Adam's Apple
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- Apr 25, 2004
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Is Your Paycheck Worth the Stress?
By Shari Rudavsky, The Indianapolis Star
November 15, 2005
Feel like your job is killing you? Your work might not be lethal, but it could be taking an unseen toll on your health. Medicine increasingly recognizes the link between stressful jobs and a host of medical problems, from tension headaches and stomach distress to hypertension and heart disease.
Nor is it always those high-profile signature jobs -- air-traffic controller or police officer -- that wreak the most havoc. Any job can cause stress if workers feel they have little control over the situation or are unrecognized for their efforts, experts say.
In the current work environment, the problem has only grown worse, says Dr. Linda Therkildsen, chief of staff at Westview Hospital. "It seems like it's a progressive epidemic related to the workplace and the uncertainties out there," she says.
Surveys consistently reveal that half or more of American workers feel stressed. One quarter cite their jobs as the major stressor in their lives, according to a Northwestern National Life survey. Three-quarters believe workers today face more on-the-job stress than a generation ago, Princeton Survey Research Associates found.
Mary Jungemann, an English teacher at Southport High School, has seen the shift. After a 13-year hiatus from teaching, a career that regularly appears on most-stressful-job lists, Jungemann returned five years ago. "There are so many more demands now than there used to be," says Jungemann, "the energy level you have to maintain to teach is phenomenal. . . . It's an exhausting job." Supportive colleagues, a sense of humor and chocolate help Jungemann manage.
for full article:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051115/LIVING01/511150322&...
By Shari Rudavsky, The Indianapolis Star
November 15, 2005
Feel like your job is killing you? Your work might not be lethal, but it could be taking an unseen toll on your health. Medicine increasingly recognizes the link between stressful jobs and a host of medical problems, from tension headaches and stomach distress to hypertension and heart disease.
Nor is it always those high-profile signature jobs -- air-traffic controller or police officer -- that wreak the most havoc. Any job can cause stress if workers feel they have little control over the situation or are unrecognized for their efforts, experts say.
In the current work environment, the problem has only grown worse, says Dr. Linda Therkildsen, chief of staff at Westview Hospital. "It seems like it's a progressive epidemic related to the workplace and the uncertainties out there," she says.
Surveys consistently reveal that half or more of American workers feel stressed. One quarter cite their jobs as the major stressor in their lives, according to a Northwestern National Life survey. Three-quarters believe workers today face more on-the-job stress than a generation ago, Princeton Survey Research Associates found.
Mary Jungemann, an English teacher at Southport High School, has seen the shift. After a 13-year hiatus from teaching, a career that regularly appears on most-stressful-job lists, Jungemann returned five years ago. "There are so many more demands now than there used to be," says Jungemann, "the energy level you have to maintain to teach is phenomenal. . . . It's an exhausting job." Supportive colleagues, a sense of humor and chocolate help Jungemann manage.
for full article:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051115/LIVING01/511150322&...
