Stress Reduction Techniques for Employees with Disabilities

Alice is a busy marketing professional with an invisible disability: Multiple sclerosis (MS). Her work requires her to speak with clients, manage employees, and submit detailed reports, all while managing the symptoms of her condition. Balance problems, blurred vision, and issues with concentration and memory are just a few of the challenges she has to navigate on top of day-to-day workplace stressors like shifting deadlines and project management snags. Alice feels that she’s not performing at her best, and, to top it all off, her supervisor has requested a one-on-one meeting to discuss why she missed yesterday’s all-hands meeting. 

Disabilities are stressful on their own, and when work is equally stressful, employees may experience stress as a disability. Employees like Alice arrive at work every day with the drive and intention to put their best foot forward, and if you’re one of them, you deserve resources that can empower you to navigate your stress and your disability as the unique obstacles that they are. After all, it’s no secret that high levels of stress can negatively impact job satisfaction and physical and mental wellbeing.

In this blog, we’ll address stress management in the workplace and give you tried and true techniques for reducing your stress level while taking your disability into account. Here’s our vision for you: a better you for a better, more balanced life both in and outside of work. 

How to Manage Stress at Work 

Stress and work often go hand in hand, but having a disability can take average, everyday stress and multiply it until the stress of having a disability is a constant, burdensome experience that stands between you and your job. It’s also possible to encounter difficulties with strict work policies, physical barriers, and even the additional learning curve of using assisted technologies and programs that are meant to make work devices more accessible. Social stigmas around disabilities can be discouraging, adding yet another layer of potential work stress.

So, what’s the secret behind managing stress at work? Perusta breaks it down with four key strategies:  

Setting Boundaries 

A key component of stress management in the workplace is understanding and communicating your own limitations. Stress can easily be triggered by unrealistic expectations of your capabilities, but firm boundaries give you permission to perform at your best and take breaks as needed. This will allow you to protect your energy levels, prevent burnout, and make your workload more manageable, all while establishing an open, ongoing dialogue with your supervisor and team so that your disability isn’t overlooked when tasks and responsibilities are assigned. 

Time Management and Organization

Another source of potential work stress? Feeling overwhelmed and unproductive thanks to ineffective time management. We recommend utilizing tools like to-do lists and planners to stay organized and prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. Digital to-do lists can help your manager stay informed as well, keeping performance expectations transparent and on course. You can also break tasks down into smaller, more manageable steps, giving you a sense of accomplishment without the added stress. 

Accommodations

At present, only 20% of employees with disabilities receive accommodations. No wonder stress and disability are so closely related! Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask for the flexible hours, assistive devices such as noise cancelling headphones or a screen reader, or even a change in the role you perform. Remember, you’re focusing on your ability to adapt, thrive, and succeed in your work environment, so any essential details you can share about your disability are strengths rather than weaknesses in your journey to reduce your overall stress levels.  

How to Manage Stress at Home

Even if stress starts at work, it can follow you home. Here are a few ways to bring stress levels down when you’re not on the job:  

Deep Breathing

Long, slow, deep breaths practiced with specific intervals (e.g., inhaling for five seconds, holding for five seconds, and then exhaling for five seconds) can help calm the nervous system, reduce stress hormones, and improve your energy throughout the day. You can do this at home or at work as a means of combating stress. 

Visual Meditation

Picture something that you find relaxing or calming. This could be oceanside scenery, your favorite animal, or even a cherished memory. Hold this visual in your mind or pull up a literal image so you can focus your thoughts and put stress aside for a dedicated period of time. You can use this technique again and again as stressful situations arise or you find yourself bogged down in stressful thoughts.  

Healthy Lifestyle 

Staying active, eating a nutritious diet, and making time for social activities may seem like no-brainers, but when work stress continues to stack up, it can be hard to make time for yourself. You may need to get creative when it comes to devising plans for physical activity that accommodate your disability, but the benefits to your mental and physical health are worth it. Quality sleep (think seven to nine hours a night) is also important if you’re looking to lower your stress levels. 

Unlock Your Potential with Perusta

Let’s check back in with Alice. During that one-on-one meeting with her supervisor, she was able to advocate for herself and request additional accommodations in the form of more flexible work hours. She also let her supervisor know that she’s worried what her coworkers and direct reports will think if she uses her cane for additional stability. Now that she’s able to work remotely three days a week, she’s eliminated stress around commuting, parking, and walking to her desk on days when her mobility is limited. And, when she is in the office, she knows she can use her cane with confidence, no longer troubled by potential discrimination from her colleagues.    
Are you ready to start a new conversation around stress and disability in your organization? We’re ready for you. At Perusta, we strive to make the invisible, visible and give both employees and employers the power to champion mental and emotional wellbeing in the workplace. This means recognizing physical disabilities and mental illness as legitimate roadblocks to long-term success and making digital therapeutics and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) accessible to everyone.