Symptoms:

The signs of job stress vary from person to person, depending on the particular situation, how long the individual has been subjected to the stressors, and the intensity of the stress itself. Typical symptoms of job stress can be:

· Insomnia

· Loss of mental concentration,

· Anxiety, stress

· Absenteeism

· Depression,

· Substance abuse,

· Extreme anger and frustration,

· Family conflict

· Physical illnesses such as heart disease, migraine, headaches, stomach problems, and back problems.

What are some common signs of stress?

Everyone responds to stress a little differently. Your symptoms may be different from someone else’s. Here are some of the signs to look for:

· Not eating or eating too much

· Feeling like you have no control

· Needing to have too much control

· Forgetfulness

· Headaches

· Lack of energy

· Lack of focus

· Trouble getting things done

· Poor self-esteem

· Short temper

· Trouble sleeping

· Upset stomach

· Back pain

· General aches and pains

These symptoms may also be signs of depression or anxiety, which can be caused by long-term stress.

Review:

Nowadays the percentage of coronary heart disease is increased among women executives (WHO-2002) the main causes are work related stress, value conflict, type of work, standard of living, nutrition, lack of physical exercise. So that these women facing the other problems like overweight, body ache, and psychosomatic disorders. These women working in under stress because of they have to perform various roles. The expectation are high from women’s if they working as executives. They have the pressure of balancing work and family. All these factors influence in health- William R and Lovallo (2005) suggest about the health problem of career women. Best J. W. (2003) also investigated the job stress affect on health. Weilmer (1998) remarks that psychomatic disorders are increasing rapidly.

Swanson NG.(2000)reported that occupational stress as it affects working women and presents research on approaches for reducing the negative effects of job stress.

M. Singh and G. Singh (2006) study that women's psychosocial health status may likely to get affected during middle age due to psychological changes occurring in this phase primarily because of biological changes and changes in the familial environment. Programmed interventions like, meditation, relaxation and other sensitization programs, aiming at lifestyle changes will change their attitudes, behaviours, cognitions, quality of life, thereby maintaining their overall status.

Kathy Dickman, and Ann Maradiegue(2009)suggest that efforts by employers and advanced practice nurses can promote exercise as an effective tool to reduce stress Onyewadume, M.A. (2006) suggest that reduction in workload for nurses, secondary and primary school teachers in Botswana and the establishment stress reduction centers in their workplace.

Kristina Holmgren(2008) repot that significantly associated with increased odds of high level of self reported symptoms. High perceived stress owing to indistinct organisation and conflicts and low influence at work were significantly associated with sick leave.

Myidiskiran (2008) study that stress management training and attempts to suggest various approaches to manage it for the betterment of the individual and the organization.

Maryam Zarra-Nezhad,et al (2010) suggested that there were significant positive relationship between levels of occupational stress and family difficulties in working women.

Heide12, (2010)reported that stress management to reduce job stress and manage over work, psychological problems and occupational stress

Mohsen Yazdani et al.(2010)report that holding stress management training program workshops in different courses of the mental health department can improve mental health of the students.

Dhanabhakyam and Anitha (2011) reported that all the respondents have distress due to personal and organizational sources. Managing the daily home activities, child care and looking after the family members are the major factors which cause distress among the working women.

Nimbalkar Mohan Rajaram(2011)report that Type A and Type B women’s are significantly differ on mental stress symptoms

Parul tripathi and Sandeep Bhattacharjee(2012)studied to Working Women feel more stress than working men stands true due to the highlighted facts from different sources. Also, alternate hypothesis H1, Working Women do not feel more stress than working men stands as false.

Kristin M(2012) reported that This study provides support for including an exercise component in Stress Management (SM) interventions for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Objective:

· To study the effects of Stress Management training in reducing the stress among Working Women’s.

Hypothesis:

1. There would be significant impact of stress management on Stress among working women’s with regard to Pre test and Post test.

2. There would be significant impact of Relaxation on Stress among working women’s with regard to Pre test and Post test.

Selection of Sample:

The researcher has selected 60 working women’s on government employees on own interest and willing the participation of stress management training. Tirupati, Chittoor District, and Andhra Pradesh women are selected from Different branches like (Teachers, Banks, Office staff, Management staff, 4^th class employees and Marketing staff) randomly. After establishing rapport with the working women’s, the following working stress questionnaire and Relaxation questionnaire was administered with using instructions, Conducted on the data from received Pre test (n=60) and after Stress management training was taken consisted in three days, after fallowed one month to collect the data from Post test (n=60) among same working women’s.

Branch Total No. of Employees

Teachers and Lecturers 10

Bank employess 10

Office staff 10

Management staff 10

IV Class employees 10

Marketing staff 10

Statistical Analysis:

Data was analyzed using Means, SD’S and t values.

Methods:

Stress Management Training Tips:

Everyone has to deal with stress. There are steps you can take to help you handle stress in a positive way and keep it from making you sick. Try these tips to keep stress in check:

There are different methods are ever use in stress of life, elimination of work organization stressors) focuses on identifying and removing stressors in the workplace and creating a healthy place of work. Examples are:

· Designing work so it is safe and healthy

· Creating flexible, balanced work schedules

· Providing family-friendly work (e.g. flexible hours, assistance/leeway in times of emergency);

· Hazard identification – having systems for detecting the presence of stressors – either by hazard ID methods or the ability for employees to report stress.

· Avoiding isolation and crowding in the workplace.

· Providing physical barriers to deter violence (e.g. in banks).

· Avoid unnecessary stress: Not all stress can be avoided, and it’s not healthy to avoid a situation that needs to be addressed. You may be surprised, however, by the number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate.

· Learn how to say “no” – Know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, refuse to accept added responsibilities when you’re close to reaching them. Taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress.

· Avoid people who stress you out – If someone consistently causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.

· Take control of your environment – If the evening news makes you anxious, turn the TV off. If traffic’s got you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If going to the market is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online.

· Avoid hot-button topics – If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people, stop bringing it up or excuse yourself when it’s the topic of discussion.

· Pare down your to-do list – Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, distinguish between the “shoulds” and the “musts.” Drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.

· Alter the situation - If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Figure out what you can do to change things so the problem doesn’t present itself in the future. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.

· Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you don’t voice your feelings, resentment will build and the situation will likely remain the same.

· Be willing to compromise. When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend at least a little, you’ll have a good chance of finding a happy middle ground.

· Be more assertive. Don’t take a backseat in your own life. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. If you’ve got an exam to study for and your chatty roommate just got home, say up front that you only have five minutes to talk.

· Manage your time better. Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead and make sure you don’t overextend yourself, you can alter the amount of stress you’re under.

Adapt to the Stressor: If you can’t change the stressor, change yourself. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain your sense of control by changing your expectations and attitude.

· Reframe problems. Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective. Rather than fuming about a traffic jam, look at it as an opportunity to pause and regroup, listen to your favorite radio station, or enjoy some alone time.

· Look at the big picture. Take perspective of the stressful situation. Ask yourself how important it will be in the long run. Will it matter in a month? A year? Is it really worth getting upset over? If the answer is no, focus your time and energy elsewhere.

· Adjust your standards. Perfectionism is a major source of avoidable stress. Stop setting yourself up for failure by demanding perfection. Set reasonable standards for yourself and others, and learn to be okay with “good enough.”

· Focus on the positive. When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life, including your own positive qualities and gifts. This simple strategy can help you keep things in perspective.

Adjusting Your Attitude:

How you think can have a profound effect on your emotional and physical well-being. Each time you think a negative thought about yourself, your body reacts as if it were in the throes of a tension-filled situation. If you see good things about yourself, you are more likely to feel good; the reverse is also true. Eliminate words such as "always," "never," "should," and "must." These are telltale marks of self-defeating though, e.g. Financial Adjustment, Health Adjustment, Family Adjustment, Office (Colleagues) Adjustment.

