Many people live in constant stress at work

Almost every worker in Germany, nine in ten, suffers from stress at work. This was the result of a recent study by pronova BK.

The reasons? Demanding tasks in an increasingly complex world? Not even close. First place of the stress factors is constant deadline pressure with 38%, second place a bad working climate and the bronze medal for stress-inducing conditions in the workplace receives emotional stress.

(Image: Gina Sanders / fotolia.com)

The respondents are mainly concerned about working overtime. After all, every third in ten must be constantly available in his free time, in other words on call. However, this does not apply as compensated on-call service.

Only 40% of respondents stop for lunch each day, and almost 30% do not leave their workplace at all during working hours. It is a truism that pauses that consciously serve recovery, are mentally necessary and also improve the work performance.

Physicians recommend a 5-minute break every 45 minutes, a 15-minute break every three hours and a half-hour to one-hour lunch break. These breaks are only breaks if they are not grafted with excess work.

But exactly that is what many of the interviewees do and thus additionally increase the stress: They talk about duty during the breaks. Or they organize appointments and do private things. They do not take a break, so they are not relaxed when they get back to work.

The stress of the unacceptable conditions makes you sick. Two out of three respondents have tension in the neck, and more than one in two are causing back pain, and one in two has pain in the shoulders, arms and hands.

The current study confirms what the Federal Government's Stress Report already showed in 2012. Since 1990, performance compression, work speed and time pressure are constantly increasing.

By the mid-2000s, therefore, the burden rose extremely, then between 2005 and 2011 at a very high level einzupendeln.

As early as 2012, mental illnesses ranked fourth in all illnesses and the main factor for this was stress in the workplace. Depression, cardiovascular complaints, heart attacks, migraines and tinnitus are among the common effects of constant time pressure, poor working atmosphere and emotional stress. In the end there is often a burn-out.

The German Trade Union Confederation explains: "The survey of 2015 shows that presenteeism is widespread amongst dependent workers in Germany: just under half (47%) of employees in Germany said they worked at least one week despite illness last year "A factor of high levels of stress, because 'this is particularly prevalent amongst those with a high mental workload: work crowding, job-related worries and a poor working atmosphere seem to be helping workers to work despite illness."

On the other hand, there is no positive incentive: "The assumption that high identification of employees with their work also leads to this behavior could not be proven."

The index of the DGB "Good work" thus shows that the three main stress factors for employees are directly related to deadline pressure, bad working atmosphere and emotional stress. (Dr Utz Anhalt)

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