HUM 004

Stress and fatigue

What stress is

It starts with a demand. Stress is what the mind and the body do about it.

Stress is a nonspecific reaction of the mind and/or body to a demand.

A physical, or “bodily”, phenomenon.
It involves some “demand” placed upon an individual.

The stress curve

Performance against stress. It rises to a point, then falls away.

Past the top of the curve, more stress means less performance.

No stress at allUnderload

Isn’t necessarily a good thing in terms of performance.

Moderate stressOptimum

Goes a long way, if it is:

Manageable
Motivational
Performance enhancing

Intense stressOverload

Can lead to a response of:

Fight
Flight
Freeze

The stages of stress

Resistance over time, from good health to bad stress, in four stages.

Resistance dips in the alarm stage, holds above homeostasis in the resistance stage, and falls below it in the exhaustion stage.

The stress cycle

Four steps that come round again: a source, its effect, the signal it gives, and the coping that answers it.

SourceThe cause: stressors.

EffectStress impact on performance and health.

SignalRecognisable signs and symptoms of stress.

CopingThe response adopted to reduce the effects of stress.

What causes stress

Four things that make a situation stressful.

The four causes, to learn by heart

In test mode the answers are hidden. Click or tap a card to reveal it.

Novelty Something new, never experienced before.

Unpredictability Something you had no way of knowing would occur.

Threat to self-confidence Something that calls your competence into question.

Threat to control Something that makes you feel as though you have little or no control over the situation.

Stressors in ATM

Six sources of stress in a controller’s work.

Every part of the job can be a source, from the room itself to the traffic on the screen.

Stress and fatigue

Two different things, easily mixed up. What they share sits where they overlap.

Stress

A nonspecific reaction of the mind and/or body to a demand.

Fatigue

An extreme form of tiredness, often described as exhaustion.

Both can be acute or chronic.

What fatigue is

As ICAO defines it, with the four things it results from.

Fatigue

A physiological state of reduced mental or physical performance capability resulting from sleep loss, extended wakefulness, circadian phase, and/or workload (mental and/or physical activity) that can impair a person’s alertness and ability to adequately perform safety-related operational duties.

ICAO Annex 11

It results from: