# Overtime Work Tied to Anxiety, Depression



## Halo (Jun 23, 2008)

Overtime Work Tied to Anxiety, Depression 
_Rates were higher among less-skilled and those with lower incomes, study finds _

THURSDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- Working overtime puts you at a higher risk for developing anxiety and depression, a new study suggests.

Men who worked 40 hours a week or less had a 9 percent "possible" depression score on standard screening questionnaires, while 12.5 percent of their counterparts who worked overtime showed signs of depression and anxiety. For women, the possible depression rate increased from 7 percent to 11 percent. 

The results, published in the June issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, also show anxiety and depression rates were higher among less-skilled workers and those with lower incomes. The study looked at 1,350 overtime workers and 9,000 with normal work hours in Norway. 

Men who worked the most overtime -- nine to 60 hours a week -- showed the greatest link to anxiety and depression. These men tended to have lower work skills and education levels than others and have jobs involving heavy manual labor and shift work. While these men were at highest risk, even moderate overtime work appeared to bump up the risk of "mental distress," the authors noted. 

What causes working long hours to increase anxiety and depression was not explored in the study.


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## seeking33 (Jul 1, 2008)

Halo said:


> What causes working long hours to increase anxiety and depression was not explored in the study.



Interesting article! Too bad they didn't "explore" the link between overtime work, low wages, and anxiety/depression. I could offer several reasons, living with someone who is forced to work overtime at a terrible job simply to make ends meet.

1. The race to pay bills, housing costs, food, gas, car repair, and other essentials: working your tail off just to meet these needs with little or no reward.:juggle:

2. Feeling trapped: trapped at work for many hours doing something you dislike, feeling trapped by finances and knowing the likelihood of improving circumstances is basically zero.

3. Many people who work overtime make less than the average wage or are forced to work overtime due to labor issues on the job, which causes stress and worry about job security if they refuse.

4. Worry: about making ends meet and living hand-to-mouth puts enormous emotional stress on workers and families. I won't even get into cutthroat workplace politics and bullying that also takes a toll.

Now if only they would do some more "exploring" and less talking about obvious facts and actually use these studies to do something about it!


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## BluMac81 (Jul 31, 2008)

Great post.  It seems as though to be successful and happy in life you have to sacrifice time.  I'm a college student nearly out of money and out of food, working part time with school full time and already offered a full-time position.  Is it reasonable for society to expect you to work a 40-hour work week and 16-credit hour semester (about 60 hours of class/homework a week)?

What happened to living life? Enjoying life? 
I'm 26 and have a feeling I'll be 60 before I know it lol


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## Into The Light (Aug 1, 2008)

BluMac81 said:


> It seems as though to be successful and happy in life you have to sacrifice time.



i think with all the stress and pressure all too often we don't have an opportunity to be happy.

i think happiness in part would include time for friends and family, time to relax. work to live, not live to work is what would make the difference.

it is a rat race though and i think most people struggle with it.


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## BluMac81 (Aug 2, 2008)

Into The Light said:


> i think with all the stress and pressure all too often we don't have an opportunity to be happy.
> 
> i think happiness in part would include time for friends and family, time to relax. work to live, not live to work is what would make the difference.
> 
> it is a rat race though and i think most people struggle with it.


Ya... I was just thinking today, what IS happiness?  What does it feel like?  I think it was someone's signature here on the forums that said "Follow your bliss", but bliss is not the same thing for everyone. Finding your bliss is what needs to be done first, and to do that you need to define bliss.  Enjoyment? Felt it during fleeting moments.  Happiness? Don't know what it is.  Much like love....


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## Into The Light (Aug 2, 2008)

blumac, quite some time ago i was pondering similar questions. i started these threads:

What is happiness? - Psychlinks Psychology Self-Help  & Mental Health Support Forum
Food for thought - level of happiness - Psychlinks Psychology Self-Help  & Mental Health Support Forum

here's one that is interesting too:
Happiness Is - Psychlinks Psychology Self-Help  & Mental Health Support Forum

also if you do a search and check "search titles only" and enter in "happiness" as the keyword, it'll bring up all the other articles and posts on the forum on the subject


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## braveheart (Aug 2, 2008)

When I was a teacher, I worked from 7.30am until gone 6pm every day. This wasn't counted as overtime, and certainly added to anxiety and depression I was already experiencing [but was unaware of as being such at the time]. 
Add to that the stresses of being in an inappropriate career for me, an employer who had already had more than 2 members of staff leave with 'nervous breakdowns' and demanding and pushy parents of children who mostly had emotional and behavioural 'special needs', you have a potent dangerous cocktail for damaged mental health!


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