Accept the things you can’t change: Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You can’t prevent or change stressors such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change.

· Don’t try to control the uncontrollable. Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems.

· Look for the upside. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes.

· Share your feelings. Talk to a trusted friend or make an appointment with a therapist. Expressing what you’re going through can be very cathartic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation.

Develop a new attitude:

· Become a problem solver. Make a list of the things that cause you stress. From your list, figure out which problems you can solve now and which are beyond your control for the moment. From your list of problems that you can solve now, start with the little ones. Learn how to calmly look at a problem, think of possible solutions, and take action to solve the problem. Being able to solve small problems will give you confidence to tackle the big ones. And feeling confident that you can solve problems will go a long way to helping you feel less stressed.

· Be flexible. Sometimes, it’s not worth the stress to argue. Give in once in awhile or meet people halfway.

· Get organized. Think ahead about how you’re going to spend your time. Write a to-do list. Figure out what’s most important to do and do those things first.

· Set limits. When it comes to things like work and family, figure out what you can really do. There are only so many hours in the day. Set limits for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to say NO to requests for your time and energy.

Relax:

· Take deep breaths. If you're feeling stressed, taking a few deep breaths makes you breathe slower and helps your muscles relax.

· Stretch. Stretching can also help relax your muscles and make you feel less tense.

· Massage tense muscles. Having someone massage the muscles in the back of your neck and upper back can help you feel less tense.

· Take time to do something you want to do. We all have lots of things that we have to do. But often we don't take the time to do the things that we really want to do. It could be listening to music, reading a good book, or going to a movie. Think of this as an order from your doctor, so you won’t feel guilty!

Take care of your body:

· Get enough sleep. Getting enough sleep helps you recover from the stresses of the day. Also, being well-rested helps you think better so that you are prepared to handle problems as they come up. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night to feel rested.

· Eat right. Try to fuel up with fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. Don’t be fooled by the jolt you get from caffeine or high-sugar snack foods. Your energy will wear off, and you could wind up feeling more tired than you did before.

· Get moving. Getting physical activity can not only help relax your tense muscles but improve your mood. Research shows that physical activity can help relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety.

· Don’t deal with stress in unhealthy ways. This includes drinking too much alcohol, using drugs, smoking, or overeating.

Connect with others:

· Share your stress. Talking about your problems with friends or family members can sometimes help you feel better. They might also help you see your problems in a new way and suggest solutions that you hadn't thought of.

· Get help from a professional if you need it. If you feel that you can no longer cope, talk to your doctor. She or he may suggest counseling to help you learn better ways to deal with stress. Your doctor may also prescribe medicines, such as antidepressants or sleep aids.

· Help others. Volunteering in your community can help you make new friends and feel better about yourself.

“Working stress” Questionnaire developed by Balaji Deekshitulu P.V (2012) was used to collect data from the sample. It consists of 55 items provide measures of 11 “Working stress for each area scores will range from 5 to 25. Scores of 14 or above suggest problem areas. It measures stress in 11 namely Disagreement and Indecision, Pressure on the Job, Job Description Conflict, Communication and Comfort with Supervisor, Job-Related Health Concerns, Work Overload Stress, Work Underload Stress, Boredom Induced Stress , Problem of Job Security, Time Pressure , Job Barrier Stress. Overall scores will fall within the 55 to 275 range. Scores of 135 or above would suggest an unusual amount of work related stress. Use the Ten Tips for Preventing Burnout in the next section to combat the effects of work related stress.

“Relaxation Techniques” Questionnaire developed by Balaji Deekshitulu P.V and Nomusankar. S (2012) was used to collect data from the sample. It consists of 33 items provide measures of 5 Relaxation Techniques. For each statement there are four response categories i.e. 0 = ‘does not apply or not used’; 1= ‘used somewhat’; 2= ‘used quite a bit’; 3= ‘used a great deal’. High score indicates more Relax and least score indicates less way of Relax. It measures Relaxation Techniques in 5 dimensions Physical Methods, Environmental Methods, Psychological Methods, Positive Attitude, and Diversion Method..

Table 1: Sample

WORKING STRESS		RELAXATION TECHNIQUES
PRE-TEST	POST TEST	PRE-TEST	POST TEST
60	60	60	60

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

(Stress Management Training impact of stress (pre-post) on working women’s)

The table 2 shows that there is significant clearly indicate that to decreased working stress on before training and after training of stress management on working women’s is data compared with pre test and post test results of ‘t’ values of 15.10, 14.61, 5.09, 12.83, 15.14, 19.97, 21.21, 8.80, 5.81, 9.20 and 5.52 which are significant impact on Working stress factors that is Disagreement and Indecision, Pressure on the Job, Job Description Conflict, Communication and Comfort with Supervisor, Job-Related Health Concerns, Work Overload Stress, Work Underload Stress , Boredom Induced Stress , Problem of Job Security, Time Pressure , Job Barrier Stress.

Hence Hypothesis 1 accepted There would be significant impact of Stress Management Training on Stress among working women’s with regard Pre test and Post test.

Table 2: (Stress Management Training impact of stress (pre-post) on working women’s)

Working Stress Factors	Pre Test (n=60)		Post Test(n=60)		‘t’ Value
Working Stress Factors	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	‘t’ Value
Disagreement and Indecision	24.76	3.40	17.05	2.02	15.10**
Pressure on the Job	21.05	2.42	14.75	2.30	14.61**
Job Description Conflict	19.3	3.74	16.16	2.96	5.09**
Communication and Comfort with Supervisor	12.71	1.43	9.8	1.02	12.83**
Job-Related Health Concerns	20.33	2.07	14.25	2.32	15.14**
Work Overload Stress	22.55	3.96	11.96	1.09	19.97**
Work Underload Stress	19	2.11	12.38	1.18	21.21**
Boredom Induced Stress	13.61	2.07	10.96	1.07	8.80**
Problem of Job Security	18.95	3.33	15.98	2.13	5.81**
Time Pressure	14.16	2.13	11.36	1.01	9.20**
Job Barrier Stress	22.53	2.15	19.98	2.86	5.52**

**p < 0.01

Table 3: (Relaxation impact of stress (pre-post) on working women’s)

Relaxation Techniques Factors	Pre Test (n=60)		Post Test(n=60)		‘t’ Value
Relaxation Techniques Factors	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	‘t’ Value
Physical Methods	18.48	3.71	20.65	2.79	3.62**
Environmental Methods	15.88	2.63	19.0	3.70	6.29**
Psychological Methods	13.68	2.90	16.38	2.69	5.28**
Positive Attitude	11.16	2.01	13.11	2.26	4.99**
Diversion Method	8.58	1.79	10.53	1.65	6.2**

**p < 0.01

Managing the daily home activities, child care and looking after the family members are the major factors which cause distress among the working women, Nimbalkar Mohan Rajaram (2011)report that Type A and Type B women’s are significantly differ on mental stress symptoms, Parul tripathi and Sandeep Bhattacharjee (2012) studied to Working Women feel more stress than working men stands true due to the highlighted facts from different sources, Kristin M(2012) reported that This study provides support for including an exercise component in Stress Management (SM) interventions for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

(Relaxation impact of stress (pre-post) on working women’s)

The above table 2 shows that there is significant clearly indicate that to increased relaxation on before training and after training of stress management on working women’s data compared with pre test and post test results of‘t’ values of 3.62, 6.29, 5.28, 4.99 and 6.2 which are significant impact on relaxation technique factors that is Physical Methods, Environmental Methods, Psychological Methods, Positive Attitude, and Diversion Method. Hence Hypothesis 2 accepted there would be significant impact of Relaxation on Stress among working women’s with regard Pre test and Post test.

