Managing Occupational Stress and Workplace Trauma

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key concepts, types of counseling, and management strategies related to occupational stress and workplace trauma based on lecture notes.

Trauma

A severe form of stress triggered by critical organizational crises or drastic employer abuse.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A severe mental health disorder triggered by witnessing workplace fatalities or ethical injuries, such as accidental electrocution.

Workplace Trauma

The disintegration of employee self-concepts and beliefs in their capabilities, often triggered by harassment, discrimination, or job layoffs.

Stressors

Individual or combined workplace conditions that pressure employees and develop into stress.

Work Overload

Work that goes beyond the capacity and capability of a person.

Role Ambiguity

A condition where a job is poorly defined or additional roles are given without clear instructions.

Frustration

A cause of stress that arises when an individual’s motivation to reach a desired goal is hindered.

Defense Mechanisms

Reactions by an individual to try to defend or rationalize the psychological effects of a blocked goal, such as aggression, apathy, or regression.

Everyday Hassles

Little things and everyday irritations that aggregate into absenteeism and health problems.

Stress threshold

The specific internal level of stressors an individual can tolerate before experiencing negative performance effects.

Perceived control

The amount of power employees believe they possess over their work and working conditions.

Counseling

The discussion of a problem that usually has emotional content with an employee in order to help them cope with it better.

Directive Counseling

The process of listening to an employee's problem, deciding what should be done, and then telling and motivating the employee to do it.

Nondirective Counseling

A process of skillful listening and encouraging a counselee to discover and understand their own problems and determine appropriate solutions.

Constructive Stress

Low to moderate levels of stress that act as an energizer, stimulating creativity, increasing effort, and encouraging diligence.

Destructive Stress

Excessively high stress that overloads and breaks down physical and mental systems, leading to errors, accidents, and turnover.

Role Conflicts

Feeling unable to satisfy multiple, conflicting performance expectations at the same time.

Stress Management

The ability to prevent, reduce, or cope with stress while maintaining physical and mental wellness.

Personal Wellness

The pursuit of physical and mental well-being through healthy lifestyle choices and personal responsibility for maintaining good health.

Relaxation response

A stress management technique involving sitting in a quiet location, repeating a peaceful word, and taking comfortable breaths.

80–20 Principle

A rule of thumb for job satisfaction stating employees should feel $80\%$ satisfied and $20\%$ stressed at work.

Salary Stagnation

A warning signal of being in the wrong job characterized by zero financial progression or promotions for years.

Overburdened Fatigue

A warning signal of the wrong job where constant, chaotic multitasking and unmanageable workloads trigger severe health concerns.