Worrying About Work
Josh Ramirez & Josh Lustick
College students experience increased focus on career training and development throughout their educational journeys. For many, this may result in significant stress related to exploring job options, securing a position, and understanding the norms and expectations associated with their chosen career fields. This stress can be exacerbated for students who experience anxiety, depression, or other mental health symptoms. While students typically have access to career and counseling services provided by their college or university, these resources may not be utilized by those who experience social anxiety for a variety of reasons. The following outlines Worrying About Work, a self-help workbook designed at assisting students who are experiencing work-related distress to manage their symptoms through a variety of activities and resources. Further, the workbook can be used individually, with a trained counselor, or as a starting point for students who seek to enter counseling.
Social Justice Needs: Economic and Personal Toll of Stress
According to the American Institute of Stress (2019), 83% of workers suffer from work-related stress. This stress results in roughly 1 million workers missing work each day. These workers might be staying home in order to finish work that they’re behind on, to avoid a conflict, or they could be taking a much needed break, but regardless of the reason, this stress results in up to $300 billion in losses each year (American Institute of Stress, 2019). Depression that forms from stress is a large factor as it has lead to $51 billion in losses and $26 billion in treatment costs. The economic loss is far from the worst outcome, however. The American Institute of Stress (2019) also notes that work-related stress causes upward of 120,000 deaths each year.
Although there are large consequences of work-related stress and anxiety, these feelings are experienced at the individual level. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (n.d.) states that 7.1% of adults meet the criteria for social anxiety, and this social anxiety can exacerbate work-related stress further. Social anxiety has notable work-related outcomes such as trouble dealing with problems, difficulty maintaining work relationships, issues with setting and meeting deadlines, and periodically leading workers to turning down promotions (National Institute of Mental Health, 2017). With economic and personal impacts this large there is a need for resources to help address the social anxiety that many Americans experience. Penn State Harrisburg’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is aware of the struggles its students have with social anxiety and stress in the work place and worked collaboratively in the completion of Worrying About Work.
Theoretical Rationale: Theory of Work Adjustment
The Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA) states that differing values between the worker and the workplace leads to disequilibrium. It is this disequilibrium that leads to the work-related stress and anxiety that is experienced by millions workers on a daily basis. Their work may require things such as public speaking and high levels of personal work that some may be uncomfortable with, so the more they engage in these activities the worse they may feel. In order to address this disequilibrium, TWA offers three approaches: find a new job, change the environment, and change the self. Changing the self is the approach that Worrying About Work focuses on.
TWA refers to changing the self as reactive adjustment, and given the nature of social anxiety and many jobs this is believed to be the best approach. Social anxiety could hinder reactive adjustment as some may not feel comfortable due to a lack of coping strategies or difficulties being with assertive. Further, some jobs have features that you simply cannot change. Lawyers often engage in public speaking and police officers typically need to be confrontational, so it is unlikely that these work environments would be changeable. To account for these difficulties, Worrying About Work aims to address the inner causes of anxiety and stress in order to restore the imbalance that has lead to disequilibrium. Worrying About Work utilizes techniques that research has shown to have a substantial impact on social anxiety and stress such as assertiveness training exercises, mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, and psychoeducation (Aldao et al., 2014; Goldin et al., 2010; Lock, 2016).
Resources Needed
Resources required for implementing and utilizing Worrying About Work include (1) college or university counseling office space for conducting counseling sessions with workbooks and/or displaying workbooks for student access, (2) electronic devices (e.g., computer, tablet, smartphone, etc.) with internet access to download digital copies of the Worrying About Work workbook, (3) printer or copier to produce print copies of workbook, (4) writing materials (e.g., pens, pencils, etc.), (5) trained, well-qualified counselors to present workbook with students and explain its contents, direct students to further resources, and/or to work with students on workbooks in individual counseling, if desired, and (6) time – for training staff with workbook, completing workbooks with clients in counseling, and/or allowing students to complete workbook on their own.
Delivering Services
To deliver services, college counseling centers should first upload the digital copy of Worrying About Work to their resources webpage, as well as produce print copies, if desired. Then, centers should find appropriate places to display the physical copies of the workbooks, such as in the counseling and/or career services offices. Counseling staff should be trained on the workbook’s contents and its intended uses, as well as appropriate career and counseling theories and practice. Counselors then should be encouraged to share the workbook with current and/or potential clients with whom it may be beneficial. Additional staff working in the counseling/career centers (e.g., receptionist, office manager, etc.), should also be able to direct students inquiring about resources, but not seeking individual counseling, to the physical and digital copies of the workbooks. This allows for the workbook to be made available for students either to complete individually or with a trained counselor.
Expected Outcomes: A Reduction in Anxiety
Expected outcomes for successful implementation of Worrying About Work with students include self-reported increases in usage of positive, effective coping skills for anxiety symptoms, levels of assertiveness and communicative skills, and knowledge of rights and responsibilities as a worker. Additionally, reductions are expected in self-reported anxiety symptoms by students in counseling and the amount of students receiving counseling services for anxiety related to work. To measure outcomes, counseling centers should develop and distribute a self-report questionnaire regarding the workbook and its effectiveness to students in counseling and those who have accessed it without counseling services. Questionnaires can be distributed either physically via print copies or digitally via email link, and contain questions to assess students’ ratings on the workbooks’ contents, presentation, relevance to their lives, and impact on symptoms/overall functioning. Both open- and closed-ended questions can be utilized to acquire qualitative and quantitative data. Modifications and additions to the workbook can be made as deemed appropriate following analysis of the data from completed questionnaires.
Finished Product
Worrying About Work is a free, self-help workbook aimed at addressing social anxiety and stress in the workplace. Resources are provided at the end of the workbook for those who may desire additional help with their anxiety and stress. You got this!
References
Aldao, A., Jazaieri, H., Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2014). Adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies: Interactive effects during CBT for social anxiety disorder.Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 28(4), 382-389. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.03.005
American Institute of Stress (2019). 42 worrying workplace stress statistics. https://www.stress.org/42-worrying-workplace-stress-statistics
Anxiety and Depression Association of America (n.d.). Retrieved from https://adaa.org/managing-stress-anxiety-in-workplace/anxiety-disorders-in-workplace
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Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder.Emotion, 10(1), 83-91. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1037/a0018441
Lock, A. (2016, November 18). Overcoming social anxiety through assertive communication. National Social Anxiety Center. https://nationalsocialanxietycenter.com/2016/11/18/overcoming-social-anxiety-through-assertive-communication/
McKay, M., Wood, J.C., & Brantley, J. (2019). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook: Practical DBT exercises for learning mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation & distress tolerance (2nd ed., pp. 18-20). New Harbringer Publications, Inc.
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McKay, M., Wood, J.C., & Brantley, J. (2019). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook: Practical DBT exercises for learning mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation & distress tolerance (2nd ed., pp. 176-177). New Harbringer Publications, Inc.
National Institute of Mental Health (2017). Social Anxiety Disorder. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/social-anxiety-disorder.shtml
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