Stress is stress.

Clinically speaking, the negative health effects of stress haven’t changed since the condition was first diagnosed as a health problem. But the amount of stress the average person carries—and its causes—have changed tremendously since the start of the Great Recession.

Its effects will become chronic conditions for millions of Americans, health experts say.

Click here for an interactive look at the most stressful cities in the U.S.

“Stress in the workplace has shifted from a focus on achieving and excelling to just surviving,” says Nacie Carson, director of learning and development at Cleaver International, a management and consulting firm based in Sherborn, Massachusetts.

The burden of keeping their jobs presents a dramatic shift in the causes of workplace stress, says Alex Lickerman, primary care physician at the University of Chicago. “In the height of the dotcom boom, people felt quite invincible at their jobs, and in the past two years they’ve realized that they’ve been standing on a house of cards.”

The rate at which people are losing work is more traumatic than past recessions, with the exception of the Great Depression. “Especially in the last year, it’s not unusual for me to see two to three patients per day who tell me they’re unemployed,” says Lickerman, who adds that 45 to 50 percent of Americans now report suffering from anxiety.

The main causes of workplace stress are:

• Job insecurity and the constant fear of being laid off
• Chronic unemployment
• Tension with colleagues, direct reports, and/or supervisors
• More (or less) responsibility at work
• Lack of career direction
• Lack of leadership from supervisors and little to no dialogue of the company’s mission
• Constant distractions from having to multitask
• Higher costs of living

When it comes to small-business owners and entrepreneurs, stress can be even more acute, says Bahaudin Mujtaba, PhD, associate professor of management at Nova Southeastern University’s H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“Entrepreneurs and small-business owners have more at stake and often deal with a higher level of stress than their corporate colleagues who have deeper pockets to deal with the economic uncertainties,” explains Mujtaba.

Carson agrees, but says that entrepreneurs stand a better chance at weathering the stress terrain. “In some ways they’re better suited to this economy because they are often used to an irregular income stream and have learned how to manage their financial needs around booms and busts in their own endeavors,” she says.

The fleeting nature of control is the fundamental reason most of stress sufferers—and clinicians—point to when asked what worries them most. “A lot of employees are now faced with being responsible for an outcome without getting the proper tools or the authority from their supervisors to make it happen,” says Lickerman.

And that could make even a normally resilient person have a meltdown. The majority of what experts are seeing is overwhelmed workers, often due to downsizing. And while they’re thankful to still have a reason to wake up in the morning, the burden of doing the jobs of two or three people is too much. The problem is, they’re so worried about losing their job that they tend to work many hours, often at the cost of other healthy activities such as working out, spending time with family and friends, and unwinding from the day.

Conversely, some people are feeling underutilized at the office, which leads them to ask whether their jobs are next to be eliminated, whether they’re valued members of the team, and whether they’re not trusted members of the company,” says Lickerman.

The solution is simple: Higher-ups need to better communicate with each other and subordinates. “Communication is dismal in corporate America,” Lickerman argues. “Entry-level employees trust the messages of top-tier management and their direct supervisors. Yet when a company rolls out a new initiative, internal communication is often the last thing they think about.”

Just having real conversations with employees about the state of the company and the security of their jobs can go a long way toward better morale and employee mental health, says Carson, who urges that those conversations should not take place in a group setting. “Taking the time to check in and having an honest discussion with individuals is key to making people feel like they are respected, valued, and seen within the organization.”

That may be especially true for young workers, many of whom are seeing the devastating effects of layoffs on their peers and family members for the first time in their professional lives. “Unemployment is extremely stressful because the unemployed person may feel guilty and ashamed at no longer being a provider, while other family members can feel angry and helpless,” says Kerry Sulkowicz, organizational consultant, psychoanalyst, and founder and principal of New York-based Boswell Group. “The most important thing to do is to not suffer in silence. Open and honest communication about the stress—and its sources—may be the most important step to reducing it.”

Another tack companies can take is to provide more training, especially to the newer and more junior members of the team. “It’s a great way to not only reduce stress, but also to reinvest in the organization,” says Carson. Training doesn’t have to be expensive and can be as easy as one-on-one coaching and mentoring. The key is to highlight employees’ potential and encourage ongoing skill development, Carson adds.

Adding humor in the workplace and developing activities that workers and their families can share—like a bowling or softball league—can also help, says Mujtaba. It encourages colleagues to talk with each other in a noncombative location and having family members there often can diffuse volatile work relationships.

At the end of the day, there’s no magic bullet for resolving stress, says Sulkowicz. “But actions that address the root cause of the stress inside the company are very effective.”

What people really need is support and encouragement, adds Lickerman. “They need to hear, ‘You can do this, what you’re dealing with now is just a bump in the road.’ And often, a 15-minute pep talk is just as effective as an hours-long discussion,” he says. “We’re not going to solve each other's stress by taking someone else’s problem upon ourselves. Instead of internalizing our workplace issues or our partner’s or friend’s, we need to focus on encouragement. That raises self-esteem and makes both sides feel more accomplished.”

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Romy Ribitzky is an associate editor at Portfolio.com.