JUST PLANE CULTURE


then encode it so the proper signal is transmitted to our proper muscle to pull away from the threat. Adrenaline is pumped into our body to react instantly. Job stress can be defi ned as an individual’s reactions to characteristics of the work environment that seem emotionally and physically threatening — it just has to have the appearance of a threat, not necessarily be a real threat.


THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE STRESSFUL There are good and bad sides to stress. The good thing is that it keeps us safe. The bad thing is the same thing that keeps us safe — it is reactionary. Excessive stress leads to distress that is mentally and physically damaging as well as cumulative. Stress builds when we don’t decompress during our time off after dealing with stress at a certain level of degree and/or duration. My wife can attest to that. Research has discovered that accumulated stress in many


individuals had a signifi cant negative eff ect on physical health — stress causes an increase in notated high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack. With regard to cognitive function, important negatives include noted degradation of long- and short-term memory, situational awareness, ability to communicate, risk assessment and vestibular function (balance), and the potential for a profound psychological impact. These include depression, high divorce rate, a marked lower quality of life and higher incident of suicide. Systemic stress inhibits long-term potentiation. This is an important biological model of synaptic plasticity which is the ability of the brain to function properly and acts like an insulator between two electrodes. It causes hippocampal atrophy (associated with dementia), impairs learning, facilitates long-term depression, contributes to brain aging, causes many generalized behavioral changes, is implicated in many neuropsychiatric disorders and depresses the immune system. It also modulates neurotrophic factors, especially brain-derived neurotrophic factor that is an important feature in the production of proteins that regenerate nerve cells. According to research cited by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 40 percent of employees believe their jobs are “very” or “extremely” stressful and at least 26 percent of employees feel “burned out” at work. The American Psychological Association reports that job stress costs U.S. companies about $300 billion per year in absenteeism, productivity loss, turnover and health care costs. Holy cow! How many of us would categorize ourselves as being in a high-stress environment? Are we all doomed?


FINDING A MIDDLE GROUND Interestingly, moderately-stressed people perform better, are more productive, eff ective and effi cient, have lower absentee- ism, are healthier overall and live longer than individuals in a no-stress environment. In moderately-stressed individuals, the


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adrenaline injection into our body is abated and our thought process stays in control where logical decisions are made through insightful observations. Have I confused you yet? Here the clincher: pushed beyond this state is a tipping point and you enter the reactionary zone where the thought process and logical decision making are discarded. You shift from stress to distress. You move into survival mode and self-preservation takes control. Have you ever touched an electrical wire and reacted so fast that you hit yourself? That’s your adrenal system taking over. If you continued to touch the wire, which is rather stupid, you would eventually beat yourself up. We need some stimulation in our life to remain vital but not so much to where it becomes detrimental. The distressed brain doesn’t work well. Each human is unique and we react diff erently to stressful situations. What one person takes in stride can cause another to experience a meltdown. How stressful do you think an air traffi c controller job is? It’s hours of boredom and routine interrupted by moments of sheer terror. I couldn’t imagine doing that job. I also couldn’t imagine sitting at a desk and doing accounts receivable work all day as my head would be hitting the desk every two minutes. Tedium is also stressful if you are used to activity.


MANAGING STRESS How does an air traffi c controller or someone in accounts receivable manage the stress? The key is within training, experience and an individual propensity to cope. In other words, being prepared reduces stress. What level of stress would you have doing something without being trained compared to being well versed on the subject? How stressed were you the fi rst time you did something? How about the tenth time? It was a lot less stressful the tenth time, wasn’t it? Then we have the individual factor where all the train- ing and experience doesn’t help in reducing stress. Some individuals are more vulnerable to high-stress situations and do not handle it well. We all have a stress level that is optimal for our


performance but there is a tipping point where we move from being very capable to a breakdown of abilities very quickly. This is called the Yerkes-Dodson Law. It is after that tipping point that our cognitive and decision-making abilities are at their lowest. It’s probably at that same point where clear, logical decision making is required to be its sharpest. This adds to the stressful situation and we enter the death spiral. Training is not just the technical variety — what if you


are confronted with something you haven’t been trained to do? Do you shut down? You cannot be trained in every situation you might encounter, so you need to learn how to deal with the stress from the unexpected when confronted with those situations. Job stressors typically revolve around


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