Latest news with #stressmanagement
The Verge
3 days ago
- Health
- The Verge
That's what researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are proposing in
Track your mental stress... with a forehead e-tattoo? this paper published in Device. In an interview with IEEE Spectrum, co-author Nanshu Lu says it's meant to help people in 'high-stakes, high-demand' jobs monitor their stress in real-time. The e-tattoo measures brainwaves and eye movements to decode mental workloads to help prevent people in stressful jobs from reaching a breaking point. Obviously, this is research and not an actual thing yet — but it sure does look cyberpunk.
Harvard Business Review
3 days ago
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
HBR's Best Practices for Supporting Employee Mental Health
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, people across the globe faced new anxieties about their health, families, income, and stability. For company leaders, all that upheaval put worker mental health into the can't-ignore category of issues affecting their organizations. External forces affecting employee mental health have continued to proliferate since: The fast pace of AI implementation is changing the shape of many careers, geopolitical tumult brings worry about stability, and murky and shifting economic outlooks can lead to cost-cutting measures like layoffs. In short, your people have a lot to worry about right now. A new survey from the workplace wellness consultancy Mind Share Partners in partnership with Qualtrics of over 1,100 U.S. employees found that 90% of participants reported 'at least minor levels of one mental health challenge,' with the top three stressors being U.S. politics, global events, and personal finances. As a leader, you're likely feeling it, too: A 2024 Businessolver survey of 3,000 CEOs, HR professionals, and employees found that 55% of CEOs reported experiencing a mental health issue (such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, burnout, and obsessive compulsive disorder) in the past year. It's time for leaders to recommit to supporting their employees' mental health—and their own. HBR's archive has plenty of strategies for how to do it right. Change Systems, Not Individuals Companies are making larger investments in employee wellness programs than ever; however, data suggests those programs aren't actually resulting in better well-being outcomes for employees. According to a trio of authors drawing on a wide body of workplace wellness research, individual-level interventions like well-being apps and employee assistance programs are likely to be ineffective unless paired with systemic interventions. To take a more holistic approach to workplace well-being, the authors suggest leaders become 'behavioral architects' by embedding well-being strategies—and support—into all levels of the organization. Consider changes like increasing flexibility (even trying a four-day workweek) to give employees more control over their work-life balance, putting together volunteer-led 'well-being champion networks' to provide them with peer support, and training managers to support their team members' mental health. Consider Identity Workplace mental health expert Morra Aarons-Mele points out that 'work is about people, and people are messy and difficult.' That may appear obvious at first glance, but identity —the interrelated elements that make up our concept of ourselves—is a critical dimension of how people experience and talk about mental health challenges. Employees from younger generations may be more comfortable discussing mental health than their older counterparts, for example, and men may feel more stigma around mental health than women do. Aarons-Mele has a few suggestions for how to counter these differing perspectives: Create an organization-wide shared language and baseline of knowledge about mental health. Ensure men are visible in mental health conversations. Create opportunities for people who share lived experiences and dimensions of identity to connect with one another. Look to Your Own Leadership Behaviors As a leader, your day-to-day behaviors can inadvertently cause your employees undue stress and anxiety. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic put together a list of five common behaviors to watch out for. For example, are you adding unnecessary complexity by making employees guess at what you'll do next? Are you telegraphing pessimism, leading them to assume a situation is worse than it is? Being more aware of how your actions affect your employees can help you 'bring out the best in people even in the worst of times,' according to Chamorro-Premuzic. And while many conversations about mental health have moved out of the shadows and into the open over the past few years, both stigma and concerns about repercussions persist. As a leader, you have influence, and discussing your own mental health can make your employees feel more comfortable discussing theirs. As Kelly Greenwood, founder and former CEO of Mind Share Partners, puts it, telling your own story 'reduces stigma and normalizes the ups and downs of being human—especially as a high-performing professional' and 'positions vulnerability as a strength instead of a weakness and shows it's possible to succeed and thrive with a mental health challenge.' Greenwood offers a guide to crafting an authentic, compelling story for employees in a way that's both inclusive and protective of your own boundaries. Improve Uptake of Programs Storytelling may also help increase employee participation in the mental health programs