Work-relates stress and depression – a modern world problem - how do we prevent it?

As a physical therapist I see clients with conditions of work-related stress and depression every single day. The steady flow of clients makes me wonder “Will it ever stop, or will the problem just continue growing?”. My clients are employees from various professions for example nurses, teachers, police officers, engineers, construction-workers but I see managers, HR consultants as well and I have even treated a CEO.

Regardless of profession or responsibility most of my clients have some common traits:

• They have high work ethic’s and lose track of time and place when working, rarely running workweeks less the 50 hours/ week

• They rarely ask themselves or their leaders when a task is solved sufficient, but strive to solve it to perfection

• They don’t manage to listen to the signals of their body and push on beyond their physical and mental barriers

• They have found themselves in conflict with co-workers or their leaders often due to minor misunderstandings and uncoordinated communication

• They experience changes regarding expectations or responsibility to their work

Each trait calls for action and can usually be controlled or corrected and most of the time turned to something quite good.

But who don’t want a co-worker who’s working like mad and which employer don’t want employees working 50 hours a week striving to solve tasks to perfection? Why is this even a problem? Why should we be extra observing at our co-workers?

The answer I quite simple… The human cost is way to great and it is quite expensive for the society.

According to national statistics from Denmark the total value lost as a consequence of work-related stress and depression sums up to a breathtaking 48 – 52 billion Danish kroner (7,79 – 8,44 billion USD) each year and raising. This may not sound like much, but the cost of work-related stress and depression is roughly 3 % of our gross domestic product. The Danish workforce is no bigger than 2.810.000 of which 35.000 I unable to work each day due to work-related stress and depression. 430.000 show signs on severe work-related stress-or depression.

The persons suffering from work-related stress battels all kinds om symptoms e.g. they feel mentally and physical worn out, they feel guilt, have difficulty concentration, the suffer from insomnia, chest pain, headaches and almost everyone have difficult time remembering. Furthermore, it can have a huge impact on the family life, they tend to seek solitude, seeking away from the human interaction so important for them in their recovery. WHO predicts that work-related stress and depression will be among the major threat to public health worldwide in 2020.

The individual problems will be the same regardless where work-relates stress surfaces. Don't hesitate to ask, if your friend is acting a little off, they will thank you for it and you can be a significant part of their recovery. Financially the impact may vary, and it will be up to you to uncover how severe a problem it is at your firm, county etc.

How do we prevent work-related stress? Well for now, the truth is, that there is no final answer. Below I will try giving some suggestions that may be part in preventing work-related stress.

Sens of coherence in a daily perspective:

Aron Antonovskys “sens of coherence is well known regarding what is keeping people healthy. To determine the “sens of coherence Antonovsky viewed the comprehensibility, the manageability and the meaningfulness regarding experiences within a person’s life.

• Comprehensibility was tied to a belief that things happen in an orderly and predictable fashion and a sense that you can understand events in your life.

• Manageability was tied to the belief that you have the skills or ability, the support, the help, or the resources necessary to take care of things, and that things are manageable and within your control

• Meaningfulness is tied to a belief that things in life are interesting and a source of satisfaction, that things are worth-while and that there is reason to care about what happens.

Torben K. Jensen og Tommy J. Johnsen have tried to implement learning-processes to the theory making it usable in everyday life.

At the end of the day you have to ask and uncover the framework of the assignment, when is it made to “perfection” according to your co-worker, manager e.g. If the requirements for completing the task excides your skill-level, ask yourself “who can help me complete the task at hand” or simply ask for help. By doing so you could obtain the new knowledge and improve your “toolbox“ for future assignments.

Coordination:

Be coordinated when communicating and working on the task at hand. Start by setting the framework for your communicating; talk about how you talk and make sure all participants are on the same page as you. Then make sure you choose the right time to communicate and make sure to communicate sufficient but be mindful not to communicate to little or too much. If you want more in-depth material to help you and your co-workers to get coordinated go to the library and search for Relational Coordination by Jody Hoffer Gittell.

Before I attend a meeting or otherwise communicate I use this sentence “I DO ART” to set the framework and make sure participants are coordinated.

I -> What is my intention with the communication or meeting
DO -> What is the desired outcome
A -> What is the agenda of the meeting and of the people with whom I meet or communicate
R -> Which rules are to be followed and are there certain roles that needs to present
T -> What is my intended timeframe

Underestimated but effective tools:

• Take a break and go get a cup of coffee or a glass of water. Get some distance to your work and let the brain recover. Little breaks at 5 min/hour is more the ample in most cases.

• Walk in varied terrain. The forest is a perfect place to lower the amount of stress-related hormone. Studies have revealed that walks within forest or other green areas strengthens the ability to remember and the ability to learn. The body’s BDNF and serotonin level raises which studies indicate can have an direct anti-depressive effect.

My hope for the future is that our kids may grow up in a less stressful society and we can prove WHO wrong. Let 2020 be the year we turn the tides and see at decline in work-related stress and depression.

I hope some of you find this interesting and some of it usable.

What do you think is WHO right? Will work-related stress and depression continue to grow?

How do we fight it?