Take a look at some very worrying statistics on stress in the workplace:
- 52% of executives will die of diseases related to stress, as stress effects nearly every major system in our bodies according to Tyne.
- The New England Journal of Medicine in 1998 declared that “managing the long-term effects of the physiological responses to stress is critical to survival.” Stress may contribute to 85% of all medical problems.
- A US government health white paper “Saving lives” published in 1999, warns that people in stressful jobs with either very high demands or very little control over their work are more likely to suffer heart disease. It sights a long running study of civil servants which shows that women in high demand low control jobs are 70% more likely to develop coronary disease than women in high control jobs. Men in high demand low control jobs are 50% more likely to develop heart problems than their counterparts in high control jobs.
- 55% of full-time employees say that work-related stress makes them ill-tempered at home, according to Carol Hymovitz article in WSJ Career Journal
- More than 1million workers in the UK & Ireland say their managers are so over worked that they don’t really have time to manage their staff.
People suffering from high levels of stress generally have a number of symptoms including but not limited to:- chronic fatigues, anger at those making demands, negativity and irritablity, a sense of being besieged and a hair trigger display of emotions. A wide range of behaviours some destructive frequently accompany these emotions. Highly stressed managers and workers inappropriately vent anger at subordinates and co workers, and quite often the negative emotions associated with stress will spill over into their home life.
In the UK and Ireland the average work week is approx 4 hours longer than the EU average but the average productivity is 25% lower.
Work like balance is not anti work, in fact having a healthy work life balance increases your productivity.
Putting in long hours is not the badge of honor it once was. Are these long hours really worth it?
What are you doing to create the work life balance you desire?
- Statistics and information courtesy of the “Rescue Institute”
Tags: Coronary Disease, Health Work, Heart Problems, Levels Of Stress, Negative Emotions, Physiological Responses To Stress, Stress Effects, Stress In The Workplace, Stressful Jobs, Survival Stress, Work Related Stress
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I felt I was reading about my own life when I read this article. I worked for over twenty years as a field sales rep, always under pressure for the next sale. And as the years went by, with more and more computerisation of the sales reporting process, I felt so stressed, it was unbelieveable. So a couple of years ago, I decided that the next twenty years of my life were not going to be the same as the last twenty years. I qualified as a hypnotherapist, and now I help people every single day of my working life to overcome the symptoms of stress and anxiety.
I also make a priority of having a half hour every day now, to sit in a reclining chair, slip on the headphones and listen to a self-hypnosis cd for relaxation. The effects in my life have been immense. I now feel happy, maybe for the first time in my heretofor stressed life, I feel free, I feel light and unburdened. And if I could give any piece of advice to everybody out there, it’s to make 30minutes of peace and quiet for yourself every day where you can just clear your mind and listen to some music or a self-hypnosis cd, or whatever it is you can find that just slows down your mind and relaxes you. It is vitally important for your wellbeing, so just do it - for yourself!