Even moderate stress can cause long-term problems

A study of more than 17,000 working adults by researchers from the University of Bristol and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has found that even mild psychological stress can have an effect on people's health. The study followed the participants between 2002 and 2007 and found that higher levels of stress at the start of the study were associated with a significantly greater likelihood of subsequently being awarded long-term disability benefits. However, even those with mild stress were up to 70% more likely to receive disability benefits. One in four of the benefits awarded for physical illnesses such as high blood pressure, angina and stroke and almost two-thirds of those awarded for mental illness were attributable to stress.

Sickies - skiving or strategic problem avoidance?

The same levels of illness can lead different people - or the same person at different times - to either take a sickie or struggle into work. A team of researchers, led by Hanna Hultin from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, interviewed more than 400 people from six different workplaces within a few days of them taking sick leave. They found that problems in relationships with colleagues and superiors were more frequent in the days before people took sick leave and that people with a minor ailment were more likely to report sick when they expected that the following workday would be particularly stressful.

Earlier drinkers more likely to turn to the bottle to relieve stress

Children who have their first alcoholic drink at an early age are known to be at a greater risk of developing alcohol problems later in life and new research suggests that they may be especially vulnerable when they are suffering from stress. Researchers from the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany studied 306 people. They were asked how old they were when they had their first drink, about stressful life events in the last three years and daily hassles in the last month and about their drinking at 22. The earlier the participants started drinking the stronger the link was between stress and drinking as young adults.

Greater involvement leads to greater workplace stress

Workers who feel themselves to be more central to, or involved in, their organisation are more likely to suffer from workplace stress. Researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto surveyed 2,737 people, 18% of whom said that their job was highly stressful. The odds of having high stress were greater if workers were managers or professionals, if they thought their poor performance could have a detrimental effect on other people or if they worked long or variable hours. Workers who felt that poor job performance could result in physical injury, damage to their company's equipment or reputation or a fincancial loss were twice as likely to report high stress. Having a large commute or entertaining or travelling for work also increased the risk of stress. Those who were men, who were single and under 25 and who worked in a small business were more likely to be less stressed.

Suicidal surgeons

A U.S. study by researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota has found alarming levels of depression and suicidal thoughts among surgeons. Doctors are known to have a higher suicide rate than the rest of the population but this is thought to be because they have access to, and knowledge about, drugs. 7,905 surgeons - a response rate of 31.7% - answered a survey about depression and suicidal thoughts. 6.3% said they had thought about killing themselves in the last year. Older surgeons were more likely to report suicidal thoughts with surgeons who were 45 or over having one-and-a-half to three times the rate of suicidal thoughts as the rest of the population. Being married and having children were associated with lower levels of suicidal thoughts but being divorced raised the risk as did recently having made a surgical error or suffering from burnout. Only 26% of those who had had suicidal thoughts had sought help from a psychiatrist or psychologist.

Mindfulness and stress. Who does it help?

Mindfulness - being aware in the present moment in an open and non-judgemental fashion - is used to help with a number of different psychological problems. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been shown to be helpful to people but there has been little research into whether it is more effective in certain people or not. Researchers from Santa Clara University in California studied 30 people. 15 of them formed a control group while 15 of them received MBSR. MBSR was found to increase mindfulness, wellbeing and empathy in assessments carried out two and 12 months later. However, those participants who already had the highest levels of mindfulness before the MBSR treatment started showed the greatest levels of improvement.

Shapiro, Shauna L. - The Moderation of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Effects by Trait Mindfulness: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial Journal of Clinical Psychology doi: 10.1002/jclp.20761

Stress could be big killer in over 65s

People aged 65 and over are five times more likely to die if they are suffering from high levels of stress. Researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Medical Centre in Amsterdam studied 861 people aged 65 and over over a six-year period. They measured the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in people's urine at the start of the study and their health was monitored over the next six years. Those with the highest levels of cortisol in their bloodstream were five times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those with the lowest levels. The results took into account the influence of socioeconomic status, obesity, high blood pressure and smoking.

You can find out more about this research by clicking on the title of this post.

