Don't stifle emotions in the workplace

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Sept, 1995

"Non-physical violence is a dangerous trend in American workplaces," warns Howard F. Stein professor of family medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. It "is often a conscious as well as unconsciously motivated effort to destroy the dignity or undermine the humanity of a person. It's a symbolic way of murdering someone--it's murder of the spirit. Non-physical violence, at its heart, degrades both the one who is angry and the target of the anger.

"A form of violence in the workplace is the continual discounting of emotions of any kind. It's part of our American, task-oriented, `can do' attitude of `get the job done,' and anger, sadness, and other emotions have no place. We are not persons, only functions--producers of product lines."

He suggests that ,Workers and administrators must learn to express anger, anxiety, worry, and other feelings in the workplace--without fear of reprisal--to improve morale and productivity. The more we feel free to say that we are angry, the less we are likely to attack someone verbally or physically.

"If these attitudes do not change, what we as a society will end up with is a demoralized, repressed workforce wishing to express anger, but afraid to do so. Therefore, employees ,point the gun, inward, and in some cases this simmering rage can lead, if not tacitly provoke, a disturbed person who can't take it anymore to bring a gun to work and start shooting."

Stein says one solution to problems on the job is to open lines of communication that will allow people to assert their humanity--not just perform their tasks--at work. This can be achieved by understanding that anger, in itself, is no an emotion to be suppressed. Other strategies for dealing with anger include a healthy lifestyle, finding ways to avoid self-defeating behavior, broadening expectations, and learning to recognize and deal with complex personal feelings.