Job stress doubles risk of depression

Fri, 27 Jan 2012

According to a recent study conducted by a collaboration of University College London and Finnish Institute of Occupational Health has reported that working long hours can increase chances of experiencing major depressive episode and subsequently being diagnosed with clinical depression .

The research surveyed 2,000 middle-aged government workers in Britain, the number of hours worked and the presence of symptoms of depression were examined. The study controlled for factors such as socioeconomic backgrounds, lifestyle, and other sources of work place stress concluding that there was a link between overtime hours worked and depression .

A previous study that has examined the same group of people last year found that stressed workers were 67 percent more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease.

Although the researchers reported that the situation may be different for younger workers, it is important in order to maintain mental health and wellbeing a person has adequate coping mechanisms to adopt in times of stress as potentially the physical illnesses such as stroke, coronary heart disease and high blood pressure are most likely to be as a result of a many years of stress put on the body.

Techniques such as mindfulness meditation have been found to significantly reduce stress levels, overcome depression and subsequently have a greater level of mental and physical health.
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