Could Your Job Be Making You Sick?

At first I thought it was the florescent lighting. Then I imagined it to be bad air, not circulating properly. Maybe the building was old and I was dying of asbestos poisoning. My mind went through every conspiracy theory possible. The whole office knew that my boss was incompetent but surely one person couldn’t be making me feel this bad? Suddenly the light bulb went on and I realized how much I hated my job and how it was making me sick. It made me both physically and mentally sick.

Could your job be making you sick? Do you dread Monday mornings and have all the happiness of the weekend drain away? You may want to consider finding a new job, going back to school or re-evaluating your situation. Long term exposure to stress and cortisol released when you are stressed can kill you. That’s right your job can kill you. Because of the recession and the bad economy many people are staying put in their jobs due to fear. They are dealing with stress, anger, obesity, high cholesterol, depression, hostility, and hypertension. It is important for companies to pull their heads out of the sand and understand how employees feel about fairness and contentment with their employment with the company. An unhappy employee can cost the company a ton of money and productivity. They can also cost the company clients and the loss of business. Employee annual surveys are a ridiculous measure of contentment. They are almost always broadcast across middle management even though they are said to be anonymous. An employee is going to register the answers they want their boss to hear regardless of how unhappy they are at work.

As a good employee you can combat complacency and unhappiness in the work place by keeping your skills sharp. Go back to school. Get an additional degree, take some additional courses. Keep your resume current and active. Have recruiters call you and tell you how much your skills are worth in the open market. Pay yourself first. Stay out of debt and save money out of each paycheck to give you a nice little nest egg in case of an emergency. Exercise, prayer, meditation and counseling also help with stress and anxiety. Don’t advertise your discontent all over the office but don’t keep it bottled up inside either. Go see a counselor. Start to take the steps to become self reliant. Don’t let your job make you sick take steps to make positive changes each day.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *