Job Stress and Suicide
We live in an increasingly complex world where work weeks seem to be getting longer, not shorter. More and more, people are taking work home and while they don't actually spend 50-60 hours a week in the office, they work that and more at a combination of office and home work. The need to "work smarter, not harder" has gripped us like never before. As I've said before, I don't entirely agree with this new adage.
A newspaper story in Europe is now bringing attention to job stress and how it may factor in to employee suicide. I haven't seen any figures in the US or American newspapers, but a major European newspaper just carried an article about three employees at an innovative auto design plant who killed themselves.
The latest man to take his life did it while his wife and child were away and the woman said her husband was under increasing pressure to perform more and more tasks. He brought work home, couldn't sleep, got up in the middle of the night to complete tasks and was turning into a different person.
Cutting work forces may help the bottom line, but, in the long run, what is the downside?
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Technorati Tags: stress, suicide, depression, job stress
A newspaper story in Europe is now bringing attention to job stress and how it may factor in to employee suicide. I haven't seen any figures in the US or American newspapers, but a major European newspaper just carried an article about three employees at an innovative auto design plant who killed themselves.
The latest man to take his life did it while his wife and child were away and the woman said her husband was under increasing pressure to perform more and more tasks. He brought work home, couldn't sleep, got up in the middle of the night to complete tasks and was turning into a different person.
Cutting work forces may help the bottom line, but, in the long run, what is the downside?
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: stress, suicide, depression, job stress
25 Comments:
I am not sure exactly who I need to speak to. I do have severe stress in every part of my life. I also seem to have problems with sleepiness all the time and sometimes I even feel like i am going to vomit but I don't I gag and I keep doing that for a little while about a couple minutes and then it goes away for a little bit. Its so bad I can't even talk to someone even if I'm in the middle of a conversation please try to help me.
I think your first course of action is to see your doc and have a complete physical. Then, the two of you can begin to plan for the next few steps to help you with this stress.
Is it possible for a panic attack to last as long as one month? I had what everyone thought was a panic attack two years ago and was out of work, and life for that matter, for a whole month. I couldn't function and still don't understand how a panic attack could cause me to be so sick. Any thoughts?
If it lasts, unabated, that long, I think it's time for medical intervention. They don't usually last, continuously, for that long a period of time.
Please see your doc.
My husband is suicidal due to having no job and waiting on disability income. He has been diagnosed with major depression and has attempted suicide 4 times in the past 4 months. He is coming home this week from a mental health facility that he has been in for the past 2 weeks. He is fearful of returning home with nothing to do and becoming depressed all over again. Any suggestions?? What can we do?
I am in a work situation where I even had the employer's independent medical examiner recommend removal from my current position as part of my ADA claim. But HR saw the one line that said I can do my work, ignoring the part before that said I needed a job coach or mentor and his final recommendation of transfer. I am in the middle of changing from my psychiatrist to a new therapist, and I have been called into a meeting tomorrow by the VP and my supervisor. I will probably receive a 10-day unpaid suspension or termination. I just want to end it all to avoid this meeting, but then they would win. My next appointment with the therapist is tomorrow afternoon, so the timing is pretty bad. Why are some supervisors so cruel to people with personality disorders?
I really loved my job at the hospital, but after an RN asked me to catherise a male, in ICU , that was throwing doubles -related to his inability to urinate. I was fired because of urethral tissue tramma due to the catheter. During the proceedure I informed the RN that I had hit a restiction. She told me to go ahead and continue.Later she recended this
comment saying that she did not know about how restricted the utethra was and that I shouln't have continued even thoe she told me to continue.
I loved my EMT work in ICU, I loved the people I worked for and the hospital. After I was fired I cleaned my locker out. Took a 13 g
needle with me and tried to commit
suicide in the parking lot.
Unfortunatly I survived - that was 22 years ago, I suffer from sever
depression and I will do anything
I can to stay away from any medical facility.
I will eventually commit suicide. I
lost my only love in life and now
nothing is worth living for.
The good life,I've never felt it,simpa fi.
I think it is very important for the medical community to continue to educate the public on the relationships between job stress, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, substance abuse, the increased risk of suicide and other health risks (e.g. heart disease and hypertension). Also, let's not forget the devastation this can wreak on spouses and children. Many workers pushed to the edge feel that suicide is the only feasible escape from the vicious downward spiral. I've been there and done that, so I can sympathize deeply with those posting their comments. To make a long story short... 60-80 hour work weeks on 3-4 hours sleep per night for 25 years led to a heart attack at age 44 followed by numerous hospitalizations for severe depression, alcoholism, and a global decline in health. I can't say I have the answers as I have not been "fixed" in a span of a decade. But I implore all those tangled in this web to SEEK HELP from any and all sources available (e.g. medical, friends & family, spiritual) and SEEK INFORMATION (knowledge IS power).
There are so many injustices in the world of the corporate work site (and in the world of work in general). Whenever there is a group of people, big or small, cliques form and politics do take over. Pettiness, greed, stupid decisions, rules the world in general.
I don't see the situation ever changing - no matter where you work you need to play along with the game. It may be hard for the average American, but it is harder for a woman. People of color have a difficult time and a woman of color is even doubly worse off. ( Unless their name is Oprah!)
