Stressed for success? Getting out of the mindset that 'stress equals success'.

• Author: Fields, Melissa O'Brien
• Position: Executive Living

PHRASES like being "stressed out" have become common vernacular in America's modern workplace. For many, that strung-out feeling of "being stressed" at work is associated with success, achievement and importance. "We get into this mindset of thinking that's how it should be," says Dorie Olds, co-owner of the Academy of Life Management, a Salt Lake City company offering stress management programs to businesses and individuals. "People who are overstressed tend to misidentify what success really means and use it to help alleviate what they perceive are judgments from others." It's because of this that many people fail to recognize when the stress and pressure of their job is adversely affecting other areas of their lives, often including their job performance.

According to a 1999 statistical analysis completed by the U.S. Department of Labor, managerial and professional occupations have a higher proportion of stress-related illness and days missed from work than both blue-collar and service occupations combined. Technical, sales and administrative support jobs accounted for 48 percent of cases of occupational stress, and managerial and professional occupations accounted for 16 percent of cases reported. But rather than resulting in injury, professional workplace stress can manifest itself in the form of rudeness, hostility and even violence. And unlike claims due to injury, many states' workers compensation funds, including Utah's, do not compensate for work missed due to workplace stress.

When does stress become too much? "When it starts to affect the way we live our lives," Olds says. Physical symptoms of being "overstressed" include headaches, back pain, indigestion, sleeping too much or not being able to get enough sleep. Emotional warning signs include feelings of hopelessness, anger, powerlessness, frustration and lack of purpose. And mental indicators of stress overload include decreased concentration, forgetfulness, difficulty making decisions and negative looping, or continually replaying a stressful situation over and over again in our minds.

Working mothers, often torn between both familial and professional obligations, are particularly susceptible to suffering from stress overload. Kelly Williams, a mother and associate at Lear & Lear Attorneys at Law in Salt Lake City, is all too familiar with how taxing balancing work and family can be. "I always felt like I was falling short," Williams says. The breaking point came earlier this...