: Here is why you should not feel bad about taking a few days off from work: a recently released study has suggested that longer working hours and work-related stress are the major causes of cardiac stroke.
The study was conducted by Fortis Escorts Heart Institute to find the “sources of stress and responses to stress in executives’’.
Of 2,000 respondents in the age group of 30-45 years, 48 per cent were found to have suffered from a heart stroke due to work-related stress.
‘Common occurrence’
The author of the research paper, senior clinical psychologist Dr. Bhawna Barmi, said : “ Cases of young people fainting due to exhaustion are not unknown in the current times. Several youngsters aren’t able to maintain a career and a personal life balance. This is especially true in developing nations, where professionals frequently work overtime, neglect to take paid time off, and are locked into cycles of workaholism.’’
He added that the trend was most prevalent among entrepreneurs. “It’s really not surprising that stress from working too much causes so many illnesses and disorders, with strokes topping the list.
“If you happen to interact with an executive, you will find a constant undertone of anxiety/worry/job insecurity, psychosomatic pains, depression, substance abuse and insomnia in him/her,’’ he added.
Jobs have emotional, cognitive and behavioural components. The most widely accepted explanation of job satisfaction was given by Locke (1976), who defined it as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experiences’’.
During the study, it was revealed that long work hours (48 per cent), work pressure (40 per cent), work life imbalance (32 per cent) were the top three cause of work-related stress. The other reasons included lack of role clarity, personal and professional relationship conflict, inability to recognise stress and managers’ inability to fight stress.
Importance of mental health
“We’ve known for years that diet and exercise can help people maintain their health and live longer, but maintaining mental health is just as important. To cope with work stress, you have to bring in lifestyle changes. Once you’re ready to make a change, the difficult part is committing yourself to it. Careful planning means setting small goals and taking things one step at a time,’’ read the study.