Don't mean to sound all gloom and doom. The U.S. is still the best place in the world which means other countries (European and Canada included) have many more problems with discrimination, etc.
Hi, I am telling you first by experience that getting out of stress need help absolutely. I have been living for 23 years in the military and stress has been over my capacity and I felt down. So I encourage you to see your doctor and get also help from psy. It is important to be awared of all information your remember to let know the professionnal who may help you. Take care of you and may God bless you.
There are many of you who have posted about job stress and I'm sorry that I can't offer a lengthy comment for each of you.
Let me say one thing about Social Security Disability that may be helpful for some of you. If you are having problems with the process, or your claim seems to be lingering, get your Congressman or Senator involved. These cases are flagged with "special inquiry" notes and handled quickly. If you haven't already contacted a special Disability attorney for help, consider it. When you're stressed out and depressed, the last thing you need is red tape.
Next, anyone with a loved one who is experiencing extreme job stress, please look to resources in your community. Multiple suicide attempts are most difficult and the entire family needs to be involved in care, usually through family therapy.
Last, remember your rights and, if you have to, consult an attorney who specializes in job discrimination or employment issues.
I hope you can help my sister. She has suffered panic attacks on and off for most of her life. She has been doing really good until just a couple months ago she decided to go on the birth control "Neuvroring" and the panic attacks have started again. She will be in the supermarket and all of a sudden has this panic feeling that she is going to throw up and she sweats and has to get out of the store.
Can the hormones in the birth control be aiding the panic attacks, or is this one of the side affects.
Hormones can certainly be a cause of mood disorders and anxiety, so please have your sister talk to her doc.
some workplaces are sick..literally spreading germs to make you sick! Also some workplaces are mentally designed to make you sick with stress-a trap that only the trapper can win! Personal relationships gone bad on top of this with money issues and your gone! I know.. I have changed jobs alot..it's sort of amazing the stress differences between the same line exactly in a workplace. Avoid co worker and upper management environments. Instead gravitate to independent positions and seek your need for human interaction elsewhere thats positive! Whether the gym, a bar or church. Coworkers can be a huge source of mental illness directed at you. Hand It Back, walk away.
hi. im having a problem my head its constantly thinking thoughts.95% of the time i cant control it. it feels like going crazy but i am not. this has been going on since i was 16 i am 23 now. the doctors say because i am depressed but i feel i am not that depressed no more than any other person
Hello, Ill make this real simple but its complex! Diagnosed as ADD when 5 1/2; dosed on ritalin 35 to 40 Mg daily till I was 12 1/2 because of school and severe act outs, disturbing others stuck in special classes ( Special ED for Behavioral Problems; Lists goes on, 30 now I suffer from ADD/ADHD a Mood Disorder and Severe OCD on the contamination level.. ADD/ADAH is severe with combined types, Moods pretty horible as well.....
Starting late when I was 29 going crazy from alll the anxietys from each disorder I seeked help.. Went to AMEN clinic in reston VA paid 3200.00 for extensive testing, Pet scans etc that revieled the Mood disorder, 3 types ADD/ADHD, OCD.. I was not satisfied so We went to Johns Hopkins OCD/Mood Disorder specialists Dr I wont say and he didnt believe in the ADD pet scans or knew anything about it, Now the OCD and Mood Disorder he was excellent on but we got the Bi Polar w/ rapidcycling thrown at us.. Bottom line I have taken everything Med wise for Bi Polar ( Lithium- I felt changes from first dose 300 to 600 to 900 and I got stranger then Made me completely manic hyper for three months at 1800 Mg ) Depikote 250 Mg Made me completely psychotic Violent etc etc.. Tried it twice 8 months apart, same deal each time couldnt make it at 500 and stay on it; completely Insain...... They all said ( Dr.s ) I should not feel a thing until theraputic range they tell me with the Lithium and Depikote.... Trileptal calmed at 75 but as soon as increse to 300 same situation....... Lamictal 25 for 2 weeks ( made me a complete slob, completely out of it possibly made violent...... Anti psychotics tried ( Zyprexa 2.5 ) Made me a complete Freak with a Masked face and confusion, violent pure Psychotic behavior.... Seraquil ( 25 to 100 ) Same deal violent, paranoid, delusional...... Halodal 2.5 to 5 Mg ( Same deal but less intense as newer drugs mentioned above.. Resperadol 0.5 to 3 Mg the higher the dose incresed confusion, Violent Out of it Psychotic..
Geodon 40 2 x a day with increse to 80 2x a day.. Heart palpitaions, Extremely Hyper, suicidal, Reved Up.... All these meds mentioned Reved me up by the way......
