Stressful Jobs and Depression Risk
Stress is a part of life and when it comes to our jobs and how we make a living, it's something that requires our constant care and concern. Now a new study of 1,000 workers in Europe found that stressful jobs accounted for 45 per cent of new cases of depression. The factors which the scientists isolated as being especially important were excessive demands on the job and extreme time pressures. Not only did they find that these workers, with an average age of 32, were experiencing a high percentage of job-related stress-induced depression, but there appeared to be a 40 percent increase in reports from workers of job stress.
When economies turn sour, the heat is on in terms of producing the same with less workers or less in terms of resources. What do you do? The easy answer would be, as I've seen in some advice columns, to change your job. Not so easily done in an economy that appears to be shrinking, nor is it always possible to fit in a college degree or time to learn additional skills. To preserve your mental and physical health, you have to be the one in charge of your after-work life. How do you do that?
Begin when you get up. If you are going to have breakfast, do some in-place exercises while preparing whatever you'll have. You can find easy exercises, requiring no equipment, on line. Next, plan something for any free time you might have to break the job-home-job cycle. Give yourself any breaks you can to get out and take a walk, sit in a swing, do some gardening (yes, even on your windowsill). Anything that will break the routine can be helpful.
One local radio station now incorporates a "daily laugh" into their programming where they play jokes from comedy club acts. Put some laughter into your life. I don't care if you like The Three Stooges or Wayne's World or whatever, just laugh whenever you can. See the humor in life and, yes, there is humor.
If you need a silly exercise, here's one I use in my presentations. Wiggle your ears. You can't? Have you tried? Give it a try and see what happens.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: stress, job, depression, anxiety, mental health
When economies turn sour, the heat is on in terms of producing the same with less workers or less in terms of resources. What do you do? The easy answer would be, as I've seen in some advice columns, to change your job. Not so easily done in an economy that appears to be shrinking, nor is it always possible to fit in a college degree or time to learn additional skills. To preserve your mental and physical health, you have to be the one in charge of your after-work life. How do you do that?
Begin when you get up. If you are going to have breakfast, do some in-place exercises while preparing whatever you'll have. You can find easy exercises, requiring no equipment, on line. Next, plan something for any free time you might have to break the job-home-job cycle. Give yourself any breaks you can to get out and take a walk, sit in a swing, do some gardening (yes, even on your windowsill). Anything that will break the routine can be helpful.
One local radio station now incorporates a "daily laugh" into their programming where they play jokes from comedy club acts. Put some laughter into your life. I don't care if you like The Three Stooges or Wayne's World or whatever, just laugh whenever you can. See the humor in life and, yes, there is humor.
If you need a silly exercise, here's one I use in my presentations. Wiggle your ears. You can't? Have you tried? Give it a try and see what happens.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: stress, job, depression, anxiety, mental health
7 Comments:
Laughter is becoming an excellent support for moving from the negative ruminations that bog us down from stress to depression. As a Psychologist and Mindfulness teacher I am also keenly aware that mindfulness, the ability to intentionally pay attention to the present moment, without our usual filters of judgment is also becoming a fast growing support for stress, anxiety, and depression.
Keep the good tips coming!
Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.
http://www.drsgoldstein.com
honestly i need help im scared to talk to my doctor but i cant take my kids out after dark because i freak out i dont know where to turn my fear has turn on me and now it rules me i want to be free but dont know where to start it seems so stupid but i cant rid myself of it please email me at riggerswife06@yahoo.com with any tips that might help
Well i guess i should start by saying what's happened to me so far. I resently lost, my job,my car, my place of residence and im to a point where i cant take it anymore. Im always thinking, crying, and thinking of ways to kill my self, my family thinks that im not trying hard enough. But imm trying. For years i tried to please everyone else and help others but what's happen now when i need help and no one is there for me... I cant sleep, i have headaches, body aches, muscles, dont have urge to eat, all i do is smoke. My kids are visiting there father for the summer. Im so tried and stressed out and need help...
First step for Anxiety, Panic, and Agoraphobia is to look up a local therapist or health professional in your area. If this is cost prohibitive and there are no low fee clinics in your area, I have found the workbook, Treatments that work for Anxiety and Panic helpful for clients. You can find it on Amazon.
For Lily, sounds like you have been through a tremendous amount of trauma. My Co-author and I have a free stress reduction community we have launched that may be of some help. At the very least you can connect with the leaders of the community and others who are going through difficult times dealing with stress, pain, and illness. Sometimes this support is truly helpful to people. Just click my name above and you can get to it.
Separate work from home life. Your life at home needs to be free from stress so try not to associate it with work. And a good way to do that is a lesson learned from the late Mr Rodgers. When you get home, change out of your work shoes into something more comfortable, tennis shoes or whatever... nothing if that's what you like. Other more comfortable clothes too. New advice is always good to get from other people too. So look at other blogs, I like this guy's blog a lot, http://anxiousangst.blogspot.com/
Very interesting article, Dr Farrell. I appreciate your honesty and respect for the issue as anxiety and stress are becoming more and more of a social issue in this day and age.
One tip regarding getting up from your desk is also a very valuable tool in the fight against stress. Relax. Loosen up. Work doesn't always have to be the dungeon that it becomes when too much stress is involved.
All the best,
Stress Free King
http://www.onehealthylifestyle.com
Stress is not only psychological, but physical as well physical. As we experience stress, our cortisol rises and we experience the physical signs of stress, maybe sweatiness, racing heart, shakiness. Elevated cortisol elevates insulin causing sugar cravings and placing fat around ou mid-section. This increased cortisol may also play havoc with our thyroid function effectively causing decreased thyroid function adding to a weight and energy issue. Increased cortisol production may draw from women's progesterone levels causing in some cases infertility, depression, mood swings and further irritability. Ultimately, the adrenals which make cortisol become overworked and we develop adrenal fatigue with low energy and tiredness especially around 3PM. Adrenal stress and fatigue can be effectively treated with proper nutrient and hormone support including C vitamins, B vitamins, magnesium, and other herbs and vitamins. Sometimes judicious use of bioidentical hormone supplementation is necessary. Of course, in adrenal stress life style changes and relaxation techniques are very important including deep breathing, yoga, massage, and tai chi.
Post a Comment