Stress at work

Since Tuesday is "less stress in the office day" around here, there is some pertinent research worth bringing up.

Recently a new report has been all over the news, a study done in the UK looking at workplace stress in over 10,000 white collar workers between the ages of 35 and 55. Data were collected over 15 years and one of the measures of health that the researchers tracked was the incidence of heart disease. Results overwhelmingly showed that those workers who experienced high levels of stress at work were more likely to develop heart problems than those who were not under stress. People under the age of 50 and stressed at work were especially at risk. High levels of stress were related to lower heart rate variability and vagal tone as well.

This study dramatically highlights the connection between stress, heart health and mortality.

The obvious next step is to address and reduce work stress. Unfortunately, often this is easier said than done. While relaxation outside of work is one important tool for avoiding stress, it is also important to deal with the root causes of stress within the office. Some main reasons for chronic workplace stress.

I recently came across this article discussing the stress inherent in being a cancer registrar. While I don’t know a thing about what it is like to work in that profession, the causes for work place stress that she lists are present in many office environments. Here is her list:

Unclear Job Duties

Poor Work Environment

Lack of Credit

Poor Salary

Change in Requirements

Lack of Support System

The one thing she doesn’t touch on is one that I think is most important, and that is lack of communication. If you don't have the lines of communication open with your coworkers and supervisors it will add to your stress and impede you from handling the various issues listed above. In contrast, if you can openly communicate about troubles you are facing at work – whether it is insufficient salary or an uncomfortable work environment – you will be able to take steps to solve these problems. Without communication problems fester, nothing gets resolved, and as it turns out, the stress that results leads to nasty health consequences down the road.