Occupational stress usually occurs in the individual’s workspace and may lead to intense and continuous physical and psychological instability. It can be caused by a variety of reasons: pressure at work, long work hours, dissatisfaction with work, unpleasant relationships with bosses and colleagues, delayed payments, among others.
In more advanced situations, stress can also cause discomfort and physical illnesses, such as: hypertension, ulcers, and muscle tension. At the same time, psychological well-being can be affected by emotions resulting from stress, such as: fear, anxiety, exaltation, demotivation, family relationships and addictive behaviours (e.g., alcohol and drug use). These emotions are likely to be reflected in the well-being of the individual. In more extreme situations, the individual may feel burnout due to exhaustion of their resources to deal with long and intense situations of stress.
How can psychological support help?
Psychological support focuses on the exploration of the context, feelings and emotions associated with the stress felt by the individual, and also on integrating the behaviours and resources that can help regulate stress levels and identify stress-causing factors, to help the person deal effectively with stress.
Chapters in Scientific Books
Mendoza-Ruvalcaba, N., von Humboldt, S., Flores-Villavicencio, M. & Díaz-García, I. (2021). Psychological fatigue. In D. Gu & M. E. Dupre (Eds.), Encyclopedia of gerontology and population aging. (pp. 4031-4035). New York, NY: Springer, Cham. (View Details).
Peer-Reviewed Indexed Journal Articles
von Humboldt, S., Miguel, I., Valentim, J. P., Costa, A., Low, G., & Leal, I. (2022). Is age an issue? Psychosocial differences in perceived older workers’ work (un) adaptability, effectiveness, and workplace age discrimination. Educational Gerontology, 1-13. JCR® Impact Factor (2021): 1.36 (View in Detail)
von Humboldt, S., Leal, I., Laneiro, T., & Tavares, P. (2013). Examining occupational stress, sources of stress and stress management strategies through the eyes of Consultants: A multiple correspondence analysis for latent constructs. Stress & Health, 29, 410-420. JCR® Impact Factor (2016): 2.114 (View in Detail)
Peer-Reviewed Scientific Proceedings
von Humboldt, S., & Leal, I. (2013). Examining consultants’ occupational stress and stress management strategies. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 82(1), 123-123. JCR® Impact Factor (2016): 8.964; SCImago: Quartile 1 (View in Detail)
von Humboldt, S., & Leal, I. (2013). Analyzing occupational stress, sources of stress and stress management strategies through the eyes of consultants. European Psychiatry, 28 (S1), P-2117-P-2117. JCR® Impact Factor (2016): 3.123; SCImago: Quartile 1 (View in Detail)
Peer-Reviewed Communications
von Humboldt, S., & Leal, I. Examining consultants’ occupational stress and stress management strategies. ICPM 2013 World Congress of Psychosomatic Medicine. Lisbon, 2013 (View in Detail).
von Humboldt, S., & Leal, I. Analyzing occupational stress, sources of stress and stress management strategies through the eyes of consultants. Presentation of poster and e-poster at the 21th European Congress of Psychiatry, Nice. April, 2013 (Download).
