Most people are a little stressed at work, but did you know that stress could actually be damaging your body? New studies found detrimental effects of work stress on the body. This stress can result in uncomfortable physical health conditions or life-threatening ones.
This article will go over how excessive work stress is damaging your body and what you can do about it.
How is work stress damaging your body?
A new study found that those who had a high amount of stress at work and did not derive any enjoyment from their work had a 97% higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation than those who did not have a highly stressful workplace with little enjoyment.
This study backs up what previous studies have found. For example, one study published in the Journal of American Heart Association found that having a high job strain influenced your risk of developing Atrial Fibrillation by 83%, and having an imbalance with effort and reward at work increased your risk by 44%.
Atrial fibrillation is an irregular and fast heart rate. Although usually not life-threatening, it can be uncomfortable and can lead to more dangerous conditions if left untreated.
Work stress is also linked to higher levels of depression and anxiety as well as lowers your immune system so you are more susceptible to colds and illnesses.
Create Healthy Boundaries at Work
The best-case scenario is you find a low-stress job that you love, but this isn’t always feasible. The bills have to be paid, and if you’re in a field that is naturally high-stress (like construction work, education, or emergency services), you may not have the luxury of shopping around for a less stressful job.
One way to protect your health while still working your job is to have healthy boundaries with work. A strong work-life balance is important for not only your physical health but your mental health too! Here are some healthy boundaries you can set at work to protect your health today:
- Setting Clear Expectations: Clearly communicate your role, responsibilities, and boundaries with colleagues and supervisors to establish mutual understanding and respect.
- Respecting Personal Time: Establish boundaries around work hours to ensure a healthy work-life balance. Avoid excessive overtime or taking work home unless necessary.
- Communicating Openly: Express concerns or discomfort about tasks, workload, or interactions respectfully and assertively. Encourage open dialogue to address issues promptly and effectively.
- Saying No When Necessary: Feel empowered to decline additional tasks or projects that overload your schedule or compromise your well-being. Prioritize self-care and quality work over excessive demands.
- Limiting Distractions: Minimize interruptions during focused work time by setting boundaries around meetings, phone calls, or non-urgent requests.
- Respecting Personal Space: Maintain physical and emotional boundaries in the workplace by respecting personal space, confidentiality, and privacy of yourself and others.
- Seeking Support When Needed: Reach out to HR, a supervisor, or a trusted colleague if you encounter boundary violations or uncomfortable situations. Advocate for yourself and seek guidance or resolution as necessary.
Remember, setting healthy boundaries at work is essential for maintaining your well-being, productivity, and professional relationships.
Finding a Healthy Workspace
Even the best boundaries might not be enough to hold back the stress of an incredibly toxic or unhealthy work environment. Instead, if you are able to, find a workplace that prioritizes the health of its employees. For example, Lifebulb Counseling and Therapy is known for its healthy and happy employees. They say they make their therapist’s mental health a priority by providing all the back-end work (scheduling, administration, billing, etc.) so the therapists can focus on what they love to do: providing counseling to people who need it.
Lifebulb also pays out therapists before they get insurance money, ensuring stable, consistent paychecks that are immune from service-wide disruptions like cyberattacks. Lifebulb also believes in good benefits, including health insurance, paid time off, paid holidays, and sick time.
When asked about their therapist-centered practice, Lifebulb responded,
“At Lifebulb, we prioritize our therapists’ well-being because we understand that happy therapists lead to better client outcomes. By fostering a supportive and empowering environment, we ensure our therapists can provide the highest quality care to our clients, helping them live their brightest lives.”
Interested in working at Lifebulb Counseling? They’re hiring; browse open jobs here.
They believe that happy therapists who are mentally healthy and have what they need to thrive provide better services to their clients, increasing value all around.
They’re not the only ones who think this way.
Since people started working from home and trying to balance mental health with an unprecedented global pandemic, employers are trying to meet mental health needs for their employees and create a sustainable place to work. According to Great Place to Work, Hilton, Cisco, and American Express are all places prioritizing their employee’s mental health, which helps protect their physical health.
