DAK Report More and more doping in the job

More and more employees are taking performance-enhancing medicines

03/17/2015

For most people in Germany, the challenges in everyday working life have become more intense. More and more of them resort to performance-enhancing drugs because of increasing stress. This is shown by the new DAK health report.

More and more workers operate „Doping in the job“
The workload in the job increases for most Germans. One in three feels overwhelmed, according to a study recently published. More and more employees in Germany resort to medicines, for example, to drive the fear of a presentation, to increase the performance or to loosen up for a customer discussion. „Doping in the job“ has long been everyday life in German offices, as evidenced by the new DAK health report. Scientists examined the drug data of 2.6 million employed persons for the representative study and found, according to an article by „Star online“ It emerged that employees increasingly resorted to beta-blockers, Ritalin and Co. in order to prepare themselves for the challenges of everyday working life.

Three million Germans have already doped
Those who resort to such medicines are usually under high pressure, have stress or feel overloaded. Three of the approximately 42 million workers in Germany have the so-called brain doping („Neuroenhancement“) tried at least once. The DAK suspects that the number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher. According to the report, around one million professionals regularly take pills to increase performance or improve mood. From 4.7 percent in 2008 to currently 6.7 percent, the number of workers who have ever operated brain doping, increased. The chief executive officer of DAK, Herbert Rebscher, said: „Even though job doping in Germany is not yet a mass phenomenon, these results are an alarm signal.“

Women and men indicate different reasons
Four out of ten dopers swallow medication on specific occasions, such as before an important meeting or presentation. „Women are more likely to take certain remedies for depression. They want to improve the mood, reduce anxiety and nervousness“, explained Rebscher. For example, one in five women reported contact with many people as the reason for drug abuse. Men, on the other hand, would try to achieve career goals with the help of the tablets. „Here are usually stimulating means. They want to stay awake, strong and capable.“

Risks from side effects are repressed
The majority of those affected displace that the misuse of drugs carries great risks. So can different of the „stimulant“ or antidepressants cause side effects such as high blood pressure, anxiety, dizziness, headache, sleep disorders or dangerous cardiac arrhythmias such as palpitations or heart stumbling. In addition, there is a danger of dependency and in some cases even increases the risk of suicide. In addition, possible long-term effects of antidepressants in healthy are still completely unclear, warned Klaus Lieb, specialist and director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University of Mainz.

Uncertain employment increases the risk of abuse
According to the report, the most common use of brain doping (60.6 percent) is in the treatment of anxiety, nervousness and anxiety. Thirty-four percent of workers take medication for depression. It is said that more than one in two gets the tablets from his doctor, every seventh from acquaintances and family members and every one of them orders her the tablets without a prescription. Love warned that this was one „risky practice“ be. Drug counterfeits that are not under control could cause significant damage to your health. Researchers have also identified factors that increase the risk of drug misuse, including insecure employment, simple work and high workloads. This contradicts the prejudice that top executives and creatives are first and foremost in terms of medications. (Ad)