Reducing job strain may lower risk of new mental illness cases
Sydney, May 15: If your workplace is supporting its employees by reducing their job strain, it may boost in preventing new cases of common mental illness from occurring up to 14 per cent, a new study suggests.
The findings, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, confirm that high job strain is associated with an increased risk of developing common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety amongst middle-aged workers.
Job strain is a term used to describe the combination of high work pace, intensity, and conflicting demands, coupled with low control or decision-making capacity.
"The results indicate that if we were able to eliminate job strain situations in the workplace, up to 14 per cent of cases of common mental illness could be avoided," said lead author Samuel Harvey, Associate Professor at the Black Dog Institute in Australia.
"These findings serve as a wake-up call for the role workplace initiatives should play in our efforts to curb the rising costs of mental disorders," Harvey added.
To determine levels of job strain, 6,870 participants completed questionnaires at age 45 testing for factors including decision authority, skill discretion and questions about job pace, intensity and conflicting demands.
The researchers also accounted for non-workplace factors including divorce, financial problems, housing instability, and other stressful life events like death or illness.
The models developed in this study controlled for individual workers' temperament and personality, their IQ, level of education, prior mental health problems and a range of other factors from across their early lives.
The final modelling suggested that those experiencing higher job demands, lower job control and higher job strain were at greater odds of developing mental illness by age 50, regardless of sex or occupational class.
"Workplaces can adopt a range of measures to reduce job strain, and finding ways to increase workers' perceived control of their work is often a good practical first step. This can be achieved through initiatives that involve workers in as many decisions as possible," Harvey, who is also affiliated with the University of New South Wales in Australia, noted.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
19-year-old girl in Belthangady who attempted suicide dies in Mangaluru hospital
Belthangady: A 19-year-old girl from Belalu village, who had attempted suicide at home by consuming poison, has reportedly died at a hospital in Mangaluru.
The deceased, Rama, was the daughter of Dinesh and Revathi Naik of Mayada Balemandikallu in Belalu village, Belthangady taluk, and a II PUC student at Vamapadavu College.
Rama’s attempt to commit suicide is being linked to personal matters, as she is known to have loved a youngster.
On the night of April 19, she reportedly consumed rat poison at her residence and was admitted to a hospital in Mangaluru for treatment. After 10 days of treatment, she died on April 30 after failing to respond to medical care.
A case has been registered at the Dharmasthala Police Station, and investigation is underway.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the state’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416.)
