Transcend Workplace Stress and Abuse
Reno, NV (PRWEB) September 05, 2013 -- Many workers today are stuck in a difficult workplace, where they are bullied or mistreated.
Patricia G. Barnes, J.D., has written a new book, Transcend Your Boss: Zen and the Difficult Workplace, that uses Zen theory and the 2,500 year old teachings of the Buddha to help workers handle the potentially health-endangering stress caused by workplace abuse. The book also features meditations that are especially designed for workers who are targets of workplace abuse, bullying or harassment.
Transcend Your Boss: Zen and the Difficult Workplace is available as an e-book at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ENNMVAM and as a paperback at createspace.com.
According to Barnes, workers who remain in stressful jobs risk potentially severe harm to their mental and physical health. This is particularly true, she said, of workers who are abused by a boss or their employer.
She said targets of workplace abuse often quit because they can’t take the stress. Some behave impulsively or in a self-destructive manner, which makes it easier for them to be fired.
Barnes said meditation is easily adapted to the workplace and can help workers survive long enough in a hostile environment to address the abuse, resolve the problems that are causing their suffering or to gather evidence in preparation for a possible lawsuit.
“Zen and meditation also help workers stop themselves from hitting the send button on a blistering email to the boss that the boss can turn around and use against them,” said Barnes.
An attorney and judge, Barnes wrote Surviving Bullies, Queen Bees & Psychopaths in the Workplace (2013), a legal overview of workplace abuse, bullying and discrimination in America. She also writes a syndicated employment law blog entitled, When the Abuser Goes To Work (http://abusergoestowork.com). She counsels employers and employees about the problem of workplace abuse.
Barnes said targets of workplace abuse suffer multiple short-term adverse health effects, including anxiety, insomnia, exhaustion and depression. Barnes said new research suggests that workers who are exposed to stress over many years develop chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, a leading cause of death in the United States.
"Few people can survive indefinitely in a hostile workplace but targets of workplace abuse can help themselves and it cost nothing," said Barnes.
According to Barnes, a growing body of scientific research shows that meditation relieves anxiety and stress by, among other things, lowering the stress hormone cortisol, improving feelings of socio-emotional well-being and generally by making positive changes to the brain.
She said the poor economy and high unemployment rate hold many workers hostage to bad jobs. Barnes said research shows that workers over age of 35 are more likely to be targets of workplace abuse and older women report feeling most bullied.
Barnes said that older workers who lose their job are unemployed longer than other workers and, if they find a new job, are paid less. “It’s no secret that it is harder for older workers to quit when they are being mistreated and this has made older workers an easy target for bullies,” said Barnes.
Barnes said many industrialized countries recognized years ago the health-endangering impact of workplace bullying and passed laws or regulations requiring employers to prevent bullying and harassment. In Europe, she said, employers have a duty to ensure their workplace is both mentally and physically safe. By contrast, said Barnes, the United States has ignored the problem of workplace bullying.
A 2012 survey by CareerBuilder revealed that 35% of Americans are bullied at work.
Workplace bullying is widely acknowledged to be a form of workplace violence. It involves systematic and recurring acts to assert improper power and control over someone who is in a position of less power. Tactics include improper criticism, yelling, isolation, micromanagement, sabotage, belittling and humiliating treatment, spreading rumors, etc.
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Patricia Barnes, [email protected], +1 775-546-0898, [email protected]
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