So now I said screw the Bi Polar diagnoses and start from scratch without past history at another ADD/ADHD clinic to get another opinion without confusion, Started concerta 18 Mg ER and finally it has calmed me to a point for the ADD/ADHD, Prob will get titrated to next level to see how much more it will help with..The Dr started me off slow to make sure of safty just incase it did the opposite which it did not! Im getting positive outcome with this so far with some bad symptoms decreasing and some good symptoms like Slowed Down more in Brain but not enough prob because dose is so small, and getting better rest to a point like when I wake up I feel rested instead of low energy, Minor increase on focus and minor increase on concentration.. Its been 5 days so far and No serious side effects..I still pace and cannot sit down, to even eat with my wife and child! From wake to sleep Im moving and standing... My sleep hours are flopped to sleep during the day and up late at night due to racing thoughts, negitive thoughts, stuck thoughts etc etc etc.. We think Im finally on the right track with the ADD/ADHD first...... I pretty much know what disorder is doing what and the Mood swings throughout the ADD/ADHD and I know when it happens... Mood is no worse before new ADD med or AFter so its not effecting it...
I have been having these episodes of Complete Fear and Doom like I just witnessed a terrible accident and cant get over it, These have been happening for almost 2 years documented and they come out of No where, I freeze and have trouble breathing or breathing deep I mean, going Into a stare with comple Fear,Dooming thoughts, extreme severe Anxiety and they last up to even 3 to 5 hours 3 to 4 times a week.... Are these panic attacks?????
This will all take CBT without a doubt!!! I must get stable first...! I have socical phobias as well but the Klonopin 4 Mg a day helps with that Im allready taking.. 75 mg effexor which was left this way from a prior Dr because he thought it was reving me up at 225 while I was on the Lithium 1800 for the supposing Bi Polar..
Bi Polar symptoms: some of them are the same as ADD/ADHD but for me the ADD/ADHD symptoms stick out WAY Further and theres more of them for that matter.. New Dr didnt change a thing with current meds which is a Huge relief and smart..... Im hopeful Now but I keep having these serious Panic situations..... Whats your thoughts....
I have had bi=polar depression for over 20 years. I feel as though I have been picked on, and talked about this disease I have and people say I have a bad problem with my brain. I don't like this and I want to know how I can explain this disease to other people?
I have bi-polar disorder with rapid cycling. I have tried every kind of job and the stress allways puts me into yet another cycle. I am religious about taking my medication and it continues to affect my ability to function and work like I want. No one wants to hire me in the area I live and I know that a prior employer must be saying something about my condition. This makes my condition worse do to an unfullfilling life. ?
Can a cardiologist and a general practitioner diagnosed a bipolar disorder with out a blood test. Just by having the husband say the wife has mood swings in their relationship.
To the anonymous commenter above:
To learn more about bipolar disorder and how it's diagnosed, click here.
hi i have some problems one min im someones friend and the next min i could cut there throat or i jsut sit back and think about suicide and how worthless i am i feel like i havent slept in forever and i have trouble concentrating and have no appitite it affe3cts my job my friends are scared to hang out with me and my family just dosnt understand what should i do adn what the hells the matter with me
I also feel like I don't know who to speak to or what to do. I've been in a chronically stressful job for over 10 years, with minimal breaks/vacations. My job requires constant pressure and involves serious risk and money, more than what my life is certainly worth. I usually only sleep about 3-5 hours a day, if that, but now I sleep 8 hours and still feel tired and down. Now I'm being blamed (or I feel like I'm being blamed) for something pretty serious. I feel totally incompetent in my job, but can't understand why my company doesn't just let me go. I am a mother and wife, but the main provider for my family, so I need the job. Recently, I feel obsessed about taking a permanent "rest". I've been making a list of what to do to prepare my family for my demise. It's the only thought that makes me feel calm (instead of anxious and desperate). I don't want to go to the doctor because they would probably just sedate me.
To all those who wrote in on this thread who are undergoing such difficult, difficult times--I feel for you. I hope and pray that each of you will have someone or something you can turn to--a friend or doctor or community that can help you re-discover the will to live.
Intrusive, disturbing thought patterns are especially troubling to experience, but just having the thought DOES NOT mean you will actually commit that act. One possibility is that it may be an OCD symptom. Either way, it needs to be addressed, and I hope you manage to find some relief from these symptoms--just not through suicide.
All my best wishes for you.
Take care,
Love Anonymous
DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE?
ALL of my teen and adult life I have cared for and helped all sorts of people. Given and given till I had no more to give.
You see,I have depresseion and Job stress and who knows wnat else from loosing almost all my family from a car accident and then married young to a marine who was13 years older than me and had his baby even though he was injured in Viet Nam and couldn[t have kids...yeah right.. He beat me and choaked me and I had to run with my son' and my life....this was right after losing my sister, anunt and uncle in a car wreck and both my parents were in the begining of a devorcing. I was sixteen only.. after reading all of these blogs, I can relate butyet it isn't helping me want to live... Any ideas .. I am now FIFTY TWO AND LOST MY JOB TO STRESS.. NO MONEY COMING IN AND INSTEAD OF ANYONE HELPING,i AM ON MY OWN AND SCARES..ANYONE WITH ANY THOUGHTS... BLESS YOU
To the last anonymous poster, please get some help for yourself from within your community. There are a lot of resources out there even when your financial situation isn't ideal. Please call your local crisis line to find out what is available in your area. Try also contacting your local family, community and church services.
Please keep yourself safe and keep reaching out for the help you need and deserve.
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