This study investigates levels and sources of stress, coping, and spiritual wellbeing of a sample of nurses. It also examines the relationship between these \ ariables. The sample is drawn from three public hospitals. The Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) measures the sources and levels of stress while the revised Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) measures coping. The Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (SWBS) measures the spirituality of the sample. The study found that nurses are moderately affected by all the stressors measured by the NSS. It also found that nurses use emotion as well as problem-focused coping. Spiritual wellbeing was found to be high and may explain why nurses experience moderate stress levels. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

The present study evaluated the effect of the Continuous Stress Intervention Programme (CSIP) on trauma symptoms and coping strategies. The programme was implemented with a group of police officers from a specialised unit who daily experience extremely difficult and at times traumatic work conditions. Data was gathered before and after the implementation of the CSIP. A quasi - experimental design approach was adopted with a control group who had no intervention and an intervention- experimental group, who participated in the programme. Data was gathered from questionnaires with instruments that measured trauma symptomatology and coping strategies, both in the pre- and post -intervention periods. The control group consisted of eight police officers, while the experimental group consisted of 24 police officers. Data was analysed using a frequency count of scores, and a mixed between-within analysis of variance, using the SPSS (Version 11) statistical computer package. The results of the study showed that the Continuous Stress Intervention programme did not have a significant effect between the experimental and control groups, on trauma symptoms, but the trauma symptoms of the experimental group decreased from the pre- assessment to the post -assessment at a greater rate. In addition, in terms of the coping responses, the results of the study were significant for only one of the sub - scales, between the experimental and control groups, while there was an increase in positive coping strategies for the experimental group. The results were discussed in terms of epidemiological studies conducted previously in the area of trauma research. Recommendations were made pertaining to the inclusion of support mechanisms for the spouses of police officers, as well as the inclusion of coping strategies to deal with specific organisational problems within the programme. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

There is little or no information regarding stress levels among teachers in semi-rural government secondary schools in South Africa. Furthermore, findings regarding the relationship between gender, age and teaching experience and teacher stress appear to be equivocal. The present study aims to examine the levels of stress among a group of semirural secondary school teachers, and whether there is a relationship between stress levels and gender, age, teaching experience and medical/psychiatric treatment. The researcher employed a survey using the Professional Life Stress Scale (PLSS) to assess teachers' stress levels. The demographic checklist consisted of the following items: gender, age, length of service in the teaching profession, psychiatric or medical treatment during the previous 3 months. Participants included 102 teachers, 38 of whom were males and 64 were female, from 9 selected government schools in the Durban semirural area. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample. T-tests were used to determine the relationship between gender and total stress scores, as well as to determine gender differences on individual items on the PLSS. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to determine the relationship between age and teaching experience and total stress scores. Chi squares were used to determine whether there was a relationship between gender and category of stress. In addition, reasons for obtaining medical/psychiatric services were examined. The research findings indicate that these secondary teachers are experiencing high levels of stress and that gender, age, teaching experience have no significant effect on their levels of stress. In addition, few participants seek psychological and medical services and most participants report psychosomatic symptoms. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

The relationship between stress and wellness has been superficially studied in the past. The aim of this research is therefore to explore the relationship between stress and wellness. To discover this relationship a quantitative, structured questionnaire research method is used. The literature review illustrates the relationship between stress and wellness with specific regard to educators. These constructs are considered individually and then in correlation with each other. Throughout the review a critical approach is adopted to demonstrate various downfalls with the current research in the areas of stress and wellness. The participants were selected using a representative, non-probability sampling strategy from Sivananda Further Education and Training College in KwaZulu-Natal. The participants for the research totalled 71 employees (46 educators and 24 administration staff). A biographical questionnaire, the Occupational Role Questionnaire and the Perceived Wellness Survey were used to collect the data. The data was then analysed using descriptive statistics, frequencies, factor analyses and bivariate correlations in SPSS. The results predominantly suggest that the stress levels for the staff at Sivananda FET College are in the normal range while the wellness levels are generally above average. There is also evidence of there being 19 significant relationships between the dimensions of stress and wellness. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

