Brain Doping Good working conditions required

President of the Physicians calls for better working conditions

03/19/2015

After the DAK-health has published a study, which shows that three million people in Germany in the workplace doping to improve performance, the President of the Federal Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, asks employers to better fulfill their duty of care.

According to the latest DAK health report, around one million working people regularly take prescription medicines to cope with the pressure to perform and against the stress at work. According to the DAK is the „Number of people taking medication to survive the work day has grown from 4.7 to 6.7 percent over the past six years“ gone up. Countermeasures are urgently needed to protect the health of employees, reports Frank Ulrich Montgomery. „Even though job doping in Germany is not yet a mass phenomenon, these results are an alarm signal“, so chairman of the DAK, Herbert Rebscher.

Chronic stress at work
The President of the Physician Professor Frank Ulrich Montgomery has warned against morbid working conditions in view of the figures of the DAK health report. Employers have a duty to reduce stress in order to counteract doping in the workplace. „When work makes you ill, it is usually due to chronic overworking and chronic stress. This is the responsibility and duty of care of employers“, so Montgomery opposite the „New Osnabrück newspaper“. As a possible consequences of the constant stress at work, the doctor's president calls serious diseases such as depression, anxiety disorder, back pain, tinnitus or cardiovascular diseases. The pressure of time and performance as well as the stress of constant accessibility could make him ill, Montgomery said.

Working world has to adapt to the person
According to the President of the German Medical Association „It's high time for employers to recognize that the world of work needs to adapt to people instead of giving priority to yield expectations.“ In addition, Montgomery called for increased employer attention for ill health factors such as job loss, inadequate recreational opportunities or bullying. The increased use of brain doping in the view of the medical president is extremely critical, as it also brings with it health risks. (Fp)