RETURNING TO WORK WITHOUT HASSELS OR FEARS AFTER HEART ATTACK: STRESS AT THE WORKPLACE
Ask a doctor why you had the heart attack and he or she probably will list the litany of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cigarette smoking and family history. Ask the patient, and you’ll probably hear that the number-one reason was stress, either in his personal life or, more often, at work.
Now, it’s not that those doctors are wrong. Those risk factors definitely come into play, and without them one isn’t likely to develop heart disease. But the role of stress, notably in the workplace, is coming more and more into focus. For many patients it may, indeed, have been the precipitating factor.
Note that I say “precipitating” factor. I mean that literally. It’s what may have caused the heart attack at that particular time in your life. I know that it played an integral role in my own heart attack, and I’ve listened to dozens of others recall how they were under a particularly difficult time just before the heart attack struck. It’s the last straw.
Dr Alan Rozanski at St Lukes/Roosevelt Medical Center in New York has shown that non-exercise-induced stress can show up as depressed ST segments on the ECG as well as or better than it can be shown on the traditional treadmill workout. He induces that stress by asking the patient to solve a series of mathematical problems or by discussing aspects of the patient’s life. Can stress influence the heart? It’s right there on the ECG tracing.
One way many men and women deal with stress, especially when that stress shows up as anger and hostility, is to try to console themselves with food. At those times when you’d like to kill the boss, you might turn instead to devouring chocolate. And the weight starts to go up. What’s one of the risk factors for heart disease? Obesity.
Of course, when you take your anger out on the refrigerator, you don’t head for the carrot sticks and a glass of skim milk. High-fat goodies seem to have the greatest soothing properties at such moments. And up goes the cholesterol level, bringing in yet another risk factor.
Anxiety and depression are known to be associated with the kinds of patients most likely to have a heart attack. And according to a Gallup poll of 201 corporations in the United States, work-related stress and its resulting anxiety and depression are more prevalent than ever. At least one in every four workers is directly affected.
Today’s stress-stoking situations include the threat of layoffs, mergers, takeovers or labour disputes. Such incidents affected 84 per cent of all the companies questioned in the Gallup poll reported in January 1990.
Workers are responding by filing more job stress claims than ever before. In California alone, stress-related complaints now are the fastest-rising type of job disability claim and may be costing hundreds of millions of dollars each year, according to the California Workers’ Compensation Institute.
But You CAN Control Stress on the Job. By now you’re probably thinking that on the one hand I’m telling you to hurry right back to work, and on the other hand I’m letting you know that the job’s going to kill you. The fact is that you can, in this instance, have your cake and eat it too. You can control, at least to some extent, the stress in your job that could be detrimental to your recovery.
The first step to take is going to be the hardest, because you’re going to have to admit to a flaw within yourself. You allow the factors or individuals at work to get to you. Only you can change this in yourself. You have more control over your world than you realise. No, you may not be able to control the physical world in which you live and work, but you can control the psychological world you create for yourself. Who really makes you angry? You do. You see something or hear something and you let it eat at your insides.
As Dr Arna Munford, the psychologist at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in
Los Angeles, points out, people often say they have no control over things at work. Yet they really do. Take her example of an insurance executive who had experienced an MI and was afraid to go back to the office. Yet he was on a high-level career track, and not too far from retirement.
Dr Munford talked to him about the things that made him really hot. He said that people demanded impossible things of him. Like what, she asked? Like the secretary always sticking a pile of notes and messages at him as soon as he’d walk into the office. He never had a moment to organise the day before the deluge she delivered. Asked what he was doing about it, he shrugged and indicated that there was nothing he could do. That was the way the day always started. The psychologist gently suggested that he refuse to take the secretary’s stack, and ask her to hold them until he’d had time to organise his day. He’d never thought of that. He took the suggestion, and that was enough to turn his life around. Soon he found that he could say “No” to any number of people and obligations.
One of the first rules a recruit learns in the Army is: Never volunteer. Yet so many of us seem unable to keep ourselves from doing just that and bringing on more and more work even though we’re already bogged down.
Is your boss unreasonable, asking too much or doing things the wrong way? Are you out of control? Now’s the time to do something about that. It doesn’t need to be a confrontation, just a private discussion. Listen to his side of the story as well. See if you can’t come up with a compromise.
Can’t do it directly? How about speaking with someone who has the boss’s confidence and ear? Ask that person to intercede for you. You might just be surprised at the receptivity.
No such personal contact? Try an anonymous letter.
Some people aren’t able to express their anger for fear that it will precipitate another heart attack. So instead of having an argument with the boss (or co-worker, or spouse, or whomever), the patient stews.
Mark Twain advised writing a letter venting one’s spleen, signing it, putting it into an envelope, and then filing it away in a drawer for a few days. By that time the anger, and often the offending incident, would pass, the writer’s steam would be released without repercussions, and all would be well. Just another way of saying “count to ten”.
The fact is, there’s no evidence that hard work is a predictor of death. Many people like a busy schedule of work, and those at the top, including company executives, physicians and engineers have a significantly lower rate of death from heart disease than others who work at lower levels, even though they put in much longer hours and seem to be battling all the time.
You have a number of ways of coping with stress at your disposal. But it’s up to you to use them.
Take advantage of labour arbitration if it’s available. Talk to the union steward. File a grievance.
Delegate responsibility to others. Even if they don’t do as terrific a job as you know you could do, that’s just fine.
Learn to expect less of yourself. That doesn’t mean that you’ve got to become a goldbrick, but just don’t come down so hard on yourself.
Stand up to the boss if you have a just complaint. Do it directly or indirectly. Maintain a “paper trail” of letters and messages with dates to fall back on; in most states, you can’t be fired without just cause.
Don’t take it all that seriously. Your job or career is important, but it’s not worth dying for, is it?
Stop taking work home with you. That way you won’t be tempted to keep at it to all hours, and you won’t feel guilty when you see that briefcase in the corner.
Give yourself a margin of time and space between home and work. How about taking a walk around the block between parking the car and entering the house? Or stop off to browse through a bookstore. Do something to “come down” before walking through the door.
Try not to take it out on your family, especially your spouse. Instead, enlist them as allies, sources of refuge in this tough, cruel world.
Do something nice for yourself now and then. Mark something like an appointment for a massage on your office calendar, and make a point of looking forward to it.
Keep your car nice and clean, with some good tapes to listen to during the commute back and forth.
Maintain a sense of humour. Learn a new joke now and again and share it with someone at the office. Rent a comedy video to view that evening. Life may not be a laughing matter, but laughing can make it easier.
Keep a diary of the things that upset you. Then at a calm, collected moment, sit down and figure out some ways to cope with those situations. Maybe seek the input of others.
Join a health club to go to after work. Do a bit of exercise and relax in the bubbling waters of the spa.
Take a walk instead of going to the coffee break where you’ll wind up eating the wrong foods while griping about work with your co-workers.
Take a course in something you always wanted to learn more about. Maybe at the art museum. Or at the zoo. Every community offers some program of non-credit classes.
Get into yoga. That may seem far-fetched to a level-headed person like you, but forget about those Eastern Zen origins. This is a great way to relax and unwind.
Be diligent about your exercise program. There’s probably no greater stress-buster on earth.
Eat sensibly, avoiding those high-fat foods and trying not to eat late in the evening when the digestion process could interfere with sleep.
Make certain to get enough sleep. Watching another late-night movie or talk show won’t give you the rest that only a solid night’s sleep can provide.
Read a novel rather than watching a lot of TV. Reading is soothing and relaxing, while TV tends to be agitating, especially when you first come home from work and just before you go to sleep. If you have favourite shows, schedule them, watch them, and then turn off the set.
Limit the amount of caffeine and alcohol you drink. Caffeine can keep you jittery all day and into the night, and can make you more likely to become easily agitated at work. Alcohol may seem the answer to a tough day, and the first effects are, indeed, relaxing. But alcohol interferes with a good night’s sleep.
Admit that you’re not an island unto yourself and seek comfort from others. That might be a clergyman, an old friend, or a professional counsellor.
View life as more compartmentalised. There’s time for work, time for sleep, time to eat, time to play, time for yourself. Work is just one part of life.
Express your love more freely. Hug your spouse and kids and grandkids and others you care about.
Spend some time at work as well as at home doing some meditation. That might be a formal kind of biofeedback, a few minutes of prayer, or a short period of deep-breathing exercises in a darkened office with the door closed.
Take a break from the day’s stresses and distresses by doing some stretching exercises. Here’s a technique developed by the Pentagon’s John W. Woodmansee Jr.
