Work and stress seem to go together like “fast” and “track.”
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Researcher Tanja Vrijkotte is trying to separate the two. She wants to discover why people who are “overcommitted” to their work are most at risk for heart disease. Others in similar high-stress jobs who can put their work in perspective don’t face the same cardiovascular threat.
“Individuals who score high on overcommitment are competitive, impatient, have a high need for approval and are unable to `let go'” Vrijkotte said. “In the long run, they are at risk for feelings of exhaustion and psychological breakdown.”
Another indicator of work overcommitment is adopting an exhaustive work-related coping style. The worker reacts to stress by working longer hours and undervaluing rest.
You know who you are–and so do the people around you.
The link between work overcommitment and heart disease is not new thinking. What Vrijkotte aims to do from her university position in Amsterdam is help pioneer ways to measure the physical effects of being overcommitted to work. A breakthrough is “ambulatory monitoring” equipment that allows Vrijkotte and other researchers to measure heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure and changes in heartbeat pattern.
By measuring these variables on two workdays and an off-day (including once during sleep) in a 1999 Netherlands study of 124 middle-aged white-collar workers, Vrijkotte and her colleagues could gauge the recovery ability of individuals to handle high stress. The body was evaluated during work, leisure and sleep.
“I think ambulatory monitoring is a promising field,” Vrijkotte said. “It gives us a lot of information about the physiological system: how it reacts during daily stress; how recovery takes place during the night. It is impossible to simulate the stress of a daily work life in the laboratory.”
The Dutch researchers tested participants’ blood on several occasions. The results might be enough to persuade some workaholics to try a different approach. The study participants who displayed symptoms of work overcommitment showed an impaired ability for the body to naturally dissolve clots. Excessive clot formation sets the stage for cardiovascular disease.
Moreover, participants answered a questionnaire focusing on the men’s work efforts and rewards. Previous research shows highly demanding jobs that don’t offer enough perceived compensation are associated with higher stress. Compensation includes money, of course, but also recognition, job control and ability to make a difference.
Some researchers have found that incomplete recovery is more important than actual stress during the workday. The Dutch study didn’t evaluate this theory, but the researchers did find sleep levels after a workday were comparable to sleep levels after a non-workday in the men who were categorized as more affected by job stress.
Yet individuals in those high-stress jobs were found to have higher levels of stress hormones during any 24-hour period when compared with men who handled job stress more adeptly. “Overworking, when there is not enough recovery and the body is almost continuously aroused, is not healthy for the heart,” Vrijkotte said.
Most companies like having overcommitted employees because they work very hard, Vrijkotte said. That’s the upside. The down swing can cut deep.
“This personality characteristic could end in burnout,” Vrijkotte said.
The Netherlands study used only healthy men. People were excluded if they took cardiovascular medications or had a history of heart disease or high blood pressure. If you’re wondering, the Dutch men can be just as overcommitted as Americans. “Stress is a big problem in the Netherlands,” Vrijkotte explained.
Vrijkotte admitted that it is difficult for people to change their work style, especially when mortgages, school tuition and other bills need to be paid. She urged anyone with any of the work overcommitment symptoms to find ways to “let go” of work. Meditation or related classes such as yoga or tai chi are good options. So is learning and practicing breathing exercises that you can use any time of day, even at the highest points of stress.
“It is possible to compensate these negative effects [of work overcommitment] by having an active lifestyle,” Vrijkotte said. “Walking or taking the stairs instead of the elevator will compensate for the sedentary lifestyle that is an unhealthy combination with high-stress jobs. Regular exercise is more effective in protecting your heart and lungs, but most people do not have the time for that.”
Because they are too busy working, perhaps?