When the American Psychological Association studies stress in the U.S., their findings routinely identify work as one of the top three sources of elevated anxiety. The other major sources vary, from money worries to fear of being abducted by zombies from space.
What do the psychologists tell us to do about workplace stress? Physical violence against irritating officemates is discouraged. Conversely, psychologists suggest humor as one response to workplace tension. Humor can counteract stress in three ways.
Trivializing the Causes of Stress
Humor can undercut the causes stress by making them the target of amusement. Consider how a stanza like this, perhaps read before team members hit the road for another long trip, could produce a few smiles about the strain associated with travel:
It sometimes seems I’ll spend my life
Experiencing pain and strife
For airplane travel strains the heart
And stresses every body part
And yet, the time will come one day
I’ll shed this mortal coil away
On that day, when I’m heaven-bound
I’ll know, at last, I’m off the ground
Laughing at the vicissitudes of air travel won’t make planes land on time or keep food carts from running over your foot, but it can make these stressors seem less vexing.
Enhancing Social Cohesion
Stress diminishes when people share novel ways of perceiving challenging situations. For instance, many of us struggle with the maladies that result from being anchored to a chair and staring at a computer screen all day. Who can’t see something of themselves in these stanzas:
I hearken back to olden times
When work required vigor
For what has desk-bound toil produced?
A case of mortis rigor
I’ve carpal tunnel in my wrist
I’m blinded by my screen
My brain would be a soft gray blob
If it weren’t for caffeine
My arms and legs have wasted ‘way
There’s little sinew there
The only muscle I have left
Is in my derrière
Imagine how fitness tracker use and gym memberships (which have their own stress-reducing effects) might spike after a group reading of this bit of versification.
Encouraging Catharsis
Humor can also produce catharsis, the release of tension brought on by workplace pressures. Work can be a scary place, with figurative violence lurking like Jaws just beneath the surface. Consider how often we say things like, “Frank is killing it in sales,” “We have to crush our competitors,” “We’ll fire a warning shot across their bow,” or “Let’s pick our battles carefully.” Metaphors like these matter – they not only frame the language of work, but also affect our mental states. Want to poke a little fun at warlike workplace lingo, disabling clichés and diluting the tension they might engender? Try reading these lines at the next department gathering:
A meeting’s just a battle ground
Where savage conflicts still abound
For if my rival wants to tussle
He’ll feel my prehistory muscle
I’ll rend his flesh and crack his bones
With verbal sticks, virtual stones
I’ll seize his throat and squeeze but good
I’d take his donuts, if I could
It’s clear from how we all behave
We’re just one step beyond the cave
In truth, we’ve not evolved at all
Look in the mirror, Neanderthal
Shared humor does not represent a miracle cure for workplace stress. Managers should first reduce the causes of stress: reduce travel; improve workplace ergonomics; give people freedom to move about; and change phraseology, for example. Along with these, however, humor can help by enveloping stressors in a comical package and subjecting them to waggish scrutiny.
Sure, taking a few moments to share a chuckle intrudes on the meeting agenda, but it pays dividends in employee mental health. So why not spend the time – you’ll be working the weekend anyway.
For more light verse on workplace themes, click on the Humorous Poetry tab.