you've invested in. A team of behavioral scientists and organizational behavior scholars recently conducted a study of 2,400 employees at the Swiss pharma company Novartis to test their participation in the company's peer-to-peer Mental Health First Aid support program. While plenty of employees had volunteered to be mental health first aiders (i.e., a source of support for colleagues), overall uptake in the program remained low. The authors presented participants with various anonymous stories of their colleagues accessing the program, varying in severity from work-related stress and anxiety to depression and panic attacks caused by external factors. Their initial findings showed that 'simply hearing about colleagues' struggles [could] normalize access to mental health support at work and increase uptake of an existing peer-to-peer support mental health program by as much as 8%.' That might not sound significant, but the authors note that at a large corporation like Novartis (comprising approximately 78,000 employees), the increased uptake could translate to 2,000 employees making use of the resource. Don't Neglect Your Own Mental Health To be effective at leading others, it's critical that you take care of yourself. If today's roller coaster of uncertainty is (understandably) making you anxious, Morra Aarons-Mele emphasizes how important it is that you address it: 'If you don't look your anxiety in the face at some point, it will take you down.' Instead of ignoring it or trying to push through it, she offers a four-stage process for managing your anxiety. First, you'll do some reflecting, looking inward to better understand what you're feeling and why. Then, you'll start developing tactics for managing your anxiety, including (healthy) compartmentalizing and connecting with others. Next, you'll learn how to be vulnerable with peers and employees—without oversharing or letting the conversation go off the rails. Finally, you'll put together a support system outside the organization to help gut-check your decision-making and advise you on more sensitive situations. Doing this, Aarons-Mele notes, 'means you'll have better workdays, both when things are status quo and during transitions and tough times.' . . . The past few years have taught us a couple things: It's not reasonable to expect employees (or yourself) to check their emotions at the door when they come into work, and simply spending money on interventions like wellness apps isn't sufficient on its own to support them. As a leader, taking a more holistic view of your employees' mental health—and working through and sharing your own experiences—can make them feel more engaged and improve the health of your organization. More Resources
Forbes
5 days ago
- Health
- Forbes
Smart Dental Floss Tracks Levels Of Stress Hormone Cortisol In Saliva
Scientists have created a dental floss that doesn't just clean between your teeth. It gauges your stress levels. It does that by measuring amounts of cortisol in saliva. Produced by the adrenal glands and often referred to as 'the stress hormone,' cortisol plays a critical role in regulating the body's response to stress, in addition to regulating blood pressure, helping control the sleep-wake cycle and influencing other physical functions. Chronic stress can impact us in all sorts of adverse ways — from increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease to decreasing immune function — so controlling and reducing it is essential. The Tufts University team behind the multitasking floss aimed to create a low-cost, noninvasive and simple at-home tool for getting a read on stress levels in real time. 'We didn't want measurement to create an additional source of stress,' Tufts engineering professor Sameer Sonkusale said in a statement, 'so we thought, can we make a sensing device that becomes part of your day-to-day routine?' Sonkusale and his colleagues detail their saliva-sensing dental floss in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and are creating a startup to try and bring the product to market. The dental floss comes in the form of a standard floss pick, with the string stretched across two prongs that extend from a plastic handle. It's not just any string, though. It's a special 3D-printed thread containing a narrow channel that picks up the saliva via capillary microfluidics, or blood vessel activity that moves the fluid along. The spit then gets drawn into the flat pick handle and into an attached tab, where it spreads across cortisol-detecting electrodes and produces a score within 11 to 12 minutes. 'Combined with a wireless readout, this saliva floss offers a convenient way to monitor daily stress levels," the study says. The team tested the device on student volunteers at the Boston university, resulting, according to the study, in highly accurate results reinforced by those of ELISA kits that test a range of antigen targets, hormones and molecules. Still, Sonkusale said the smart floss is best used for monitoring rather than diagnostics, where blood work remains the gold standard. 'But once you are diagnosed and put on medication, if you need to track, say, a cardiovascular condition over time to see if your heart health is improving, then monitoring with the sensor can be easy and allows for timely interventions when needed,' he said. The novel device, the scientists say, could be extended beyond cortisol to detect other salivary biomarkers, such as estrogen for fertility tracking, glucose for diabetes monitoring and even markers for cancer — turning a simple daily dental act into a broader health check-in.
