Work used to make people tired, but now it makes them disappear. Only 20% of employees worldwide report being genuinely engaged at work (Gallup, 2026); the rest have just learnt to survive. The constant cloud over our heads to work harder is present in all human beings. A little Workplace Stress or pressure can be beneficial in helping us perform actively and stay focused on our tasks. But this benefit is limited when the pressure becomes unmanageable. The effect flips from helpful to harmful (Halkos & Bousinakis, 2010, as cited in Jain, n.d.).
When phrases like “It’s been a stressful week. I just need the weekend ” or “I just need to survive this week” get normalised. It starts to strain the person when work starts exceeding the physical and emotional capacity of the person. That’s when it becomes chronic (Colligan & Higgins, 2006, as cited in Jain, n.d.) The World Health Organization characterizes workplace stress as the reaction individuals experience when the demands of their job surpass what they know and are capable of managing (World Health Organisation, as cited in Maulik, 2017).
Within today’s hurried society, our work environments include factors like rigid timelines, the need to juggle multiple tasks at once, and evaluations tied to performance provide employees with hardly any opportunity to recover from the mental load. Around the world, one out of every three employees works over 48 hours each week, a trend particularly evident in areas with fewer resources (World Health Organisation, 2022). New technological developments, such as the remote and hybrid styles of work, have made the line between professional and personal life less clear and have created an “always-on” strain on workers (Kaur, 2023, as cited in Jain, n.d.; Alshehri et al., 2025, as cited in Jain, n.d.).
A study tracking over 61,000 Microsoft employees found their average workweek grew by roughly 10% after shifting to remote work (Yang et al., 2021). Workplace Stress is linked to harmful physical and psychological health consequences, and elements such as weak leadership, inadequate communication, overwhelming workloads, and domestic conflicts contribute to greater stress in the workplace (Maulik, 2017).
Read More: Is Digital Burnout the New Workplace Crisis? Causes, Effects, and Prevention
Normalised Stress and Burnout
The phase of being in constant stress is being treated as normal because of “Habituation”. This occurs when there is a decrease in our response when exposed to the same stimulus repeatedly (Thompson & Spencer, 1966). This system helps us with adaptability to new stressful situations; however, the same system can mask the ongoing harm of a stressful situation Grissom & Bhatnagar,2009). Studies also show that an impaired habituation system due to constant stress is linked to higher chances of developing disorders like anxiety or depression ( Campeau et al.,2023)
The WHO’s ICD-11 defines burnout as a syndrome manifested in the body as a result of constant workplace stress for the workplace that has not been managed well (World Health Organisation, 2019). Burnout can be categorised into three parts (Maslach & Jackson, 1981):
- Emotional exhaustion: the state of being completely drained out
- Cynicism: emotional withdrawal, irritability
- Reduced professional efficacy: a declining sense of competence and effectiveness (Maslach & Leiter, 2016)
Burnout takes small steps that usually go unnoticed. But it slowly builds up inside you and mentally takes you down step by step. Starts with a loss of interest and care for people and activities (Pines & Maslach, 1980). The motivation, determination, and energy to work don’t disappear in one dramatic stressful event. They fade off in an almost invisible manner, so slow that burnout evolves almost unrecognised up to a particular point (Etzion, 1987, as cited in Schaufeli & Buunk, 2003).
Lack of Control & Emotional Detachment
A theory by Robert Karasek stated that people face higher risks of psychological strain and physical illness in demanding jobs, specifically when those demands are combined with low control (Karasek & Theorell, 1990). When two people can have equally heavy workloads, but the one with more say over their schedule, methods, or priorities will typically work far better than the one who has neither workload relief nor any control over how they can manage it. This theory is also backed by the WHO: “higher job control is associated with reduced emotional exhaustion and burnout. Low job control is associated with increased odds of absence linked to mental health diagnoses” (World Health Organisation, 2022).
Repeated exposure to uncontrollable negative events teaches people to stop trying to change their situation, a phenomenon called “learned helplessness.” People who repeatedly tried to raise concerns or ask for support at their workplace yet were constantly ignored have a higher tendency to develop coping mechanisms like emotional detachment (Seligman, 1972).
When someone stops reaching out to others, cares less, appears less frequently, or gives off less warmth when dealing with clients, this condition is known as emotional detachment, and it is the part of burnout tied to interpersonal cynicism (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). This is a way of coping, not a fault in who you are. Detachment may be useful and shield a person for a little while. But over time, it destroys everything that person has built: their social connections, their personal relationships.
The Physical and Mental Effects
When stress becomes a part of our everyday life rather than being occasional, our bodies are heavily damaged by it. The damage isn’t from one single stressful day. But from constant pressure that never gives the body a chance to fully rest and recover (McEwen, 1998). Stress manifests itself in a lot of illnesses in the body: hypertension, diabetes, and broader physical disorders.
