(Change and Stress in the Organizational Environment)

In search of Marianna

For almost two years now, Marianna, a teacher, has been getting irritable during key periods of the school year. She declares herself sick and is forced to leave work for a few days. She went to see a doctor because she was not feeling well. Other than some fatigue, she did not appear to be suffering from any illness. The doctor advised her to meet with a counsellor to discuss her problems.

Marianna decided to come for a consultation because nothing seemed to be going right in her life. Tired, she showed no taste for anything. Her work is not as interesting as it used to be and life is losing its meaning for her. Before, Marianna was very enterprising and did a thousand things. A few years ago, she was proud of her work, but more and more, it is a source of dissatisfaction.

Marianna is 40 years old and has been teaching elementary school for 15 years. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in pedagogy, Marianna started teaching regular children in an urban school. In her career path, she had never considered anything other than teaching. However, she changed schools and for the past eight years she has been working with visually impaired children. Her work has always been excellent. Marianna loves children and enjoys being alone with them to complete the tasks she prepared the day before.

The new reorganization of primary education (in effect for the past three years) requires that teaching be given by a team of three teachers. Previously, there were two and it worked quite well; with three, things have gone wrong.

Marianna is disciplined and organized: she prepares her classes in advance and always arrives at school on time. One of her colleagues, on the other hand, doesn't always prepare for the next day's activities, never knows where she's going to put her things and often arrives late. The other companion is like Marianna, quite organized. When they work together, Marianna takes the initiative. Marianna is resourceful; she loves art and likes to change activities to avoid routine.

Since a third person joined the team, nothing has worked. Josette is active like Marianna and loves to play with children, but she doesn't worry too much; she is married and has a daughter. She finds the work at school interesting, but nothing more. As for Gisle, she has always gotten along well with Marianna; she likes her work but lets Marianna or Josette decide what activities to organize. Gisle keeps her distance because she doesn't want to mix her professional life with her private life.

Since Josette has been there, Marianna finds that nothing is going well. The reorganization imposed by the school is difficult. According to her, the situation is worse than before. She is convinced that if one teacher is absent, the other two can continue the program. On the other hand, the compromises she has to make seem too painful: meeting with parents two or three times during the year and deciding as a group how to organize the progress of activities, the decoration of the room, the materials to be used. She wants to take the initiative, but has to face Josette, who also has her ideas. Marianna is not used to making compromises or negotiating. She likes her ideas to be accepted without discussion.

In meetings, Marianna finds it difficult to express her point of view. Sometimes she doesn't say anything and a few months later she expresses her thoughts violently. She has already had several "depressions", especially towards the end of the school year. Colleagues at work have told her that she always wants to be perfect. She ran the social club for a few years with great success. She is dynamic and does her best to look good. She likes to be found extraordinary, kind, disciplined...

Marianna likes to have her own things and doesn't like to waste time in useless discussions. The harmony of the work group is precarious. She says that for at least a year, the work climate has been tense. They are doing less interesting activities. Fortunately, her colleagues have given her time to be alone with the children. Despite this, she really feels that nothing is going right anymore.

Marianna had a friend. He was an alcoholic and one day she told him it was over. She no longer sees it and says she doesn't suffer from it. Marianna would like to meet someone interesting. So far she has only met sick men. They had alcoholism problems or were "mama's boys". Finally, she says she has not been lucky. Her home keeps her little busy. Since the death of her father due to illness, she has no one to look after.

An excellent seamstress, she makes her dresses so that people notice her skills. She likes to be told how well she does things. What others think of her is very important to Marianna. When she is upset, she locks herself in a prolonged silence. On a few occasions, she has insulted people who disagree with her; she has said hurtful things to them.

Marianna says that Josette takes life as it comes, that she doesn't worry and is always happy; even if she is not organized, she always manages to do what she has to do. Marianna finds this "appalling". Unlike Josette, she needs to keep her things tidy. She worries about everything, including food. She shouldn't eat chocolate, otherwise she gets fat. She used to be chubby and she hates herself like that. Her sister is fat and has a lot of problems. Marianna always flies to her rescue.

Josette has understood that Marianna doesn't love her and doesn't ask her to go with her in the car anymore. Relationships at school are pretty cold. Josette has learned to live with this and no longer asks Marianna for professional advice. Marianna, on the other hand, thinks it's perfect; Josette irritates her and she doesn't know why.

Coming from a small family living in a remote area, Marianna was used to living in her own world. When spring came, she went to collect shells all alone. Although she had a sister, Marianna tended to always stay in the background and lead her own little life. She never had many friends and her parents did not encourage her to have any. Her mother was a woman of duty for whom religion was extremely important. Her father, apparently more flexible by nature, did not seem to have a say in what went on in the house. Marianna says that her mother was always considered a strong, religious, and duty-filled woman.

She cries as she tells her story. It's hard to say these things. She has never done this. She never expressed what she thought about people, let alone what she thought were hidden thoughts that she thought were mean. She never told anyone that she was ashamed of her sister, or that she hated Josette.

"For Josette, life seems so beautiful, why can't it be like that for me too? "says Marianna. "Ah, life is so gray and dark," she continues. She doesn't have a man to take care of her, like Josette does, and if Josette complains, Marianna thinks she's acting like a spoiled woman.

Marianna had never asked for help before. At school, the psychologist had told her that she had things to change, but Marianna was above it all. Ah," she says, "it's bad. "Life seems boring to her and she thinks she will have to leave if she doesn't accept the reorganization.

Answer the following two questions.

Question One

What are the main consequences of the stress experienced by Marianna?

Question 2: What are the main consequences of stress for Marianna?

What should Marianna do?