continue, the body tends to stay on alert - and blood pressure remains consistently high" (Payne, p. 64.)
This condition frequently leads to a state of stress over-load. Experts on the topic of stress generally agree that the negative aspects of stress contribute strongly to both short-term and long-term problems. Although it is difficult to accurately measure the levels of stress in individual organisms, researchers have nonetheless been able to isolate the effects that stress has on both psychological and physical health. In particular, it has been found that prolonged negative stress has a debilitating
impact; it has "the power to weaken, even devastate, otherwise healthy, energetic, and competent individuals" (Veninga, 1981, p. 7). It has been noted that "stress affects our psychology, our emotional health, and our physical health simultaneously" (Frew, p. 57).
The impact that stress has on the physical organism has been found to contribute to many serious diseases. For example, stress is now known to be a contributing factor in many cases of high blood pressure. In addition, "available evidence indicates that the stress process may contribute to the development of a wide range of physical and mental disorders, including infectious diseases, chronic respiratory ailments, cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, depression, and perhaps even cancer" (House, 1981, p. 4).
It has been found that many cases of stress can be attributed to the pressures related to an individual's job. A condition known as "job burnout" describes "a debilitating psychological condition brought about by unrelieved work stress, which results in: (1) depleted energy reserves, lowered resistance to illness, increased dissatisfaction and pessimism, increased absenteeism and in-efficiency at work" Veninga and Spradley, pp. 6-7). The more stress a particular person experiences as a result of his or her job, the greater the odds will ...