Stress issues facing teachers, principals and many support staff are multifaceted, a complex phenomenon as it is a very subjective experience.  The education industry is not immune from this general phenomenon.

Many teachers face similar stress related issues in the workplace such as:

• Over committed and often work unpaid overtime
• Constantly called upon to meet unrealistic demands
• Little recognition of equipment being in need of repair
• Often trying to meet many deadlines

In today’s complex education system, given the constantly changing situations, stress is increasingly becoming more common place.   People are taking on higher levels of responsibility, working longer hours and meeting rising expectations from employers.

However stress does not affect everyone in the same way.  There are many differences, where one situation may be highly stressful for one individual it may not affect someone else.  Other factors also need to be taken into consideration beyond environment and temperament that will have an impact on stress levels in the workplace.

How Does Stress Affect Us?

Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances, whether perceived or real.  Hans Selye, an Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist coined the word ‘Stress’ in 1932, based on his scientific work on the hypothetical non-specific response of an organism to stressors (Stress without Distress Selyve 1974) .  Selye discovered that stress is ‘stressful’ whether one received good or bad news.

Selye explained that the body goes through 3 stress stages of coping.  These are the Alarm Reaction in which the body prepared for ‘flight or fight’, Adaptation Stage, where resistance is built to stress, and, finally, Exhaustion Stage where the body experiences total exhaustion.  Examples of stress include anything from prolonged food deprivation to excessive exercise.  Stress can be also experienced through perceiving situations to be threatening, whether this may be the case or not.

The breakthrough in the study of stress came about in the middle of the twentieth century where modern medical research made advances by connecting stress to illness and discovering ways to help the body and mind cope.  Though techniques such as meditation, diet and lifestyle choices have been known in ancient medical systems such as Ayurveda that were used to minimise stress levels.

The Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Connection

Selye, a professor of Medicine, was viewed as a philosophical leader whose views on health helped to change the way the body and mind were viewed.

For example, as the body reacts to a stressing agent, whether external, internal, real or not, the hypothalamus (bridge between brain and endocrine system) sends a message to the pituitary gland (hormone-producing gland embedded at the base of skull) to release ACTH or adrenocorticotropic hormone into the blood stream.  This triggers the adrenal cortex located on top of the kidneys to secrete a hormone called corticoid.  These corticoids find their way in the body to where they are needed most in the 3 stages of defense against a stressing agent which is placing a demand on the body.  However in cases of prolonged cases of stress the body and mind takes longer and longer to recover.

As a result of Selve pioneering work on stress together with many other researchers including Benson and his Relaxation Response in the 20th century, it was possible to begin understanding the role stress plays in our lives and how to educate about stress.

Effects of Stress in the Workplace in Education

Given the various employment conditions, high workload pressures, lack of school resourcing and little access to education resources of various kinds, it is not surprising to find fairly high levels of stress being recorded in the education sector for teachers working under these stress conditions.

To bring about the much needed change, better resourcing and improved understanding of stress management strategies are needed

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