Uitbranding as verskynsel was oorspronklik waargeneem by individue wat in hulpverlenings beroepe gestaan het, soos byvoorbeeld verpleegsters. Vandag word dit erken dat individue in enige beroep uitbranding kan ontwikkel. Dit is om hierdie rede dat navorsing oor die verband tussen uitbranding, begeestering, coping en lokus van kontrole van nagraadse studente toepaslik en noodsaaklik is, aangesien hulle die toekomstige werknemers van Suid Afrika is. Die doe1 van die navorsing is om die verband tussen uitbranding, begeestering, coping en lokus van kontrole van werkende nagraadse studente en nie-werkende nagraadse studente te bepaal. 'n Opname-ontwerp is gebruik vir die navorsing. Die ondersoekgroep het bestaan uit (n=40) nagraadse studente in die Ingenieursfakulteit asook @=SO) nagraadse studente in die MBA klas van die Besigheidskool. Vier vraelyste is in hierdie empiriese navorsing gebruik, naamlik die Maslach Uitbrandingsvraelys - Algemene Opname (MBI-GS), die Utrech Work Engagement-Skaal (UWES), die COPE-Vraelys (COPE) en die Lokus van Kontrole- Inventark (LOC). Beskrywende statistiek is gebruik om die data te analiseer. Die resultate van die ondersoek dui daarop dat nagraadse studente 'n risiko loop vir uitbranding. Die resultate wys verder daarop dat die meeste nagraadse studente intern gemotiveer word en gebruik maak van aktiewe coping- strategieë om stres van die akademiese lewe te kan hanteer. Die resultate dui verder ook daarop dat 'n eksterne lokus van kontrole verband hou met hoe uitbrandingsimptome en passiewe coping- strategieë. Verdere aanduidings is dat hoe uitputting met 'n eksterne lokus van kontrole en hoe vlakke van sinisme korreleer. Toewyding en lewenskrag korreleer positief met interne lokus van kontrole en outonomie, en voorspel ook lae vlakke van uitputting en sinisme. Aanbevelings vir verdere navorsing is aan die hand gedoen. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe pateikiamas Šiaulių miesto finansine veikla užsiimančių organizacijų - antstolių kontorų ir bankų, darbuotojų nuomonių apie darbo stresą sukeliančius veiksnius, tyrimas. Tyrimo tikslas – ištirti darbuotojų nuomonę, apie darbo stresą sukeliančius veiksnius pasirinktose Šiaulių miesto finansinių paslaugų sektoriaus įmonėse. Klausimynas, pateiktas analizuojamų įmonių darbuotojams, buvo parengtas pagal M. Davis, E. R. Eshelman, M. Mckay (2007) stresorių grupių suskirstymą, kuriuo darbuotojai turėjo įvertinti savo būseną darbe ir įvertinti darbo stresorius. Apklausoje dalyvavo 109 respondentai, iš kurių 43 antstolių kontorų (Antstolės Eurikos Rulienės, Antstolės Vaivos Šimkienės, Antstolio Arturo Bložės, Antstolio Mariaus Jastromskio, Antstolio Ričardo Kudrausko, Antstolio Tomo Ubarto) ir 66 bankų (AB „Swedbank“, AB „Šiaulių bankas“, AB „DnB NORD“ ir AB „Snoras“) darbuotojai. Atlikto tyrimo rezultatai parodė, jog nei antstolių kontorų darbuotojai nei bankų darbuotojai nėra veikiami gausos stresorių, kurie galėtų įtakoti streso darbe atsiradimą. Tačiau tam tikrų signalų, į kuriuos būtina atsižvelgti – yra. Lyginant šias dvi finansines sritis, pastebėta, kad stresorių veikiančių darbuotojus ir galinčių įtakoti streso darbe atsiradimą yra daugiau antstolių kontorose nei bankuose. 2010 m. balandžio 22 d. darbo autorė dalyvavo ŠU Socialinių mokslų fakulteto organizuotojoe 10-ojoje studentų mokslo darbų konferencijoje „Ekonomikos ir vadybos aktualijos“ ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Bachelor's Final Work presents the research of two companies in Šiauliai city engaging in financial activity (bailiff companies and banks) employees' opinion on the factors that cause work stress. The aim of the research was to survey the opinion of the employees about the factors that cause stress in the selected companies of the financial sector in Šiauliai city. The questionnaire submitted to the employees was prepared according to the groups of stressors proposed by M. Davis, E. R. Eshelman, M. Mckay (2007), by which the employees had to evaluate their state at work and the stressors of work. There were 109 respondents involved in this survey, 43 employees from the offices of the bailiffs (Bailiff Eurika Rulienė, Bailiff Vaiva Šimkienė, Bailiff Artūras Bložė, Bailiff Marius Jastromskis, Bailiff Ričardas Kudrauskas, Bailiff Tomas Ubartas) and 66 employees from the banks of Šiauliai city (AB Swedbank, AB Šiaulių Bankas, AB DnB NORD and AB Snoras). The results of the research indicated that neither the employees of the bailiff offices nor the employees of the banks are affected by the stressors of abundance, which could cause the occurrence of work stress. However, the signals are present that have to be taken into account. When comparing these two financial companies, it was noticed that the stressors affecting the employees and potentially causing work stress are more prevalent in the bailiffs’ offices than in banks. Author of the paper on 22 April 2010 took part in the... [to full text]

