Study: Job Stress and Social Isolation, a Caveat for the Telecommuter
Job stress has multiple causes, including the experience of social isolation and lack of coworker support, as new study confirms. Freelance writer Marilee Crocker reflects upon the implications for telecommuters.
It’s so tempting to make light of this. According to a new study, a lack of social support in the workplace is one of three job-related factors associated with depression.
From the perspective of a solo worker like me, that’s pretty funny. Sort of.
The report, in the November issue of the “American Journal of Public Health,” found that job stress is another workplace factor associated with depression, especially for men; for women, lack of decision-making authority was an issue.
The item about social support caught my attention because it’s so relevant for the growing cadre of home-based business owners, solo practitioners and telecommuters.
We don’t have those “co-workers or understanding supervisors … who can provide practical or emotional support” — support that can protect against depression, notes Emma Robertson Blackmore, Ph.D., the lead author of the study.
True, many of us prefer the independence and solitude of the home-based work arrangement. But this selfsame independence and solitude can make it easy to slip into a gloomy and nonproductive frame of mind.
How do I know this? I slid into one of these slumps just last week; as of this writing it’s still with me. It’s not full-blown depression, but it’s pretty sludgy. And it’s having a decided impact on my work, robbing me of motivation, confidence and creativity.
It turns out that depression in the workplace is a big problem, according to a study published in the Sept. 26 issue of “JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.”
USA Today has more information on the study.
In fact, work-related stress has a powerful impact on employees. A study in the November issue of the American Journal of Public Health demonstrated a significant relationship between work stress and depression.
Dr. Emma Robertson Blackmore, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center and a co-author of the study, says that those with possible symptoms of depression — anxiety, headaches, a curbed appetite, insomnia and general dissatisfaction — sometimes fail to attribute them to depression and work stress. Increased stress and depression have been linked to a number of chronic and non-chronic health issues like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart attacks.
She recommends that stressed and depressed employees take advantage of telephone or Web-based counseling as well as diagnostic screening tools.
According to findings compiled by researchers at the Healthy Lifestyle Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, one-fourth of employees view their jobs as the No. 1 stressor in their lives. Dr. Bruce Rabin, the program’s director, says that it’s critical to change responses to stress, noting that consistent anxiety can change the brain’s chemistry and lead to depression.
“When people are depressed,” Rabin says, “the oy veys of life become more real.”
Rabin teaches students of his program to calm themselves with an activity of their choice like praying, taking a walk or thinking of a funny moment. He also recommends that co-workers monitor each other’s health and create social support.
“We need to create a culture,” he says, “where we are concerned about healthy lifestyles.”
Job stress? Isolation? Here’s hoping it doesn’t ever push you this far whether you are at home or in the office.