If my job is causing me too much stress, should I quit?

Question

I am under a lot of stress at my job and also in my personal life. I already have a problem with high blood pressure, but lately it has been really high all the time caused from the stress that I am under. Should I find another job?

Answer 1

What are the problems?


Your "job" is not causing stress
you cause the stress by reacting or over reacting to it
Is it too much work, the hours, the people you work with?

Divide the "personal" from the JOB
Finding another job will not solve the problem

Put all the problem on paper and let us solve each one --one by one

Answer 2

Hi, I wanted to say that I feel for you!

I am also in a job that causes me lots of stress and severe mental anguish. Sometimes I want to kill myself because of it.

I have been looking for new jobs everyday and I suggest you do too! Our lives are TOO SHORT to have to be stressed and sadddened by a job.

If you can afford to quit today, do so. If you are like me and have to wait until you find another job, just hold on and know it will get better.

In the meantime, try and do some stress-relieving exercises like deep breathing to help. Also try to avoid the people that cause you the most stress.

Good lucK! I am in the same boat!

Answer 3

I would start looking for a new job. I was miserable & stressed at my last job and took me a year but I finally found a job that I am now at where there is little stress & I am a million times happier! My blood pressure has gone down and I used to have the stress build in my neck with neck aches/migraines& haven't had any of these issues since. It's not worth your health to work in an unhappy stressful environment! Sure you may need to take a pay cut, but you will just need to cut back on a few luxuries for a while. And who knows, you may be able to find a job that pays better with less the stress!

Answer 4

Stress can amplify high blood pressure up to a point, but it cannot cause it. Part of stress lies in what you see as being stressful and how you handle it. I really hated doing customer service until I learned to detach myself from people who wanted to vent their frustration as much as find a solution. Once I latched onto the idea that I did not cause their problem and could POSSIBLY fix it, things became much more bearable.
There is no pat answer to relieving stress; it can crop up unbidden from unexpected angles. The only real answers are to define a territory for yourself and either refuse to allow outside things to intrude on it or to change them. Only you can define whether or not changing jobs might help that. It requires a cost/benefit analysis where you weight X against Y.
In one's personal life, its often a matter of either talking with the stressors and coming to an agreement about parts of a relationship, or in some cases, walking away.
In both situations, it requires a process of sanding away the rough edges and simplifying as much as you can. Its far better to give something up than let it give you a stroke. Aside from family issues, which naturally call for a different effort, simply try to remember that the only person you REALLY have to take care of is YOU, because all the rest flows downhill from there. If you simply demand for yourself the space YOU really need, you'll become better at handling the rest. That's both fair and sensible. I can't answer for your life issues in a few distant paragraphs, but you can think of yourself "first" without being selfish or impractical. Once you respect your own limits and goals, the rest often becomes more manageable. Its like hauling a trailer of bricks with too small a car; its amazing what a better job it can do if you take a third off them OFF! Even the act of deciding that you're going to take steps in that direction can relieve some stress. Try shifting gears a bit and see what happens. A "little" can sometimes become a lot more than you imagined. That cuts both ways, good and bad, hm?

Answer 5

Perhaps. Can you afford to quit? What will you do for money if you do? Can you find another job? Do you have any marketable skills?

perhaps there are ways that you can deal with stress? Do you exercise at all? going on a brisk jog in the mornings may help you relieve some of that stress. There are also stresss management courses available that you can take.

Answer 6

i have a huge problem with stress between work and home, i unfortunately have to take medication to control my anxiety caused by the stress. you should find a counselor to talk to, find out what exactly is bothering you at work, get to the core of the issues. if it is something fixable, start there. if your problems are too deep to find a resolution at your current job then you need to find another one. though it will be stressful to quit a job, your health is more important than having the stress on you on a daily basis. good luck.

Answer 7

Yea- go find another job (do that before you quit the one you have, or you'll really find yourself stressed!!) While it's stressful to make a big change like a job (especially if you've been at it a long time), it's worth the short term pain for long term happiness (you'll probably wonder why you waited so long!)

Answer 8

I think it depends how important your job is to you. If you are going to lose everything (house, car etc) by quitting then i would say hang in there, be strong and start looking immediately for a new one. But if thats not a worry for you and the stress is affecting your daily life and emotions then i would say quit tomorrow! A job is not the be-all-and-end-all of life, HAPPINESS is!

Answer 9

Yes, leave your job. Even if it means getting paid less it will be worth it. I had the same problem I would come home in a bad mood yelling at my husband for no reason and I just wanted to be left alone. In my case it was my boss not the work but once I left I felt a huge relief. I even dropped down in pay quite a bit but it was worth it. Good luck.

Answer 10

Sometimes that is the best option.
A fresh start often helps.
There is great information on stress management and how to reduce your stress at ( http://www.reducingstress.net )
They have a whole section on workplace stress.

Good Luck