The results of the present study corroborating with the results of the Studies conducted by Maryam Zarra-Nezhad,et al (2010) suggested that there were significant positive relationship between levels of occupational stress and family difficulties in working women. Heide, (2010) reported that stress management to reduce job stress and manage over work, psychological problems and occupational stress, Mohsen Yazdani et al.(2010)report that stress management training program workshops in different courses of the mental health department can improve mental health of the students, Dhanabhakyam and Anitha (2011) reported that all the respondents have distress due to personal and organizational sources. Managing the daily home activities, child care and looking after the family members are the major factors which cause distress among the working women, Nimbalkar Mohan Rajaram(2011)report that Type A and Type B women’s are significantly differ on mental stress symptoms, Parul tripathi and Sandeep Bhattacharjee (2012) studied to Working Women feel more stress than working men stands true due to the highlighted facts from different sources, Kristin M(2012) reported that This study provides support for including an exercise component in Stress Management (SM) interventions for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Geoffrey W. Melville, et al. (2012) which states that results show that even a short program of yoga is effective for enhancing emotional well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace

DISCUSSION:

The results clearly show the immediate positive effect of stress management training on the relaxation levels on the working women’s. All working women’s stress levels are decreased; the relaxation of working women’s are increased so daily fallow on stress management tips to increasing on relaxation automatically reducing stress and strategy needs to be considered.

CONCLUSION:

Actually Employees have fallow several techniques to combat stress. Agree that simply having the intention to Stress management simple tips has a profound effect on anyone's mental/physical health and personal development The Physical and Mental related various simple tips powerful, Just by doing this you can have great benefits with the practice of sudden stress. So in conclusion yes Stress management Training can be a great remedy for stress and can offer some stress relief.

REFERENCES:

1. Best J. W. (2003) :- Stress and women health, Journal of health, Unicef, No. 177.

2. Dhanabhakyam and Anitha (2011) A study on stress management of working women Coimbatore district, International journal of multidisciplinary research, vol.1 Issue 7; Issn 2231 5780.

3. Heide12,(2010) Stress management at the workplace, www.studymode.com

4. Kathy Dickman, and Ann Maradiegue (2009) The effects of exercise on stress in working women, The journal for nurse practitioners, volume 5, Issue 6 , pages 408-413.

5. Kristina Holmgren(2008) Work related stress in women, printed by intellecta docu sys AB västra frölunda, Sweden, Isbn 978 -91-628-7537-4.

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7. Mohsen Yazdani, Sara Rezaei, and Saeid Pahlavanzadeh(2010) The effectiveness of stress management training program on depression, anxiety and stress of the nursing students, Iran J nurs midwifery res. Autumn; 15(4): 208–215.

8. Kristin M. Phillips, Heather S. L. Jim, Brent J. Small, Tawee Tanvetyanon, William S. Roberts, Paul B. Jacobsen(2012) Effects of self-directed stress management training and home-based exercise on stress management skills in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, Stress and health, volume 28, Issue 5, pages 368–375.

9. Myidiskiran(2008) Stress management,www.studymode.com

10. Nimbalkar Mohan Rajaram(2011)Mental stress symptoms of working women, ISRJ, Vol - I , Issue – V.

11. Onyewadume, M.A.(2006) Stress and coping strategies: The case of working women in botswana. The social sciences, 1: 85-90.

12. Parul tripathi and Sandeep Bhattacharjee (2012) A study of psychological stress of working women, International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Vol.2 Issue 2.

13. Singh and G. Singh(2006) A study on family and psychosocial health status of middle-aged working women of varanasi city. The internet journal of third world medicine. volume 3 Number 2. DOI: 10.5580/1518.

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15. Weilmer (1998) Women stress and diseases, Wiley publication, Toronto.

16. William R. Lovallo (2005) Stress and health biological and psychological interactions, Sage publication.

Received on 04.08.2013

Modified on 22.09.2013

Accepted on 30.09.2013

Research J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 4(4): October-December, 2013, 501-507