Reflective Essay: Stress In The Workplace

Stress is a very complex topic. To my understanding it is an emotion felt not only mentally but physically as well. A large straining that you endure from being under immense pressure, at times you feel there is no way out. It can come from the negativity of your peers, and almost always from your very own self-doubt. Stress to me as a student and as a worker are very separate functions. From my student side I worry about not doing well on not only one but a series of demanding tasks from all of my classes. As a worker I face a different battle, one that demands my energy levels at capacity no matter how many hours have past. To even the situation of my own father who suffered a severe attack after feeling both mental and physical stress at the same time on a given night. …show more content…
One that demands excellence and thick skin. I am currently a cook at a hotel on Santa Monica Beach. Many people have warned me about the stresses of kitchen life; whether you are running to grab items for completion of orders or being yelled at by your superiors for mistakes made in critical split seconds, it is none the less a stress that I have never found comparable to anything else I have done in my life. This being the physical toll of abuse my body has endured while chasing excellence in my craft. It is a stress that drives many of my fellow cooks and chefs to reach for unneeded self-medications just to be able to continue when you feel yourself slow down. The abuse on our bodies due to physical stress comes in the ways of weight gain credited to bad eating habits at work, binge drinking of energy drinks to keep your spirits up after 12 hours at full speed, and the occasional smokes and alcohol many enjoy after a dinner service to finally slow down at a unhealthy attempt to relax. This stress I find dangerous simply because many choose to ignore it. It is a feeling many like myself choose to suppress in order to not fall behind on