I learned through taking these assessments that I am more stressed than I generally consider myself to be. I don’t usually intentionally express my stress or frustration, and I consider myself to be overall pretty calm and cool-headed. The Type A test revealed to me that I deal with a good amount of impatience/irritability which I don’t give much thought to, and had never considered might affect my health. According to the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory, the amount of stressors I have experienced in the last year give me a high chance of a major health breakdown in the next 2 years. I did not really think I had been through that much stress in the last year, and don’t consciously consider myself to be someone that is dealing with a lot of stressors, so that was interesting to see. My main form of coping was “problem-focused” which does make sense to me, but is concerning because it is not effective in situations where the problems may not be solvable or within my control. This feels accurate in terms of what types of problems or stressors in my life feel easier for me to handle. In reflecting on these results, it is clear to me that I need to work on managing stressors that are outside of my control, and practice patience and understanding in frustrating situations. This includes self-compassion, as well as compassion for others. It feels useful to know these things about me so that I can better manage my stress and hopefully improve my health and avoid a major health breakdown.
Some things that workplaces are doing to help employees manage stress include allowing employees to take mental health days, creating open discussions, creating physical spaces in the workplace for employees to decompress, introducing wellness or counseling programs, and encouraging physical activity.
