Science News Archive

Stress at Work Bad for you - it's Official

Stress at work is as bad for your health as smoking, according to a new study of 21,000 nurses, carried out by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health in the US. THe study also found that the commonest complaints related to job-strain were symptoms of excessive tiredness (81%), headaches (63%), short-temper (71%), low sex drive (55%) and disturbed sleep (78%). Over 30% of workers feel stressed in their jobs, but fewer than 17% of employers do anything about it. 57% of those in the study reported that they use exercise to let off steam, 43% use alcohol and at least 1 in 5 of them goes shopping too !

20th Aug 2000