Is Your Job Making You Sick?

Work is an essential part of most of our lives. The average American spends about 40 hours per week working, which is equal to over 20% of our lives. The quality of this time is vital to ones mental and physical health. There are many factors that can contribute to someone’s work having a negative impact on their health: high stress environment, lack of engagement, poor leadership, problematic coworkers, poor wages or no potential for improvement.

Signs Work is Making Your Sick

1. You Can’t Sleep

Insomnia is a common sign of stress. Your mind is so filled with the worries of your day that you can’t relax enough to fall asleep. Lack of sleep can affect your mood, motivation, blood reassure, sex drive and immune system. Some people may lean on substances such as alcohol, prescription sleep aids, melatonin or marijuana to help them fall asleep. These can be beneficial for short term use, but prolonged reliance on any substance to sleep will only mask a deeper issue in one’s life.

2. You Sleep Too Much

Stress affects each person differently. For some people, they use sleep as an escape from the worries in their life. The average person needs anywhere from 6-8 hours of sleep a day. If you are needing more than your normal amount of sleep for a prolonged period of time, that can be a sign of excess stress in your life. In addition, excessive sleeping is a common symptom of depression.

 3. You are Losing Weight

For some, being in a state of fight or flight mode can cause them to become disinterested in food. They may end up going hours and hours without taking a break to eat. They may not even notice that they haven’t eaten. Some people lean onto stimulants like coffee or energy drinks to replace the nutrients they need from food. Yet this measure is not sustainable in the long term. Also, the lack of proper nutrients from food can negatively affect their mood, focus and productivity.

4. You are Gaining Weight

For others, the stress from work can cause them to cram every bit of food into their mouths. Donuts, chocolate, candy, alcohol and even excess amounts of healthy food options can cause someone to gain weight. Overeating is a common way to gain control in your life then you feel scared or overwhelmed. It can also be used to bury emotions that you do not want to feel, so you can continue to function.

5. Feeling Tired and Unmotivated

Prolonged levels of stress will drain your adrenal system. Our ability to kick into high gear in a time of danger is only designed for short bursts of time. When our ancestors ran away from predators in the wild, they would only run for a few minutes before reaching safety. They wouldn’t be running for days, weeks or months at a time. Our bodies can’t handle that kind of adrenal activation all the time. In addition, one’s lack of motivation can be a subtle form of rebellion against a negative work environment. Have you ever have ignored emails or tasks because the person needing a response has slighted us in some way?

6. You Get Sick More Often & Stay Sick Longer

Stress takes energy away from your immune system. This seems counterintuitive but it makes logical sense evolutionarily. Our bodies only have so much energy at its disposal to use. It has to be allocated in a way that best suits our survival. If you have a wound on your arm and your being chased by a bear, where should your energy go? To healing the wound or running from the bear? Running away, of course! The bear will kill you faster than an infection from the wound. The same applies with a stressful job. If you are constantly in a state of flight or flight, your body will divert its energy from your immune system to keeping you alert and ready to fight or run.

7. You Exercise Less Often

When you combine some of the above symptoms of excessive sleep, no appetite, lack of motivation and feeling sicker it is really hard to get yourself to work out. Your body is already exhausted from the stress you are under. The last thing you are going to want to do is push yourself even harder. Exercise is something that many people will cut out of their lives as an early sign of excess stress.

8. Distancing Yourself from Friends and Family

The stress from work inevitably bleeds out into your personal life. You become more irritable and fixate on the problems at work. This drains your energy that you would use to invest in your relationships with your friends and family. And when you do spend time with them, you are not your best self. The tension and strain from work can bleed out in damaging ways. And if this occurs too often or with too much intensity, you can start to push your friends and family away. Or you could be so exhausted from the strain from work that you opt out of connecting with the people around you.

9. Your Doctor Is Concerned

Prolonged levels of stress will have a negative impact on your overall health. This can result in a variety of ailments that will be noticed by your doctor. Examples include: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, chronic headaches/migraines, fertility issues, loss of libido, digestive upset and many more. Remaining in a state of high stress diverts resources away from your body’s natural self-healing process. And over time, your body will start to break down.

What You Can Do If Work is Making You Sick

1. Have Self-Care in Your Life

This can include exercise, going for walks, yoga, meditation, reading for leisure, etc. Any activity that gives you space to just breathe and be yourself. We all need time in our lives for enjoyment and relaxation.

2. Connect with the People You Trust

Talk to people about what you are experiencing. Friends and family that are happy to support you. None of us can keep all of our emotions contained within ourselves and not suffer some negative consequence. A few minutes of open venting to a sympathetic ear can go a long way.

3. Ask for Support at Work

Are you being given to much? Can some aspect of your work situation be changed to better improve your mental and physical health? Do your superiors know about what you are going through? Do they care? Are they willing to help? Are you pushing yourself too hard? You do not have to suffer in silence. We are all human. We have limits of what we can handle and for how long.

4. Is it Time to Change Jobs?

Do you enjoy your work but the culture of your job doesn’t align with your work style? Is your boss bad at their job and neglects you, or worse, takes advantage of you and your work ethic? Do your coworkers drive you up a wall? Or maybe, you  are coming to terms with the fact that the work you are doing just isn’t right for you anymore. It is important to assess what is a situation that can be fixed or improved upon and when there is no hope for positive change. Is your stressful situation temporary? Are you in a busy season for your industry that will pass or is this the pace for years to come? Sometimes changing jobs/careers is the best choice for your situation.

5. Seek Professional Help

Maybe you have already tried several of the above suggestions and it isn’t enough. Maybe the source of your stress isn’t coming from your work environment, but it is coming from within. Working with a mental health professional can help uncover the source of your distress and help guide you on determining the best path for you and your work life.

If you feel that you are in need of professional support during this difficult time in your life, let’s chat.