A new study that used doctors as its participants revealed the more hours people work each week in a stressful job, the greater their risk of depression rises. This may seem like an obvious finding, but research shows just how serious the problem is and ways to decrease the stress at work.
Researchers from Michigan Medicine found during the study doctors that worked 90 or more hours a week saw changes in depression scores. Those changes were three times higher than the change in depression among doctors who worked 40 to 45 hours a week.
The team concludes that among a list of stressors, large number of hours worked played a major role in depression.
It’s easy to see the results and say you need to dial back on your workload, but many factors can make this task seem impossible. There are ways to deal with stress when working in stressful environments.
Forbes highlighted the stress levels in women. One conclusion was it would take employers intentionally reducing stressful working environments. Robin Abrahams, a writer and research associate at Harvard Business School spoke with Forbes. Abrahams said first employers must acknowledge the problem exists.
After acknowledging it exists, Abrahams says leaders should demonstrate healthy work habits. Make self-care a leadership practice.
The American Psychological Association also provides a list of ways to reduce stress. The top three ways are develop healthy responses, establish boundaries, and take time to recharge and talk to your supervisor.
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