Stress Stats and Links

1. Rod Phillips, president and CEO of Warren Shepell Consultants Corp., after a study Canadian Mental Health on behavioral health trends within the IT sector over the last three years, reports, stress, anxiety and depression among IT workers has been on the rise in Canada in 1999.

2. According to Stats Canada, total value of lost work time due to stress is $1.7 billion annually.

3. The Shepell report also shows employees' inability to balance work and life issues cost the economy $2.7 billion per year.

4. WHO (World Health Organization). Findings are that by the year 2020, depression will be the leading cause of disability among developed nations.

5. Phillips also says only 65% of depressed individuals receive treatment.

6. GPI Atlantic (Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic Canada) press release:

Stats Canada in 1998 survey shows time stress levels have been rising dramatically in the 1990s. 38% of working mothers now classified as "severely time stressed". Working mothers now put in 74 hours a week of paid and unpaid work.

Among youth, time stress has increased markedly with five times as many female students registering severe time stress as their male counterparts.

7. A separate Stats Canada survey (1999) showed adverse health effects from long work hours, including markedly increased rates of depression, smoking, weight gain, and alcohol consumption and decreased levels of physical activity. Long work hours have been shown to carry increased risks of cancer, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and other serious illnesses.

8. Volunteer work declines by 8.7% in the 1990s, resulting in a $4.7 billion loss of services to the country.

9. Go to Family Facts.ca for their list of stats.

10. Wrsd.gc.ca.

Work/Life Balance and New Workplace Challenges: Research and Studies describes importance of work-life balance in order to reduce stress and provides information for employers to assess the level of support their organization provides to employees.

Work-Life Balance in Canadian Workplaces (excerpt from Workplace Gazette Volume 5, No 4, Winter 2002):

Studies show Canadian workers need to be supported in their attempt to reconcile work with family and personal life.

Research shows that by reducing work-life struggles, individuals enjoy a healthier lifestyle while improving productivity at work.

Note benefits and costs to employers at this site, practical tools, work-life continuum.

11. A WebMD feature book reviewed by Brunilda Nazario MD, "Why does daydreaming get such a bad rap?" She points out that daydreaming helps you relax, manage conflict, maintain relationships, boost productivity and creativity, cements your beliefs and values, helps you achieve goals and relieves boredom.

12. LHJ.com Health and Fitness, "Drug Free Relief". 10 All Natural Stress-Busters by Teresa Tamkins.

13. RealAge.com: Relaxing on Mondays

14. Higher Awareness.com: Time Wasters

15.4women.gov: The National Women's Health Information Center. Frequently Asked Questions about Stress and Your Health, August 2004 includes a good description of stress and more links to many national groups.

16. Human Nature@Work: Audio tapes and Videotapes by David Lee.

"The cost of corporate health benefits, as a percentage of after-tax profits, has increased from 26% in 1989 to 45% in 1990". Health Care Benefits Survey 1991 - Indemnity Plans-Cost, Design, and Funding. Princeton, New Jersey: A. Foster Higgins & Co. Inc., 1992

"Research shows that 60 to 90% of doctor visits are stress related." Perkins, A. (1994), saving money by reducing stress. Harvard Business Review

Northwest National Life, reported in 1993 that one million absences each day in the workplace are stress-related. Farrell, F. (1994).

17. One Step Forward: "So What is Stress?"

18. Barbara Taylor/Michael Anthony - "Changing Values" chart. Some good humor on this site also. www.itstime..com/mar96.htm

19. Mark Ivar Myhre - The Emotional Healing Wizard - Articles on Anxiety.

20. Family Circle, article The Feel Great Tone-Up - "Breathe Away Stress." Complete Breath, Lions Breath, Humming Breath.

21.IMDHA from EHYPNOTISM@aol.com: Jacobsen's Relaxation http://www.mindspring.com/%7Eyestein/progrl.htm.

22. Health Canada study tells us one in four Canadians is now working more than 50 hours a week, compared to one in 10 a decade ago. Ipsos Reid, from a 2001 survey, 46% said they didn't have enough free time. 40% said less free time than five years earlier.

23. www.balancetv.ca - Strategies for Living Well.

24. RealAge.com - way back in 1992 research showed American women worked an average of 287 hours more than in 1969 (nearly 7 weeks worth).

25. Boom and Bust Economics lead to uncertainty. No one knows what to expect in the next decade.

26. Isolation - The Me-Generation. When you focus on self, you sacrifice emotional ties to others and the sense of community that is essential to coping well with all sources of stress. Politics are divisive; people move more often.

27. NorthWestern National Life Insurance study - of 1000 full-time employees in a variety of businesses, half said job stress had reduced their productivity.

28. "Women in the worst shape - still responsible for managing home", Alan Elkin Ph.D., Director of Stress Management and Counseling Center in New York City. Also due to lack of emotional and tangible support. Women are overloaded, underpaid, and angry as a result. Women hold anger in which increases frustration.

"Big gap between what they want and feel they worked for and what they realistically can attain", says Dr. Elkin. "This ''satisfaction' gap is felt acutely by members of the 'baby boomer generation' who will probably not be able to achieve the same lifestyle that their parents enjoy.

Families suffer from too many competing demands - parents don't have time for each other, worry about kids, futures, divorce rates are high, reports of domestic violence are rising (usually do when economic pressures grow). The breakdown of the family removes the best buffer against stress.

29. Layoffs and recession have produced widespread distrust of employers among workers of both sexes. "You can no longer be confident you'll have a secure future." Dr. Earle, Canadian Stress Institute

30. Women's Day 4/4/95: Stress! by Catherine Houck quotes Cardiac psychologist Robert Allen Ph.D. co-director of the Coronary Risk Reduction Program at the New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center:

"What makes us sick are frequent or ongoing responses to all levels of stress. Many people create 'emergencies' out of minor hassle. They get so used to living with their stress hormones that it feels normal, and many even enjoyed their adrenaline surges. (What our bodies overproduced adrenaline and other powerful hormones, it reduces the number of T cells, the immune systems "killer" cells that fight off invaders). An immune system on hold results in increased susceptibility to infections - from herpes to gingivitis. Floods of stress hormones also caused a gastrointestinal mayhem, probably interfering with the intestines contractions. Other minor (but hardly enjoyable) elements are acne and hair loss, both of which are thought to be linked to increases in male hormones.

Chronically tensed muscles can inhibit blood flow. Result: muscle fibers can be oxygen starved and shorten, and that hurts. Tension usually is first felt around the face and shoulders - headache, stiff neck, clenched jaw, and cramped shoulders. Choked off blood can also trigger a migraine headache, usually after a stressful episode. When blood vessels relax and dilate.

Major league problems may also ensue. Chronically elevated levels of adrenaline are highly likely to increase the risk of heart disease. They seem to the road lining of blood vessels, and the resulting cavities filled with cholesterol. In time, artery blocking plaque can form and a heart attack may result.

Raised hormone levels are a disaster for non-insulin dependent diabetics, who often have to go on insulin until things simmer down.

Stress may lead to abuse of prescription drugs, particularly among working women.... smoking.. drinking... junk food eating...when time pressured.

... adopt a more relaxed attitude. But how? Enroll in some sort of stress reduction program.