Chloe Guest Blogs: Feeling the ‘burn’

This Guest Blog is from Chloe Tagawa, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students:

No not the burn from working out; we’re talking about job burnout, which results from “high stress, heavy workload, a lack of control over job situations, a lack of emotional support, and long work hours.” A study at Tel Aviv University has found a link between job burnout and coronary heart disease (CHD). Researchers found that people who were in the top 20% of the burnout scale had an increased risk of CHD, by about 79%. While some of these factors are physically taxing, they wear on the body emotionally, as well. Of the 8, 838 participants who had routine health examinations for 3.4 years, there were 93 new cases of CHD at follow-up. This was associated with a 40% increased risk of CHD for those who experienced burnout. Researchers suggest taking action such as exercise, getting substantial sleep, and seeking psychotherapy, to combat the effects of job burnout.