Feeling stressed - help yourself to a book

In 2003 it was estimated that the equivalent of 13.4m working days were lost in the U.K. because of workplace stress. The U.K.'s National Health Service is one of the biggest employers in the world so anything that reduces the number of days lost through stress could have a huge impact. The usual way of dealing with workplace stress is by using one-to-one, face-to-face counselling but telephone counselling can be cheaper and easier for people to use and bibliotherapy (giving people self-help books) can also be effective. A team of researchers, led by Catherine Kilfedder from the Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Service in Edinburgh compared these three approaches in a 4-month study of 90 NHS employees. Their study concluded that overall the three methods were equally effective. As bibliotherapy is significantly cheaper than the other two options it was suggested that this was used first with people only moving on to telephone or face-to-face counselling if this proved unsuccessful.

Kilfedder, Catherine ... [et al] - A randomized trial of face-to-face counselling versus telephone counselling versus bibliotherapy for occupational stress Psychology and Psychotherapy: theory, research and practice September 2010, 83(3), 223-242

Keep calm and get married

Past studies have shown that people who are married or in a long-term relationship tend to be healthier than those who are single and new research suggests that they are also better at dealing with stress. Researchers from Chicago University studied 500 students, about half of whome were married or in a long-term relationship. The students were asked to play an economic computer game which they thought could affect their course marks and chances of getting a good work placement later. After the tests the researchers measured the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the participants' saliva and found that the students who were married or had a partner produced much less of it.

You can find out more about this research by clicking on the link in the title of this post.

Stress and dementia

Stress in middle age could lead to an increased risk of dementia later in life. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg studied 1,415 women who were assessed in 1968, 1974, 1980, 1992 and 2000. The women were asked about their levels of stress in 1968,1974 and 1980 and those who suffered from stress during this period had a 65% higher risk of developing dementia. Those women who reported feeling stressed at all three time points had more than double the risk. The study - published in the scientific journal Brain - is the first to link stress in middle age with dementia in old age.

You can find out more about this research by clicking on the title of this post.

Anxious mums and sickly babies

Mothers who suffer from high levels of stress and anxiety during their pregnancy might be more likely to have sickly babies. Researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands asked 174 women in the last third of their pregnancies to fill out questionnaires about their stress and anxiety levels. They also measured their levels of cortisol - a hormone linked to stress - in their saliva. Even after controlling for other relevant factors, the researchers found that the variance in infant illness and antibiotic use was predicted by prenatal anxiety and stress: 10.7 percent for general illness, 9.3 percent for respiratory problems, 8.9 percent for skin conditions, and 7.6 percent for the use of antibiotics.

You can find out more about this research by clicking on the link in the title of this post.

Why smoking makes you more stressed not less

People who smoke often say that it helps them to deal with stress but new research by scientists from Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry suggests that, if anything, it makes the problem worse. The scientists studied 469 people who were trying to give up after being hospitalized for heart disease. After a year 41% of them had managed to give up smoking and these people experienced a 20% reduction in their stress levels compared to those who went back to smoking whose stress levels remained unchanged. The relationship between not smoking and less stress remained even after taking into account patients' age and education, how heavily they had smoked before giving up and how high their stress levels had been at the start of the study. Before giving up 85% of the participants said that smoking helped them to deal with stress to some extent but the researchers thought that this was because smoking helped people to deal with the pangs of nicotine withdrawal; once people had managed to give up smoking they no longer felt these pangs and their overall levels of stress fell.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE65F3MW20100616?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

30 ways of dealing with stress

Christine Seivers has compiled a useful list of hints and tips for dealing with stress. You can find her top tips at

http://www.ekgtechniciantraining.org/blog/2010/30-best-stress-relievers/

Stress, TV and obesity make unholy trinity for under-pressure workers

Stress, low levels of physical activity and obesity make up an unholy trinity in under-pressure workers. Researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center studied 2,782 employees at a large factory in upstate New York. The researchers found that after stressful days workers went home and vegetated in front of the television and the more they watched TV the fatter they became. Those employees who watched four or more hours of TV a day were 150% more likely to be obese than those who watched two hours or less. People who worked in the most stressful conditions had body-mass indices on average one point higher than those who worked in less stressful jobs and at times of redundancy the consumption of high-fat and high-calorie snacks from the vending machines increased.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/03/25/workplace-stress-linked-to-obesity/12382.html

