"No."

That's probably a word you don't think of using very often at work these days. With the jobless rate hitting 7.6 percent, you may fear that saying no could very well make you one of those unfortunate people currently looking for a paycheck. But psychologists contend that learning to say no may be even more vital these days.

"When you're scared about being the next one to be laid off, all kinds of dysfunctional things start to happen," says Pat Pearson, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based clinical psychotherapist. "You start getting more paranoid, you do your work less well, and you start feeling as if you can't say no. So you take on anything they throw at you."

But the problem, Pearson says, is that such a move just makes a career "more and more dysfunctional."

"You have to decide: Are you going to have a healthy work environment or not?"

Paula Bloom, an Atlanta-based clinical psychologist, says it's important to evaluate what will happen if you say no to a request at work.

"Is it really true that you're going to lose your gig, or are you getting caught up in the general neuroses (about job loss)? You have to ask yourself: 'Is it true? Is it possible?' " Bloom says. "You've got to really be honest with yourself about what could happen."

Both Pearson and Bloom stress that — even in this stressful job market — the emotional and physical cost of never saying no can take a real toll on workers.

"If you don't feel good about what you're taking on, then you become negative and angry, and then you're not only hurting yourself, you're hurting the company because you're not going to be as productive," Pearson says. "If you are doing things you don't want to do, then you're going to pay a price with your health. You're going to get sick more often, and have a high stress level."

Bloom says that every worker must realize they only have so much emotional capital to expend every day, and pushing the limits may cost them the very thing they're hoping to protect.

"If there is too great an emotional cost, then you will become resentful and unpleasant, and not nice to be around. And people who are a pain in the butt are often the ones who are let go," Bloom says.

But how do you say no without being considered a poor team player or labeled with some other negative moniker at work? Both Bloom and Pearson says it's a matter of understanding your boundaries and then being prepared to make the "no" sound positive. They advise: