Even if you’ve got the job of your dreams, you’ve probably dreaded going to work at least once—or wished halfway through the day that you were lazing around on a beach somewhere. But if the extent of your job dread is leaving you drained, you might be experiencing something more severe than a bad week: Job burnout, which can affect your happiness, your productivity, and according to new research, even your heart health. In a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, researchers from Tel Aviv University found a significant association between feelings of job burnout—think emotional exhaustion, fatigue, cognitive weariness—and coronary heart disease. A total of 8,838 men and women, employed in a variety of fields, underwent heart exams at the study outset and again three years later. Researchers then compared those results to participants’ experiences with burnout during the study period. After controlling for several confounding variables, researchers found that any level of job burnout increased one’s risk of coronary heart disease by 40%. For those who scored at the highest end of the job burnout scale, the risk was upped by a scary 79%. So what does hating your job have to do with your heart? “Stress causes a bodily reaction called ‘acute phase response’ which, in the short term, allows you to either fight or withdraw from a stressful situation,” says lead study author Sharon Toker, PhD. “When that system is activated over and over (such as having to drag yourself to an unhappy work environment), the body loses its natural ability to react and becomes exhausted.” How can you distinguish burnout from a bad few weeks? If feelings of irritability, malaise, and low motivation persist for more than a month, job burnout might be the culprit, Toker says. Answer the following questions, used by Toker in this study, to figure out if you’re stuck in burnout mode:
How often are you tired and lacking energy to go to work in the morning?How often do you feel physically drained, like your batteries are dead?How often is your thinking process sluggish or your concentration impaired?How often do you struggle to think over complex matters or problems at work?How often do you feel emotionally detached from co-workers (or customers) and unable to be sensitive to their needs?
If you answered “often” or “almost always” to several questions, it might be time to address job burnout. If you’re concerned about heart health, start by seeing a physician to treat other risk factors for cardiovascular problems, like smoking or excess weight. Then, tackle the office: Your top priorities for addressing workplace fatigue should be adequate sleep and enough exercise—study participants who remained active didn’t experience depression or other burnout symptoms to the same extent as their peers. And, when it comes to work, do what you can to develop a support system and a clear understanding of your role: Job ambiguity was the biggest factor in the development of burnout among participants in this study. More from Prevention: Is It Time For A New Job? Questions? Comments? Contact Prevention’s News Team.