Attachment, prenatal stress and cognitive development

Babies whose mothers were stressed when they were pregnant could end up with worse cognitive development than their peers. But any effects on cognitive development can be almost completely overcome by good parenting. A study led by Professor Thomas O'Connor from the University of Rochester Medical Centre measured the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in 125 women as they underwent amniocentesis. When the children were 17 months old the researchers assessed the baby's cognitive development using puzzles, pretend play and memory tests. They also gauged the quality of the relationship between the mothers and their babies using a test in which children are briefly left alone and then reunited with their mothers. The study found that for children with an 'insecure' attachment to their mothers a high prenatal cortisol level was linked to shorter attention spans and weaker language and problem-solving skills. However, there was no link between prenatal cortisol levels and cognitive development in children who had a secure relationship with their mother.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100225140906.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Diabetes, stress and cognitive decline

There has already been quite a bit of research linking diabetes to cognitive decline and a new study from researchers at Edinburgh suggests that stress can also play a part in this link. The researchers studied more than 900 men and women, aged between 60 and 75 with type-2 (adult-onset) diabetes. They tracked people's memories, information-processing abilities and general intelligence over time and found that those people with higher levels of a hormone called cortisol - known to be associated with stress - had declined more.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100222100807.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Depression, obesity and stress

Cortisol is a hormone that is produced in reaction to stress. It is also produced more when people are depressed and plays a role in regulating people's metabolisms. There is thought to be a link between depression, cortisol and obesity but no-one is quite sure how this works. A team of researchers from Penn State University in the U.S. looked into this issue in a sample of 111 boys and girls between 8 and 13. The children were assessed for their levels of depression, weighed and measured and had their cortisol levels taken before and after an assessed maths test designed to raise their stress levels. The children who were more depressed showed a higher increase in their levels of cortisol after being stressed but this was only associated with obesity in the case of the girls.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100223154342.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Burnout, nursing and trauma

Burnout syndrome is characterized by feeling overwhelmed by work, having impersonal feelings towards those one is providing services or care to, negative self-evaluation and a perception of reduced achievement. Burnout syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common in hospital nurses and researchers from the University of Colorado and Emory University in Atlanta looked into this issue in a survey of 332 nurses. They found that 18% could be diagnosed with PTSD and 86% with burnout syndrome and that 98% of those with PTSD also had burnout syndrome. Nurses with burnout syndrome and PTSD were significantly more likely to have difficulty in their life outside work than those with burnout syndrome alone.

Mealer, Meredith ... [et al] - The prevalence and impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and burnout syndrome in nurses Depression and Anxiety December 2009, 26(12), 1118-1126

Burnout and bungles in the operating theatre

Burnout can be defined as emotional exhaustion with, cynicism about and lack of interest in one's job. Doctors are particularly at risk from burnout and a study of 7,905 surgeons by researchers at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine has found that it, and depression, are associated with more medical errors than straightforward tiredness. Nine per cent of the surgeons said that they had made a major medical mistake in the previous three months and 40% of them said that they were burned out. A feeling of depersonalisation - seeing patients as objects rather than people - which is one of the components of burnout was associated with an increase in the likelihood of reporting an error. Emotional exhaustion was also associated with an increased likelihood of making mistakes. However, the number of nights on call per week and the number of hours worked were not associated with increased errors.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091123094137.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Covert copers and heart problems

Not everyone copes with conflicts at work head on. Some people let things pass without saying anything, others walk away from conflict, some develop physical symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches while others get into a bad temper at home. Collectively these responses are known as 'covert coping' and new research suggests that they may significantly increase people's risk of a heart attack. Researchers from the Stress Research Unit at Stockholm University studied 2,700 people from 1992-2003. They asked them how they coped with conflict. By the end of the study 47 men had had a heart attack or died from heart disease. Men who tackled conflict in an open way by talking to people or getting angry had no increased risk of a heart attack but covert copers had double the risk. Those who sometimes or often walked away from conflict had three times the risk of heart problems.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6636046/Failure-to-complain-at-unfair-treatment-at-work-doubles-heart-attack-risk.html