Stretched thin: learn how to manage stress on the job.

• Author: Madison, Rachel
• Position: Executive Living

It's no secret that the business world is a stressful place. From negotiating contracts to dealing with disgruntled employees to increasing company profits, business leaders constantly have one stressful situation or another to deal with. While experts agree that some stress is OK--even healthy--for most, too much stress is counterproductive and even dangerous. That's why it's important to understand the symptoms of stress and how to wind down after a long week at the office.

Learn the Symptoms

You might think you're handling things well, but a variety of stress-related symptoms can indicate that it's time to take a breather. Dr. Russell Vinik, associate professor of medicine at the University of Utah Hospital, says symptoms such as low energy, headaches and difficulty sleeping are major signs of stress.

"Stress does a lot to the body in ways we don't understand," he says. "There are things that clearly make sense, like people who eat more when they are stressed and experience weight gain or even diabetes. Stress can raise one's blood pressure and that can predispose people to heart attacks. There have been studies out of California after a major earthquake, and they showed death by heart attack increased by over 30 percent right after the earthquake because of stress."

More serious symptoms can include an upset stomach, muscle tension, loss of sexual desire, depression, and even hypertension or ulcers. "The list (of symptoms] is long enough it should make us pay attention," says Terri Flint, Ph.D., director of employee wellness at Intermountain Healthcare.

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Understand Your Stress

Flint says humans are a lot like rubber bands when it comes to stress--meaning they are able to stretch quite far, but if they don't go back to a place where they can rest, eventually they'll break.

"Just like a rubber band needs to stretch, we're all built to fulfill our purpose and stretch." she says. "We all need some stress--otherwise we would just be dormant and not get out of bed. Some stress is very healthy, but what we also know is if you stretch that rubber band tighter and tighter without bringing it back to a place where it can rest, it'll eventually break."

Flint says when people are getting stretched too thin is when the.signs of stress will begin to show up. "Those are what we need to pay attention to because the more serious symptoms occur when you've been stretched too far for too long without coming back and restoring." she...