Is Your Job Making You Sick?

[caption id="attachment_3920" align="alignleft" width="367" caption="Sick At The Desk?"][/caption]

Yes there is the occasional cough that sweeps through the office, but some people fear that a persons job can seriously affect their health. Sue Shellenbarger of The Wall Street Journal discusses this theory more.

Individuals who feel unfairly treated on the job may be more at risk for developing a slew of mental health problems and physical ailments, according to a new survey of workplace research by researchers at the Transportation Security Administration and two universities.

Believing one’s employer is handing out pay raises or promotions unfairly or employers failing to keep commitments made to employees about such issues as future job opportunities are among factors linked in the research to employee stress, strain or chronic physical or mental ailments, according to the survey of 279 scholarly studies published last month in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

Among the mental health problems reported: anger, hostility and cynicism, depression and anxiety; among the physical ailments: high cholesterol or heart attacks, as well as higher body-mass index levels or hypertension.

The study comes at a time when workers are particularly frustrated on the job. One national index shows people’s satisfaction with their jobs and work environment has fallen 11.6% from pre-recession levels in 2008, according to August 2011 data from the Gallup-Healthways Monthly U.S. Well-Being Report, a survey based on daily interviews with 1,000 people. Making matters worse is a rough job market which is keeping many people in their jobs even if they’re very unhappy.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal