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If workplace stress feels unmanageable, take one immediate step to lower the pressure, identify what is driving it, and ask for a specific change or support. You do not have to solve it alone, and personal coping strategies cannot always fix work conditions that are causing harm.
Start with what would help right now
If you can, pause briefly before tackling the next task. Take a short break, stretch, or check in with someone supportive. If several tasks feel urgent, ask a coworker or supervisor which one should come first. These steps may make the next decision easier; they are not a substitute for changing a harmful workload or work environment.
Stress can show up as feeling overwhelmed, tired, anxious, helpless, irritated, or unmotivated. Those experiences alone do not establish a diagnosis. The CDC notes that work-related stress can affect well-being and suggests breaks and contact with supportive colleagues, friends, or family as possible ways to cope (CDC guidance on worker mental health).
Pinpoint what is making work feel unmanageable
Try to describe the main pressure in concrete terms. It may be one problem or several competing demands. OSHA identifies workplace stressors that include heavy workloads, unclear expectations, conflict, job insecurity, inadequate tools, insufficient breaks, and work schedules that are hard to manage.
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- Workload or priorities: There is more to do than time allows, or you cannot tell what matters most.
- Conflict or bullying: A relationship at work is creating ongoing tension or making you feel unsafe or undermined.
- Schedule or breaks: Shifts, unpredictable hours, or missed breaks leave too little time to recover.
- Uncertainty: Changes, job security concerns, or unclear responsibilities are weighing on you.
- Tools or safety: You lack equipment, information, or support needed to do the job safely and effectively.
- Work and life demands colliding: Caregiving or other responsibilities make the current schedule or expectations difficult to sustain.
Writing down the situation and its effect can help you explain what needs to change. For example: “I’m receiving urgent requests from three teams, and I can’t meet all three deadlines. Can we agree on which deliverable takes priority?”
Ask for a specific, workable change
When you feel ready, talk with a trusted coworker, supervisor, HR contact, union representative, or another appropriate support person. CDC recommends communicating about job stress and working together on solutions; OSHA also describes addressing stress through worker-employer discussion (OSHA guidance for employers; OSHA overview of workplace stress).
Make the request as concrete as you can. Depending on the problem, you might ask to:
- Clarify priorities or pause lower-priority work.
- Adjust a deadline, workload, or staffing plan.
- Get a more predictable schedule or adequate breaks.
- Obtain the tools, information, or training needed for the job.
- Discuss flexibility if work and caregiving responsibilities overlap.
- Address bullying, conflict, or another workplace concern through an appropriate process.
These are possible discussion points, not guarantees that an employer will make a change. If one person is not an appropriate or safe contact, consider another available route, such as HR, a union representative, or a trusted support person.
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Use support without treating it as the whole solution
Ask whether your workplace offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or other mental health resources. Availability, eligibility, confidentiality rules, and services vary, so ask the provider or your employer what applies to you. CDC identifies access to workplace resources, including EAPs, as part of employer support.
Support outside work can also help: spend time with people you trust, get outdoors or exercise if that is accessible to you, and make room for activities you enjoy away from work. Treat these as possible supports, not a promise of treatment or a reason to tolerate conditions that need to change.
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The World Health Organization’s workplace guideline gives a conditional recommendation, based on low-certainty evidence, for universal psychosocial stress-management interventions; its recommendation for leisure-based physical activity is conditional and based on very-low-certainty evidence. These ratings do not establish that any particular technique or program will treat an individual’s distress (WHO Guidelines on mental health at work; WHO guideline recommendations).
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Get professional help if distress persists or affects daily life
Consider contacting a licensed mental health professional or another healthcare provider if distress persists, gets worse, interferes with daily life, or makes it difficult to work safely. The sources do not set a single threshold for when someone should seek care, and you do not need to wait for a particular label before asking for help.
Workplace prevention matters too. WHO and OSHA describe employer actions that can address root causes, including reducing excessive demands and bullying, improving flexibility and worker control, training supervisors, and making support resources accessible (OSHA guidance for employers; WHO workplace mental health guideline).
If you are in crisis
In the United States, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org for free, confidential, round-the-clock crisis support. If you are outside the United States, contact your local crisis line or emergency service; 988 is not a universal number.
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