Hand rubs. Lean forward in your chair, rub the palms of your hands together as fast and hard as you can for two minutes. Relax.
Here are some additional ideas you can use in the office, in your car, at the airport, or while waiting for an appointmentЂ”all times when stress levels can rise.
Big mouth. Lean your head back, open your mouth as wide as you can, and hold it like that for about five to ten seconds. Repeat two or three times.
Arm reaches. Slowly stretch your arms out to your sides, then up toward the ceiling, reaching as high as you can, and finally grasping your hands together. Hold that for 10 to 15 seconds. Repeat.
Elbow pull. Put your right hand on your right shoulder, lift the elbow toward the ceiling until you feel the pull. Repeat with the other arm.
Shoulder shrugs. Let your chin drop to your chest, and simply shrug your shoulders for a few seconds. Relax and repeat.
Back pulls. Grasp your hands behind your back and lift upward, causing your torso and head to lean forward. Hold for a few seconds. Then lift your head back, with the nose now pointing to the ceiling. Hold and relax.
Mark your calendar, put little notes for yourself around your desk and office and in your briefcase, and otherwise remind yourself to do those simple stretches frequently during the day. You’ll be absolutely amazed at how much good they can do for you. In fact, to prove it to yourself, try each one of the stretches right now so you don’t just pass over this extremely valuable pointer. Avoid eating lollies for those quick little pick-ups you might feel you need during the afternoon. A better energy boost is to take a walk. Want proof? It comes from researchers at California State University at Long Beach. They found that a brisk, 12-minute walk provided more energy and less tension than eating a chocolate bar.
The researchers worked with 18 volunteers, 15 women and three men. For all of them, both the chocolate and the walk provided an energy lift. But one hour after eating the chocolate, participants reported feeling more tense. Two hours later they felt increasingly tired and had less energy. But those who took the walk felt energetic and reported less tension two hours after walking.
Now, that’s 27 different ideas to reduce stress on the job. They all work, but only if you do them. I’m certain you’ll find some of them are particularly suited for you.
Take This ]ob and Shove It! OK, you’ve tried it all. You’ve done stress-busting techniques. You’ve tried talking with the boss. You’ve done it all. After all these years, you realise that the job is killing you, and that the heart attack was a warning that you shouldn’t ignore.
There comes a time when you have to ask yourself, is this worth dying for? The answer of course is no, no job in the world is worth your life. They’ll get along very well without you, one way or the other.
If you’re ready for early retirement, you might want to consider taking it. Even if the money might be tight, you can probably come up with a way to make a few extra dollars with a part-time job of some sort. For a cut in salary you just might get a few years more of life.
If it’s a matter of quitting the job in order to find another one, perhaps you’d be well served to check out the job market first. Talk about this with your spouse and family to get their support. They love you, and they want what’s best for you, not just a meal ticket.
You might want to take some of the holiday time you have coming to look for another job. Or start sending out your resume and making some phone calls. Talk with employment agencies and recruiting firms. Just don’t make the mistake of quitting in your mind before being ready to make the big step; consider yourself in transition.
Don’t limit yourself to the same sort of work you’ve been doing. It’s very likely that the kinds of stresses and problems and politics that played havoc with your cardiovascular system in one place will be repeated in another. Maybe it’s time for a complete make-over of your job options and choices.
Are there some things you do as hobbies, as avocations, that just might expand into money-making opportunities? Many a man has retired and taken up a special interest, only to find that he could then make a lot more money by doing what he had always wanted to do.
Consider spending some time with an employment counsellor to discuss your options. He or she just might come up with something you’d never have thought of doing.
Beating the Monday Blues. OK, let’s face it: not everyone loves his or her job and can’t wait for the weekend to be over. When Howard University researchers studied 185,000 workers, they found that the majority go through some level of depression come Monday morning. But there are some ways to beat those first-day blues.
Cardio & BloodSet your alarm clock a bit earlier than usual to give yourself a bit more flexibility in time. Feelings of being rushed bring on stress and aggravate negative attitudes you may already have about going to work.
Start off the week with something you don’t mind doing, especially something that can give you satisfaction in completing. One of the ways to get a flying start is to get back to a job that wasn’t quite finished when you left it. That way you know just where to start, and you’ll get a sense of fulfilment when it’s finished.
*53/85/2*
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
