective measure but experience of stress is subjective. Everyone is different. Only a minority of people experience distress, but most of us will go through periods of hyperstress. This is normal, as long as they are relatively short periods, after which we return to eustress. How do you know if you are suffering from stress? There are many different indicators, here are some common examples: irritability depression reduced self esteem indecisiveness anxiety impatience difficulty relaxing sleep disturbance abdominal cramps difficulty concentrating recurrent fatigue headaches irritable bowel syndrome frequent colds or other viral illnesses increase in eating, drinking or smoking increased caffeine consumption pacing fidgeting nervous habits (nail-biting, foot-tapping) crying yelling swearing blaming throwing things or even hitting To contact us click here.