Stress
Culture shock
Workplace bullying
Sexual harassment
Stress
There are many things you can do to manage the stress in your life. Stress relates to each of us individually, and so does the strategy that will work best for you. What helps one person reduce stress may not be that helpful for someone else. However, becoming aware of our stressors and our emotional and physical reactions is the first step to managing stress.
It is very important to notice your distress. Don’t ignore it or gloss over problems. Try to decide what events distress you. What are you telling yourself about the meaning of these events? How does your body respond to stress? Do you become nervous or physically upset? If so, in what specific ways? What are the warning signs of stress?
Culture shock
Culture shock is a condition of emotional upset and tension that becomes chronic for a period of varying duration. It is experienced by people who, exposed to life in a new and unfamiliar setting, react with anxiety, irritation, and frustration. Having left their home countries with their familiar, manageable routines, and social patterns they are now confronted with the necessity of living in a new location in which everything is different. The customs, rules and mores of the new culture may be very unfamiliar and uncomfortable to them. This combined with the distance between where they live now and their family and friends at home can make life very challenging. The necessity of living in a state of loneliness, confusion about the proper procedures to follow, and a lack of control over their life, has a compounding exasperating effect which wears down the emotional defenses; eventually they may find their nerves increasingly frayed.
Workplace bullying
According the U.S. organization Workplace Bullying Insistute (or WBI) the definition of workplace bullying is as follows:
“…repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators. It is abusive conduct that is :
- Threatening, humiliating, or intimidating, or
- Work interference — sabotage — which prevents work from getting done, or
- Verbal abuse
That “Is driven by perpetrators’ need to control the targeted individual(s).
Is initiated by bullies who choose their targets, timing, location, and methods.
Is a set of acts of commission (doing things to others) or omission (withholding resources from others) Requires consequences for the targeted individual
Escalates to involve others who side with the bully, either voluntarily or through coercion.
Undermines legitimate business interests when bullies’ personal agendas take precedence over work itself.
Is akin to domestic violence at work, where the abuser is on the payroll.”
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment may occur in the workplace or among coworkers or colleagues and include undesired or unwelcome sexual or romantic advances, requests for sexual favors, or other behaviors that constitute a hostile or intimidating work environment. Other behaviors that constitute sexual harassment include:
- degrading verbal or written remarks, gestures, or jokes;
- indecent exposure;
- unwanted sexual touching or grabbing.