Employment and Post Trauma Disorder.
Your Job May Be Killing You.
Your Job May Be Killing You.
Job-related stress has increased dramatically as a result of economic uncertainties and the disappearance of jobs. In 2011 unemployment in the U.S. was at an all time high of nearly 10%. Economic and employment uncertainty about the future can take an alarming toll on the general health, well-being, and emotional and psychological stability of adults and families.
An increasingly unstable economy and stressful or dangerous jobs are the primary causes of trauma disorders in the general population. One of the major sources of job-related stress is that no one is prepared for the fact that people who are working will change careers and jobs up to five times.
The toll of economic and job-related stress has a direct relationship to the dramatic increases in the number of cases of cancer, tumors, heart disease, diabetes, eating disorders, chronic tension headaches, pain, anxiety, depression, and suicide since 2000. The increasing use of prescriptions drugs creates dependency and addictions. There is an equally dramatic and alarming increase in the abuse of alcohol and non-prescription drugs. Other addictions are equally on the rise - gambling, relationships, work and shopping. These are all indicators of a society exhibiting high levels of emotional and psychological damage as a result of stress.
According to a recent survey, 70% of all employees in the U.S. say that work is the main cause of stress in their lives, and that 50% specifically attribute the primary job-related stress to concerns about job stability.
And yet no one would consider job-related stress as being equal to the effects of trauma disorder.
Job-related trauma disorder.
The chief symptoms of trauma disorder are anxiety, depression and sleep disorders. Accompanying these is a wide range of other symptoms that many not appear to be related to stressful and dangerous jobs. However, the majority of adults have many of these symptoms. Children and adolescents also show increasing signs of stress as shown by an epidemic of learning disabilities, eating disorder, addictions, behavioral problems, and an alarming increase in the incidence of violence among children.
These symptoms are also not considered by the medical community as being part of a stress disorder. The general stress-related symptoms in most individuals, however, is equal in severity and danger to post trauma disorder experienced by individuals as a result of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, the loss of life and property, serious accidents, sexual assault, nuclear threat, terrorists, physical and psychological abuse, and areas of war and conflict.
Trauma disorders are called “the silent killer” because the symptoms of increasing levels of stress are not considered to be part of a dangerous, and possibly life-threatening, condition.
Most individuals are not aware that many jobs are ticking time bombs. For example, commercial airline pilots are considered the most stressful job of any other occupation. Stress comes from potentially faulty equipment, tricky weather systems, continued terror threats, and the responsibility of the safety of their passengers.
Other extremely high stress jobs are listed below.
Some of the jobs listed may be surprising. For example, photojournalists and newscasters are considered to be high stress jobs because they are daily on the edge of events and action, and sometimes are part of the story when in the midst of civil uprisings, angry protests, riots, and areas of conflict and wars.
The jobs listed below are consistently considered, year after year, to be the most stressful:
- Commercial airline pilots
- Air traffic controllers
- Emergency medical services including hospitals, surgeons, emergency medical technicians
(EMTs), disaster first responders.
- Police
- Fire fighters
- Commercial fishing
- K-9 units, dogs and handlers, involved in disaster recovery as well those used by police and military
- Account executives in advertising, public relations, and real estate.
- Senior corporate executives
- Photojournalists and newscasters
- Architects
- Stockbrokers
An increasingly unstable economy and stressful or dangerous jobs are the primary causes of trauma disorders in the general population. One of the major sources of job-related stress is that no one is prepared for the fact that people who are working will change careers and jobs up to five times.
The toll of economic and job-related stress has a direct relationship to the dramatic increases in the number of cases of cancer, tumors, heart disease, diabetes, eating disorders, chronic tension headaches, pain, anxiety, depression, and suicide since 2000. The increasing use of prescriptions drugs creates dependency and addictions. There is an equally dramatic and alarming increase in the abuse of alcohol and non-prescription drugs. Other addictions are equally on the rise - gambling, relationships, work and shopping. These are all indicators of a society exhibiting high levels of emotional and psychological damage as a result of stress.
According to a recent survey, 70% of all employees in the U.S. say that work is the main cause of stress in their lives, and that 50% specifically attribute the primary job-related stress to concerns about job stability.
And yet no one would consider job-related stress as being equal to the effects of trauma disorder.
Job-related trauma disorder.
The chief symptoms of trauma disorder are anxiety, depression and sleep disorders. Accompanying these is a wide range of other symptoms that many not appear to be related to stressful and dangerous jobs. However, the majority of adults have many of these symptoms. Children and adolescents also show increasing signs of stress as shown by an epidemic of learning disabilities, eating disorder, addictions, behavioral problems, and an alarming increase in the incidence of violence among children.
These symptoms are also not considered by the medical community as being part of a stress disorder. The general stress-related symptoms in most individuals, however, is equal in severity and danger to post trauma disorder experienced by individuals as a result of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, the loss of life and property, serious accidents, sexual assault, nuclear threat, terrorists, physical and psychological abuse, and areas of war and conflict.
Trauma disorders are called “the silent killer” because the symptoms of increasing levels of stress are not considered to be part of a dangerous, and possibly life-threatening, condition.
Most individuals are not aware that many jobs are ticking time bombs. For example, commercial airline pilots are considered the most stressful job of any other occupation. Stress comes from potentially faulty equipment, tricky weather systems, continued terror threats, and the responsibility of the safety of their passengers.
Other extremely high stress jobs are listed below.
Some of the jobs listed may be surprising. For example, photojournalists and newscasters are considered to be high stress jobs because they are daily on the edge of events and action, and sometimes are part of the story when in the midst of civil uprisings, angry protests, riots, and areas of conflict and wars.
The jobs listed below are consistently considered, year after year, to be the most stressful:
- Commercial airline pilots
- Air traffic controllers
- Emergency medical services including hospitals, surgeons, emergency medical technicians
(EMTs), disaster first responders.
- Police
- Fire fighters
- Commercial fishing
- K-9 units, dogs and handlers, involved in disaster recovery as well those used by police and military
- Account executives in advertising, public relations, and real estate.
- Senior corporate executives
- Photojournalists and newscasters
- Architects
- Stockbrokers