Most people know that high levels of stress are associated with a number of negative physical and psychological consequences.  Physical problems include high blood pressure and cholesterol, and an increased risk for heart disease, ulcers, and cancer.  Psychological side effects include anger, anxiety, irritability, and boredom as well as sleep and eating problems and increased smoking, drinking, and drug abuse.  In the world of work, high stress levels are linked with decreased productivity and increased absenteeism, turnover.

While some jobs are clearly more stressful than others, it might surprise you to learn that top executives are not prone to more stress and stress-related problems.  Rather, employees who are at greatest risk are those who have very little control over their tasks or work conditions.  A research study I came across in my I/O Psychology review actually indicated that sawmill workers performing machine-paced tasks were the most stressed out of all!

Overall, though, you should know that work is not the primary culprit when it comes to people’s stress levels.  Events related to marriage (death of a spouse, divorce, etc.) are the ones that really send stress through the roof.  Another interesting research finding showed that stress induced by daily hassles actually has a stronger impact on health than stress due to traumatic events.  So the next time you think about taking a job that requires a three hour a day, traffic-filled commute, maybe keep that in mind.  I remember my dad saying that one of the reasons he was quitting his job was that he believed the daily drive from suburban Maryland to suburban Virginia was shaving years off his life.  It looks like he might not have been far off.