Occupational 'heart'zards

These days, you’ll rarely come across anyone who’s not drowning in work-related stress. Whether it’s an aggressive boss, colleagues who are bullies or dirty politics being played at work, it leaves most of us feeling anxious, upset and affects us physically too. 

A recent study published in the European Heart Journal, examined over 79,000 working men and women, aged 18-65 and free of heart disease and recorded their exposure to workplace bullying and violence using self-reports. Nine per cent reported being bullied at work and 13 per cent recorded exposure to workplace violence in the past year. People who were bullied frequently had a 120 per cent higher risk of heart disease than those who were not. Also, those subjected to workplace violence or threats had a comparably higher risk of 36 per cent than those who did not report violence.

Although the research could not ascertain a cause-effect link, it proved the existence of some definite association between workplace bullying and violence and cardiovascular problems. 

Many people have ‘boss issues’

Having a difficult boss is a common factor of work stress. “In fact, if the work is stressful, but the boss is easy going or supportive I have observed that stress at work gets minimised to almost 50 per cent,” informs Mansi Hasan, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, who sees at least eight to 10 people a month, who seek therapy due to work stress. About 80 per cent of people referred have “boss issues”. The age group is vast from 25 to 45 years. Also, she has had more males who’ve experienced this than women. 

Mansi has dealt with clients who would avoid going to work or quit a job because of a difficult boss, and the psychological impact is scarring. Many people experience lack of confidence, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, eating problems, excessive worry, addictive behaviours such as drinking and smoking. Over a period of time, these affect the health and well-being of an individual, says she. 

Stress is a factor for coronary artery diseases

“It’s common sense that stress is not good for overall health, it has many harmful effects like obesity, dyslipidemia, cholesterol, diabetes, etc, and one of them is Coronary Artery Diseases (CAD). In fact, stress is a known factor for it. Many people are stressed out because of work, either due to a bad boss, office politics, deadlines, targets, etc. and to cope with it, many turn to smoking, alcohol, drug abuse too. Also, lack of exercise and eating junk food contribute to CAD,” says Dr Santosh Kumar Dora, senior cardiologist, Asian Heart Institute. However, we can’t quantify it as it varies depending on individual to individual, their medical history, lifestyle, etc. Also, today’s millennials want a stress-free life and will quit their job, if it’s too taxing for them.

Many people are stressed out because of work either due to a bad boss, office politics, deadlines, targets, etc.

Sceptic speak

Dr Bipeenchandra Bhamre, cardiac surgeon, Sir Harkisandas Narrottumdas, Reliance Foundation Hospital, doesn’t completely agree with the study, saying, “We need more studies to confirm this casual relationship between getting bullied at work and cardiovascular disease. In today’s competitive world, we do have lot of stress. Some of the working environment may expose people to workplace bullying. I don’t know how rampant workplace bullying is in India. The major health hazard here is depression.” 

There is one recent study done in Scandinavian countries, which has shown a link between workplace bullying and cardiovascular disease. But we have to be cautious to apply the same methods in India. Our society and culture is different. But if we can control the bullying at workplace, we can reduce the cardiovascular diseases and depression to a much greater extent, adds Dr Bhamre.

Coping

Dr Dora says that there are some individuals who are underperformers and so their bosses are genuinely upset with their output. On the other hand, there are those who are good at their work but a lot more is expected of them. In such cases, we ask the patient to evaluate what’s more important to them, health or job and make that a priority or maybe switch fields. Also, have a dialogue with your boss, if there’s no reasonable outcome, then look for a new job.

SUGGESTIONS

Mansi shares some tips:

• Seeking counselling is essential in these cases. Strategising coping mechanisms can be helpful. 
   
• At work, discuss the matter with an HR personnel for intervention. It is important to report bullying and take up the matter seriously. When work places have more stringent rules about bullying juniors, we may be able to handle the matter more effectively. 
   
• Assertiveness training is also a helpful method to handle bullies at work.