Stress Related and Mental Disorders

Stress at workplace

In a 1999 study of 46,000 workers, health care costs were 147% higher in workers who were stressed or depressed than in others who were not. Furthermore, according to one survey, 40% of American workers describe their jobs as very stressful, making job-related stress an important and preventable health hazard. In fact, a number of studies are now suggesting that job-related stress is as great a threat to health as smoking or not exercising. Stress impairs concentration, causes sleeplessness, and increases the risk for illness, back problems, accidents, and lost time. Work stress can lead to harassment or even violence while on the job. At its most extreme, chronic stress places a burden on the heart and circulation that in extreme cases may be fatal. The Japanese even have a word for sudden death due to overwork, karoushi.

Studies suggest the following job-related stressors may put people for health risks:

• Having no participation in decisions that affect one’s responsibilities.

• Unrelenting and unreasonable demands for performance.

• Lack of effective communication and conflict-resolution methods among workers and employers.

• Lack of job security.

• Night-shift work, long hours, or both.

• Excessive time spent away from home and family.

• Wages not commensurate with levels of responsibility.

Perhaps the best general approach for treating stress can be found in the elegant passage by Reinhold Niebuhr, “Grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

The process of learning to control stress is life-long, and will not only contribute to better health, but a greater ability to succeed in one’s own agenda. Source : http://www.well-connected.com/report.cgi/000031_6.htm