The phrase ‘stress at work’ has a dual meaning. On the one hand, it simply refers to stress experienced while on the job, usually because of some aspect of it. On the other hand, it can mean that stress is at work on you – stress is working on you, and usually in ways that are extremely unpleasant.

These two meanings are not completely unrelated. When you endure work-initiated stress the results are harmful to your physical health and your mental well-being. As with any problem, it helps to look at the fundamental causes in order to work towards a long-term solution.

There are a hundred immediate possible causes for job-related stress. Employees and managers alike are often given unrealistic deadlines to make near-impossible goals. Competitive fast-paced business can be fun. But when the intermediate goals don’t serve valid business ends – improving sales, optimizing work flow, enhancing communication – they are generally resented.

Add to that the all-too-common unreasonable boss or uncooperative co-worker. In companies large and small there are too frequently people in charge who are disrespectful and poorly qualified to lead others. They are generally more interested in flattering their manager than improving productivity and getting the job done.

Those two factors – mis-directed goals and unfair managers – explain the response that most people give when asked if they experience work-related stress and why: absence of control over their lives.

Many individuals have well-developed problem solving skills.

Women in the workplace who are also mothers know very well how to manage time, multi-task multiple demands and innovate new solutions. They practice those skills every day at home. They also know a bit more than most about how to settle disputes among individuals, all of whom may be partly wrong and partly right.

Men, too, have ample experience in prioritizing resource expenditures, responding to complaints and deciding when to push and when to compromise. They practice that at home every day.

But the workplace often fails to mirror the freedom to use one’s thinking skills and the power to enact a workable solution. More often, goals come from above and little debate is allowed. Individuals employed in organizations of that kind experience obligations without authority – a guarantee of stress.

The single most-often cited reason for stress in the workplace boils down to that – demands, but without the resources to meet them. When an individual is placed in the unresolvable conflict between “I must” and “I can’t”, stress is the inevitable result.

Fortunately, some organizations are beginning to recognize this and are taking steps to change. With luck, you may be employed by one.

As with raising children, dealing with pets can be stressful. But often the situation is exactly the reverse: having pets frequently provides one of the best stress relief mechanisms around.

Several studies suggest that having a pet helps recovering surgery patients heal faster. If the link between infection and stress that some of them show is correct, this shouldn’t be surprising. The positive effect on the immune system could account for that.

For many, having pets clearly has an abundance of psychological pluses as well. Cats, for example, are obviously oblivious to any problems a person might have. They want their supper and their rub while perched in a warm, stationary lap. The shift of focus to the pets wants and away from the unpleasant episode at the office can help lower stress.

The sympathetic nervous system works in conjunction with other brain areas to generate hormones and signals that create our ‘fight or flight’ mechanism. Shifting attention away activates the parasympathetic nervous system that has opposite effects. In short, we calm down. That interlude helps the body achieve homeostasis – the move back to equilibrium from an extreme – that stress has interrupted.

Dogs are terrific stress relievers, when they aren’t creating more. Digging holes in the backyard, ruining a good pair of shoes or creating a mess on the carpet certainly don’t help alleviate stress. But a short game of fetch with a tennis ball can. Watching their eager joy in simple activities is a vivid reminder that not everything in life is an occasion for doom and gloom.

Dogs have been domesticated to live with humans for over 10,000 years. During that time they have participated in a hundred common human rituals and activities, some of which can offer relief from stress symptoms. Fishing, hiking and other activities are in themselves stress relievers. When accompanied by a loved and loving dog the effect is amplified.

Even aquarium fish can provide a source of stress relief. Taking care of tropical fish requires a lot of careful planning and execution. That focus helps keep one’s mind off what often amounts to trivial problems. Additional rewards can show up by observing the many interesting behaviors sea creatures exhibit.

A variety of pets – tropical birds, hamsters, ferrets and many more – frequently display actions that people find humorous. And even the most serious psychotherapist will agree that laughter is excellent medicine when it comes to lessening stress.

Though the form of communication between animals and humans is very different from that between one person and another, there is an undeniable understanding that forms between individuals and their non-human companions. That bond is often stronger than between casual friends. The result is a feeling of support without expectation of anything other than a good fur stroking.

After all, when was the last time you ever heard anyone say ‘my dog drove me to drink’?

Who hasn’t stressed over money? Some will reply: ‘those with a lot of it’. That’s an easy conclusion to draw when you are wondering how to make the mortgage payment. But the fact is that many people with large amounts often worry about it more.

They may not stress over paying the house payment, but they often have investments that go south, money managers that prove untrustworthy and other problems. If they have enough of it, they can have security, publicity and sometimes legal problems. Sure, we’d all like to have those problems rather than our own – until we get them.

The bottom line is that money issues are often stressful for just about everyone. But this is not inevitable. Many people, perhaps more in the past than the present, led very happy lives with almost next to nothing in the bank. And even most of the very poor today in the U.S. live infinitely better than kings of 300 years ago.

One needn’t go so far as to say ‘everything is relative’, but a sense of perspective is helpful.

Stress over money issues is no more inevitable than is stress over any other fact. Being concerned and being stressed are not the same thing. Stress results when a person believes there is no way out of a dilemma they simply ‘must’ solve. But neither side of that dilemma is cast in stone.

Certainly, life often presents alternatives that are unpleasant. One need not accept passive stoicism as the only option, though. The will to struggle can be helpful in a number of ways.

Both mental and physical struggle help work off the natural hormones that are released in stressful times. The effort put forth also helps psychologically, since passivity is an essential component of depression (a common result of chronic stress). And, of course, during the attempt to overcome a hurdle one often gains the knowledge needed to actually overcome it. The pride that results provides one more bulwark against future episodes of stress.

Those general comments apply to stress over money as much or more than any other issue. Millions get into situations of excessive debt every year. Credit cards and other temptations of ‘easy money’ are ubiquitous in today’s society. But millions get out of debt, too.

Family arguments over money are one of the most common causes of stress. When two people disagree over how to spend limited funds, conflict is inevitable. But, that conflict need not lead to stress. Realism, long-term planning, a willingness to compromise and respect for another’s point of view can go a long way toward minimizing stress.

Sometimes it helps simply to put aside a certain percentage of the income for ‘anything in the world you want to happen today’. Indulging the occasional whim, and realizing it rarely leads to huge loss, can help relieve the pressure.

Once you have enough money to ensure basic survival, which all but a small percentage do, the rest is optional. No need to stress over that.