As a female counselor working with individuals who have been physically, emotionally, and sexually abused, I have become aware of, and affected by, the issue of vicarious traumatization (VT) in the lives of counselors and other helping professionals who deal on a repeated basis with those experiencing trauma and abuse. This research study in the Faculty of Education has arisen from my personal practice preference for a narrative approach to counselling. In this exploration of the manner in which counselors' lives are changed in their work with trauma-related issues, I present an integrated narrative model of vicarious traumatization. Three female trauma counselors respond to three narrative VT vignettes I have constructed, and reflect on stories of their own relationship to vicarious traumatization over the course of their professional practice. By researching and developing these narratives, and sharing them with other counselors, I have increased my understanding of vicarious traumatization and of the effectiveness of a narrative approach in exploring this topic with other counselors. Through this research, my own relationship to vicarious trauma has undergone a transition. Further, this exploration of narrative as a tool for self-reflection, self-awareness, and re-storying professional practice draws together branches of the narrative tree of knowledge: Feminist narrative writings stress the importance of women developing their own voice through writing their own experience; narrative psychology acknowledges the manner in which language maps reality and invites us to explore alternative realities in the service of healing; narrative therapy invites us to explore our lives more fully by honoring all who have contributed to them; narrative research in education urges us to attend to continued professional development in the form of increased self-knowledge. The conversations with other counselors serve to deepen my own knowledge about the impact of trauma work on me, and on others who perform similar work. This research contributes to existing works that explore narrative ways that professionals can come to know themselves, their identities, and their practice, and to teach that knowledge to each other. / viii, 161 leaves ; 28 cm.

This dissertation examines the rising medicalization of depression in Japan and asks how it has become possible that Japanese, who reportedly barely suffered from depression until recently, are now increasingly becoming "depressed." Drawing upon two years of fieldwork in psychiatric institutions in the Tokyo environs, I examine this change from three different angles---historical, clinical, and socio-legal. First, my historical analysis questions the assumption held by Japanese psychiatrists that depression did not exist in premodern Japan; I show that traditional Japanese medicine did indeed have a notion of depression (called utsusho), conceived as an illness of emotions in which psychological suffering was seen as intimately connected to both physiological and social distress. Though the premodern notion of depression was effectively obscured by the 19th-century adoption of German neuropsychiatry that located depression in individual brains, the current medicalization of depression is nevertheless deeply informed by an indigenous psychiatric theory emphasizing that depression is in part socially produced. Second, I examine how Japanese psychiatrists use this local language of depression in clinical practice in attempting to persuade patients that they are victims of both biological and social forces lying beyond their control. The lack of any psychiatric model of agency concerning depression, however, leads some patients---especially suicidal patients---to question psychiatry's jurisdiction over the meaning of their distress. Third, I analyze how the psychiatric language of depression has been adopted in legal discourse surrounding "overwork suicide," where corporations and the government have been found liable for workers' deaths on the grounds that excessive work stress can drive workers to depression and suicide. Furthermore, the psychiatric language is curiously limited in the sense that, in contrast to the West, in Japan it is men rather than women who have been represented as typical victims of depression. By examining patients' narratives, I demonstrate how psychiatry constructs a gendered discourse of depression, closely tied to local politics about whose distress is recognized as legitimate social suffering. The medicalization of depression in Japan thus suggests not a hegemonic, global standardization, but the emergence of psychiatry as a politically potent---though limited---force for social transformation.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements of the Master’s Degree in Technology: Homoeopathy, in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Durban University of Technology, 2008. / The purpose of this double blind placebo-controlled study was to evaluate the efficacy of a homoeopathic complex (Germanium metallicum 30CH, Nux vomica 12CH, Kalium phosphoricum 6CH, Picricum acidum 6CH) in the treatment of job burnout in the human services field. In total 30 participants were chosen according to specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The sample group was then randomly divided into a treatment group consisting of 15 participants, and a placebo group consisting of 15 participants. The study was conducted at the Durban University of Technology. The Maslach Burnout Inventory – Human Services Survey (Appendix A) was used as a measurement tool. There was an initial consultation with the researcher which consisted of a full consultation, physical examination and administration of the survey. Thereafter there were two follow-up consultations at 4 week intervals at which the survey was re-administered. Medication was dispensed to the participants at the initial and the first follow up consultations only. The data obtained from the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Human Services Survey was statistically analysed using the SPSS software package (Version 15). Due to the small sample size of the study non-parametric tests were conducted. The intra-group analysis was performed using Friedman‟s Test and Wilcoxon‟s Signed Rank Test. The inter-group analysis was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis Test. Friedman‟s Test indicated a significant improvement in the emotional exhaustion subscale for both the treatment and placebo groups. The subscales of depersonalisation and personal accomplishment did not however reflect a significant difference.The Wilcoxon‟s Signed Rank Test indicated that for both groups there was a significant improvement in the emotional exhaustion subscale between baseline and follow up 1 and between follow up 2 and baseline (i.e. P<0.05). The Kruskal-Wallis Test showed no significant difference between the treatment and placebo groups. This was the case for all three subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Human Services Survey. The results of the study led to the conclusion that statistically the homoeopathic complex (Germanium metallicum 30CH, Nux vomica 12CH, Kalium phosphoricum 6CH, Picricum acidum 6CH) was not effective in the treatment of job burnout.

It is a well-known fact that: a) Ministers conduct their work under enormous pressure b) They carry a burdensome workload trying to meet unrealistic expectations from their congregations and the community at large c) This also impacts negatively upon their own families who tend to suffer neglect and lack of quality time. The inevitable result is descent into a state of burnout and stress. This dissertation: 1) Analyses this predicament 2) Suggests ways of overcoming it. 3) It draws on the insights of both secular wisdom and Biblical scripture. 4) It aims to bring about healing and restoration to the beleaguered minister so that he can once again resume his life’s calling in a state of wholeness. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.