Could Job Stress Be The New Smoking?

Could stress at work be the new smoking? After working with women to improve heart health and manage stress for more than a decade, I discovered there isn’t enough data about the specifics of the job stress environment and how it impacts men and women differently. This led me to embark on a multiphase research project to explore this important topic. Research suggests the stress environment in the work place could be as dangerous as second-hand smoke. In fact, the United Nations’ International Labor Organization calls chronic job stress a global epidemic.  How risky is job stress, really? We all know stress is a risk factor for heart disease and other illnesses. According to several studies, if your job is highly demanding and you have little control over how you do that job, your risk of heart attack and stroke increases by nearly one-third.  For women, the risk increases by 40 percent. In addition to being a significant risk factor for disease, job stress decreases productivity and creativity and increases health care costs, absenteeism, and hinders employee retention. That is the bad news. The good news is, like smoking, job stress is something we can control.   No, you may not be able to change how you do your job, but you can control your reaction to the situation and offset the stress with healthy habits. Removing exposure to second-hand smoke has decrease the incidence of heart disease by 30%.  What would be the impact of better managing the stress environ...
Source: Embrace Your Heart Wellness Initiative - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Award Winning Blog Stress Less Source Type: blogs