....stress management....
STRESS - AMERICA'S #1 HEALTH PROBLEM
Several years ago, Time Magazine's cover story referred to
"Stress, The Epidemic of the Eighties", and numerous studies show that
the problem has progressively worsened since then. Consider the following:
75-90% of visits to primary
care physicians are for stress related problems.
89% of adults describe experiencing
"high levels of stress". Over half complained of this at least once or
twice a week, and more than one in four said it occurred on a daily basis.
Most report that they are under much more stress now than five or ten years
ago.
Stress levels have also risen
dramatically in other demographic groups, including children, teenagers,
and the elderly.
The National Safety Council
estimates that 1 million employees are absent on an average workday because
of stress related problems.
A 1992 United Nations Report,
labeled Job Stress "The 20th Century Disease". More recently, it was described
as a "World Wide Epidemic" by the World Health Organization. Job Stress
is far and away the leading source of stress for adult Americans.
78% of Americans describe
their jobs as stressful. The vast majority also state this has worsened
over the past ten years. In 1973, almost 40% of workers reported being
"extremely satisfied" with their jobs. Today, less that 25% fall into this
category.
Job stress is estimated to
cost American industry $200-300 billion annually, as assessed by absenteeism,
diminished productivity, employee turnover, accidents, direct medical,
legal, and insurance fees, Workers' compensation awards, etc. Put into
perspective, that's more than the price for all strikes combined, and the
total net profits of the Fortune 500 companies.
60 to 80% of accidents on
the job are stress related. Some, like the Exxon Valdez and the Three Mile
Island nuclear disaster, have direct cleanup costs of billions of dollars,
not to mention environmental damage that cannot even be estimated.
Workers' compensation claims
for job stress, rare two decades ago, have skyrocketed, with double digit
increases in premiums annually in several states, threatening the entire
system. California employers shelled out almost $1 billion for medical
and legal fees alone - more than some states spend on actual benefits.
Nine out of ten job stress suits were successful, with an average payout
more that four times that for regular injury claims.
40% of worker turnover is
due to job stress. The Xerox Corporation estimates that it costs approximately
$1 - $1.5 million to replace a top executive, and average employee turnover
costs between $2,000 to $13,000 per individual.
There were 111,000 violent
workplace incidents reported in 1992, resulting in 750 deaths and a cost
to employers of $4.2 billion. Homicides accounted for almost 20% of the
more than six thousand workplace deaths. It was the leading cause of death
for working women. Violent crime and mass murders in the workplace almost
always stem from job stress.
Recent research has increasingly confirmed the important role of
stress in cardiovascular disease, cancer, gastrointestinal, skin, neurologic
and emotional disorders, and a host of disorders linked to immune system
disturbances, ranging from the common cold and herpes, to arthritis, cancer,
and AIDS.
**courtesy of The American Institute of Stress**
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