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Canadian and U.S. workers growing more stressed, surveys find

Canada
A recent survey of 1,500 Canadians suggests there's been a huge increase in workplace stress over the past year, and that illness related to such stress is on the rise too.

The Ipsos-Reid survey, sponsored by Aventis Pharma, says about 62 per cent of Canadians with health care benefit plans are experiencing "a great deal of stress" at work.

That's an increase of 15 percentage points since February 2000.

The profile that emerges from the survey suggests most stressed Canadians at work include those who are divorced, women, residents of British Columbia, public sector employees and those with household incomes of $60,000 or more.

At the same time, 34 per cent of respondents agree with the statement: "Workplace stress has been so overwhelming that it has made me physically ill at times." That's up nine per cent from a year ago.

And 31 per cent of them say they have taken six or more days off work in the last year.

The survey went on to find that while most respondents associated stress with heart disease and cancer, they did not recognize a link between stress and diabetes, despite the findings of experts including the Canadian Diabetes Association such a link exists.

"Stress, in tandem with other lifestyle factors such as diet, weight and exercise, does play an important role in developing adult-onset diabetes," says Dr. Dominique Garrel, endocrinologist at the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Montreal.

"Stress reduction must be part of an effective strategy to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes and its complications."

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death by disease in Canada but it's estimated that 750,000 Canadians are unaware they have it.

United States

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A study released Wednesday suggests that many U.S. workers may be working too hard, leading to more mistakes on the job, neglected personal relationships and higher health-care costs.

In the study, conducted by the New York-based nonprofit Families and Work Institute, 46 percent of respondents said they felt overworked in one way or another.

"This study is a clarion call for all of us -- companies and individuals -- to look at how we're working," said Ellen Galinsky, institute president and co-author of the study.

The survey, which consisted of phone interviews of 1,000 U.S. workers, said that 28 percent of respondents often felt overworked. Twenty-eight percent said they felt overwhelmed by their workload, and 29 percent said they felt they had no time to step back and reflect on their work.

Women respondents tended to say they felt more overworked than men, while baby boomers (workers age 36-54) said they felt more overworked than Gen-Xers (workers age 18-35) or workers 55 and older.

If so many people feel they're being overworked, how much time are they spending working? According to the survey, 24 percent of U.S. workers said they spent 50 or more hours on the job each week. Twenty-two percent said they worked six to seven days a week, and 25 percent said they don't use vacation time to which they're entitled.

Galinsky said the feeling of being overworked is not solely because of the number of hours spent working.

"When you feel pressured and pushed, when you feel not respected, when you feel tension at work, when you feel the work that you do isn't of real value, that leads to overwork," Galinsky said. "Sizable portions of the U.S. work forces have these feelings."

The survey found that those who said they felt overworked were more likely to neglect themselves and less likely to feel successful in their personal and family relationships.

Overworked employees, according to the study, can lead to drastic on-the-job consequences. They are more likely to look for a new job, to feel angry with their employers and to make mistakes. Seventeen percent of respondents who said they felt overworked said they often made mistakes at work, compared with only 1 percent of those who said they did not feel overworked.

Overwork can take its toll on the bottom line, the survey concluded. Overwork tends to raise the cost of health care because of stressed workers. Employees who quit or are dismissed because they are burned out force businesses to spend more money to train replacement workers, the study said.

Survey researchers said it is the cost of overworked employees that, in the end, will prompt U.S. businesses to take action to prevent workers from becoming victims of a workaholic society.

Stress Management Resources

Canadians doing too much behind the wheel, study says

Canadians need to keep both hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road. a new driving survey released Wednesday says.

Too many drivers are turning their cars into an extension of their homes and offices, eating, reading, using cell phones, shaving or applying makeup on the road, creating a dangerous distraction that can fuel high frustration and aggressive driving among other drivers, the study says.

TheSteelAlliance, an industry-wide coalition of more than 110 North American steel producers and affiliated organizations, released the third annual Nerves of Steel Aggressive Driving Study in partnership with the Canada Safety Council. TheSteelAlliance initiated the campaign in 1999 to educate consumers about protecting themselves and staying safe on the road.

Seventy-five per cent of people surveyed admitted to performing personal or work-related tasks while driving, according to the study. Seventy-six per cent of respondents said that seeing other drivers reading, eating or talking on phones while driving is likely to increase their stress level and heighten their aggressiveness on the road.

Eighty-five per cent of Canadians surveyed said they had engaged in aggressive driving this past year, with 72 per cent attribute it to stress and frustration.

"In an attempt to keep up with the ever-increasing pace of life, we tackle tasks in one of the places we find ourselves spending more and more time — our cars," Émile Thérien, president of the Canada Safety Council, said in a news release. "But motorists fail to realize that their simple phone call or lipstick touch-up distracts them from driving, causing a disruption in the flow of traffic, and many times it can further aggravate an aggressive driver nearby."

More Canadians believe aggressive driving is on the rise this year compared with 2000. Although they can identify aggressive driving and know it is a serious safety problem, they continue to do it. More than half of Canadian drivers surveyed admitted to rushing through a yellow light and speeding.

Drivers in British Columbia reported the highest incidence of aggressive driving (89 per cent) and those in Alberta the lowest (82 per cent), bumping Atlantic Canada, which reported the lowest incidence in the past two years.

The Atlantic provinces reported a 9-per-cent increase in aggressive driving since last year and is the second most-aggressive region in the country.

To reduce aggressive driving this summer, the Canada Safety Council recommends that all drivers should take measures to minimize stress levels on the road, such as allowing enough time for travels, taking a route that avoids busy roads, being courteous at all times and, if all else fails, just accepting that you might arrive late.

Although it is important that drive a vehicle be designed for optimal safety, "the first line of defence is always the driver," Bill Heenan, president of TheSteelAlliance, said in the release. "If you are multitasking behind the wheel, you're likely too distracted to react to situations which can change from safe to unsafe in the blink of an eye."

Canadian drivers continue to put their trust in steel, with 77 per cent of those surveyed saying steel provides the best protection in cars. Ten times as many respondents chose steel over fibreglass, aluminum or plastic.

Reference: The Globe and Mail

Link: Canadian Safety Council

Yours For Life

Stressing the importance of a good vocabulary, the teacher told her young charges, "Use a word ten times, and it shall be yours for life."

From somewhere in the back of the room, came a small male voice chanting, "Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Amanda."

For more information on this and other subjects go to Interventions Archive.  The EFAP assists you and your family resolve personal problems and maintain healthy and productive lives. 

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