It makes cognitive tasks harder, impacts decision-making and emotional regulation (Maulik, 2017). Chronic stress is correlated with cardiovascular disorders including hypertension and heart disease (Chang, 2024, as cited in Jain, n.d.). The combination of high demands and low control is associated with depressive symptoms and diagnosable depression, and low job control specifically has been associated with increased odds of suicidal ideation and suicide mortality (World Health Organisation, 2022). Long working hours with excessive workload are also associated with depressive symptoms and an increased likelihood of new risky alcohol use, particularly beyond 49 hours per week (World Health Organisation, 2022).
Study: Thorsteinsson, Brown, & Richards (2014)
This study was conducted to find the relationship between work-stress, psychological stress, staff health, and work outcomes in office workers. The sample consisted of about 201 office staff recruited through emails and snowball sampling. All completed a short, anonymous online survey measuring work stress and support provided by the company and supervisor (Thorsteinsson, Brown, & Richards, 2014).
Read More: India’s Workforce Health Crisis: The Rising Impact of Chronic Diseases
Results
High levels of work stress were associated with worse staff health, specifically higher levels of anxiety, depression, and fatigue and worse work outcomes; these effects were mediated by perceived stress and depended on subjective experiences of feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Separately, the study found that lower levels of workplace support, both organisational and supervisor support, were associated with adverse work outcomes (higher turnover intentions, lower organisational commitment, lower job satisfaction) and with higher depression levels (Thorsteinsson, Brown, & Richards, 2014). The most notable finding: neither perceived organisational support nor supervisor support was shown to moderate the relationship between high work stress and staff health or work outcomes (Thorsteinsson, Brown, & Richards, 2014).
Discussion
The study helps us understand that Workplace Stress contributes to feelings of high perceived stress in some workers. Then produces poor health and higher turnover intentions (Thorsteinsson, Brown, & Richards, 2014). The finding on workplace support also challenges the assumption that a supportive manager or a caring organisation can fully protect someone from the psychological costs of high stress.
The data suggested otherwise: support did not appear to prevent the higher risks of ill health or adverse work outcomes such as reduced job satisfaction, even though support was independently associated with somewhat better outcomes on its own (Thorsteinsson, Brown, & Richards, 2014). This study suggests that “just surviving” isn’t simply an individual failure to cope. It isn’t something a fully functioning workplace culture can fully undo either. Support aimed only at increasing perceived stress relief, without addressing the actual sources of workload and pressure, may fall short of protecting people’s psychological wellbeing.
Conclusion
“Yeah, just surviving” the workday has become so common these days that it barely makes us think something could genuinely be wrong with that. It’s not just a mood or a phase of life, but something a lot deeper. These phrases slowly, quietly build up in you until one day you just snap. Because your body cannot handle it anymore. Constant stress in the workplace does not stay confined to the workplace. It slowly starts interfering with your personal life as well, and your body pays for it in the form of disrupted sleep, muscle strain, and an always-active nervous system that no longer knows how to relax.
That’s why the role of organisations matters more than the individual at the workplace: leadership, supportive staff, and the degree to which a person is given control over their own work determine whether stress stays occasional or becomes chronic. But the evidence is clear that support alone, without structural change, does not reliably protect people from the psychological costs of a demanding, low-control environment (Thorsteinsson, Brown, & Richards, 2014). Stop treating “I’m just surviving” as an acceptable answer to “how’s work going?” It isn’t evidence of staying committed to your work. Rather, it’s a signal worth taking seriously, and recognising that is the first real step toward changing it. ( Total words: 1517)
References +
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- Maulik, P. K. (2017). Workplace stress: A neglected aspect of mental health wellbeing. The Indian Journal of Medical Research, 146(4), 441–444. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1298_17
- Harju, L. K., Van Hootegem, A., & De Witte, H. (2022). Bored or burning out? Reciprocal effects between job stressors, boredom and burnout. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 139, 103807. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103807
- World Health Organisation. (2019, May 28). Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International classification of diseases. World Health Organisation; World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
- Jain, R., & Blanco Sepúlveda, M. (2026, May 21). THE IMPACT OF CHRONIC WORKPLACE STRESS ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/405111443_the_impact_of_chronic_workplace_stress_on_employee_prod uctivity_and_efficiency
- WORK ORGANISATION AND STRESS WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION PROTECTING WORKERS” O HEALTH SERIES N 3. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2026, from https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/ecd0a35b 5b26-4e4d-ad00-3fdb5a59eb72/content
- Grissom, N., & Bhatnagar, S. (2009). Habituation to repeated stress: Get used to it. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 92(2), 215–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2008.07.001
- Thorsteinsson, E. B., Brown, R. F., & Richards, C. (2014). The Relationship between Work-Stress, Psychological Stress and Staff Health and Work Outcomes in Office Workers. Psychology, 05(10), 1301–1311. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2014.510141