CNET
6 days ago
- General
- CNET
Lead a Happier Life With These 7 Simple Daily Habits
Leading a happier life might seem like a lofty goal, especially if you've been feeling down recently, but it is entirely possible with the right habits. Our moods are affected by everything around us, including the weather, light levels, the food we eat and even how much we move our bodies. While nobody is in a great mood all the time, these daily habits can help you to stay in a more positive mindset, no matter what setbacks life throws at you. If you want to pursue a happier life, try incorporating some of these ideas into your daily or weekly routine. The best part? All the habits on this list are absolutely free. Simple mental health habits to start using today 1. Make relaxation a routine Very few things in life are promised, but stressful times are all but guaranteed. There will be times when you feel overwhelmed or stressed out, but you can control how you respond to the strain. Implementing relaxation techniques into your daily routine can help you manage stress. Meditation is a popular way to relax as it can help reach a state of calm, decrease stress and improve your mood. Some people even use music to guide them through their meditation sessions. If meditation isn't your thing, deep breathing, reading or taking a hot bath are also popular relaxation techniques. No matter how you choose to relax, try to make it a habit. 2. Practice gratitude Including gratitude in your life is a way to create a positive outlook on your life. More than that, it has tangible benefits for your mental health, including reducing stress, lessening depression symptoms and boosting your mood. Gratitude is a simple concept but sometimes can be difficult to keep up with. Take time for self-reflection and share your gratitude with the people around you. If you like to journal, regularly write down a list of things you're grateful for.3. Value social interaction Sharing our time with others is sometimes just what we need to boost our mood or change our perspective on things. By making time for friends and family, you will decrease feelings of loneliness and ensure you have an emotional support system at your fingertips. If you can't regularly meet in person, text messages and Zoom calls are all meaningful ways to connect with others without actually seeing each other. The other side of valuing social interaction is knowing when you've had enough. Boundaries are an essential part of mental health that helps keep you from pushing yourself too far. Feel empowered to say no or move plans around when your body tells you to. 4. Take care of your physical health Mental health is directly tied to physical health. One cannot flourish without the other. The three main areas to target are sleep, nutrition and exercise. Let's dig into each target area: 5. Monitor your social media intake Our phones are our lifelines. Most of the time, they're beside us, keeping us connected to the outside world through calls, texts and social media. The hours spent scrolling through social media, comparing ourselves to the snapshot of perfection people post, can seriously impact our self-view and stain our mental health. Constant social media use has been linked to worsened anxiety and depression symptoms, feelings of inadequacy and unhealthy sleeping habits. You can use social media in a way that doesn't deplete your mental health. Use these tactics to make social media work for you: Don't start or end your day with social media. Put a limit on how long you can spend on social media. Use the time you used to spend on social media to do something that brings you joy or relaxation. 6. Journal your feelings Journaling is a powerful tool to cope with mental health disorders by working through emotions and channeling thoughts. A 2018 study found that journaling for 15 minutes each day significantly reduced stress and feelings of anxiety. Other research has linked it to helping work through PTSD symptoms or depression. There is no right or wrong way to journal. Many people journal daily, others may journal only when stressed or need to work through something. No matter how you use it, journaling is a way you can track your progress and growth throughout the year. Getty Images 7. Make yourself laugh Sometimes, laughter is the best medicine. When you're feeling stressed or down, do things that will make you laugh to reduce anxiety and stress. Watch your favorite TV show or movie to give your mood a boost or find the source within yourself. Sing while you're in the shower or dance while cleaning your home. Dancing reduces the stress hormone cortisol in the body. Improving your mental health is a journey. It doesn't happen overnight. You can make lasting tweaks to your well-being by intentionally adding habits to your routine.
Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
I love my job, but hate my boss. What are some strategies I can use to cope with him?
Interested in more careers-related content? Check out our new weekly Work Life newsletter. Sent every Monday afternoon. I love my job and my direct manager but I hate my boss, who is the owner of the company. He's rude, brash and dismissive. I dread our weekly company-wide meetings. About once a month, I'll get assigned a task that requires one-on-one meetings with him, which is anxiety-inducing and stressful. I don't want to leave my job, but what are some strategies I can use to cope with being around the company owner? How can I tactfully request that my manager not put me on tasks that involve time with the owner? Jivi Saran, executive business adviser, Quantum Business Growth, Vancouver In a values and purpose-based workplace culture, we understand that every interaction – even the challenging ones – offers valuable insight into how we relate, communicate and influence one another. Your stress around the company owner is completely valid and rather than seeing it solely as a problem, it can be viewed as a meaningful signal – an opportunity to reflect on your boundaries, needs and energy. Rather than approaching this situation with avoidance, consider shifting how you prepare for and engage in these moments. Before your meetings, ground yourself – take a few deep breaths, remind yourself of what you bring to the table and set a clear intention to remain steady and composed. This helps you stay aligned with your values, regardless of someone else's behaviour. When it comes to speaking with your manager, approach the conversation with honesty and professionalism. You might say something like: 'I work best in calm, collaborative settings. I find it difficult to stay focused and confident when I work directly with [the owner] and it impacts my ability to deliver my best. Would it be possible to adjust how these tasks are assigned so I can continue contributing effectively?' This isn't about avoiding responsibility – it's about making intentional choices that support your well-being and performance. We know that when we make even small adjustments to how we show up, the environment often begins to shift in response. You don't have to give up a role you care about. With clear communication and a centred mindset, you can create more peace within yourself while continuing to make a meaningful contribution. Empowerment doesn't always require dramatic action – sometimes, it comes from quiet self-awareness and conscious choices about where your energy goes. Bruce Sandy, principal, Pathfinder Coaching & Consulting, Nanoose Bay, B.C. I am curious why you hate your boss/the owner of the company. There are a number of rude, brash and dismissive people in the world. Do you feel as strongly about them? How do you handle them? Your boss may remind you of other key figures, which may be causing your amplified reactions to him. Reflect on who that may be. If you have unresolved abuse (and/or) trauma caused by someone similar to your boss in your past, then you will want to consider speaking to a therapist or counsellor about this. Ask your direct manager if it is possible not to have direct contact with the owner. Be curious about how this avoidance of dealing with the owner may impact you in your job and the workplace. If it is not possible to avoid contact with the owner, then ask your direct manager about how best to work with the owner. Does your boss/owner have any redeeming qualities that you appreciate? If so, list these and focus on them. Remember, that which you focus on grows. If you cannot avoid the owner, then be professional, respectful and set clear boundaries with him. Indicate to the owner that you want to focus on the issue at hand and that you have a set amount of time for the meeting. Also, ask if he has any constructive feedback for you at the end of meetings. You may want to have your direct manager or someone else involved in the meetings until you become comfortable interacting with the owner by yourself. They can then provide you with feedback, recommendations and coaching on how best to work with the owner. Have a question for our experts? Send an e-mail to NineToFive@ with 'Nine to Five' in the subject line. Emails without the correct subject line may not be answered.
