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Stress Costs U.S. $300 Billion a Year 418

Posted by michael from the nervous-tic dept.
jburroug writes "A new study, as reported in the New York Times claims that the stress of the modern always-on work environment is taking a far greater toll on the health of workers than previously believed, to the tune of $300 billion in lost productivity and increased health care costs in the U.S. alone."
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Stress Costs U.S. $300 Billion a Year More

Stress Costs U.S. $300 Billion a Year

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  • Isn't that.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by ericdano ( 113424 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:09PM (#10160508) Homepage
    Isn't that the same amount that people spend on porn? Hmmm.......

  • And they wonder why (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:09PM (#10160511)
    Just today there was an article about hypertasking [slashdot.org].
    Folks, shut off the cellphone, log out of the internet and leave work at work because you're slowly killing yourself with stress.

  • easy solution (Score:4, Funny)

    by Rooked_One ( 591287 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:11PM (#10160521) Journal
    just make XanaxOTC!!

  • great... (Score:5, Funny)

    by dioscaido ( 541037 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:11PM (#10160522)
    ... now the fear of losing money @ the workplace due to stress will cause more stress, causing more money loss, and thereby creating a feedback loop that will kill us all.

    • Re:great... (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Nah, if you get too stressed out management will just fire you, thus ending the cycle.

    • By applying stress ... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by GringoGoiano ( 176551 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @03:07AM (#10161227)

      Business gets a $2 trillion (number pulled from nether regions) boost in profits by applying stress. $.3 trillion is a small price to pay, and it's not even business' burden to foot the bill.



      Get real. Stress motivates, and it's an integral part of business strategy.

      • Not when you can't sleep at night because you're so stressed out about the next day at work, or have no time to relax because you have to work at home.
        I've taken a 50% pay cut to escape from an environment like that and I've never been happier. Being rich is nice but not when you're freaking out trying to keep up with the crappy culture that exists at far too many companies.

  • Gad! (Score:2, Funny)

    by ir0b0t ( 727703 ) *
    I need a drink!! **

  • Stressful (Score:4, Funny)

    by MikeMacK ( 788889 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:13PM (#10160529)
    Geez, what a depressing and stressful article.

  • people in the US work too much (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:15PM (#10160535)
    That's because people in the US tend to work to much (sometimes for less money). Hope this shows the rest of the world not to follow that trend in favor of some inexistent productivity benefit.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:19PM (#10160553)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Go tell it to the Europeans (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Cryofan ( 194126 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:19PM (#10160556) Journal
    ....with their 4-6 weeks of vacations and holidays each year. We work about 25% more per year than do most Europeans.

    I really do not understand why we Americans have let ourselves be brainwashed into SweatShopAmerica.

    See my sig for links on how the social democracies of Europe fought and are still fighting for a better , less stressful workplace, for universal healthcare, and for a social welfare state/safety net that lets them less afraid of losing their jobs.

    • Re:Go tell it to the Europeans (Score:5, Insightful)

      by zymurgy_cat ( 627260 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:30PM (#10160600) Homepage
      ....with their 4-6 weeks of vacations and holidays each year. We work about 25% more per year than do most Europeans. I really do not understand why we Americans have let ourselves be brainwashed into SweatShopAmerica.

      My employer does a fair amount of business in Europe or with European based companies. Everytime a customer from this continent comes up, we always talk about the numerous weeks of vacation and whatnot.

      People always end up talking about the "high" unemployment rate and the "high" taxes, but they always wistfully look on the health care and 3x vacation....but then they drive home in their 2nd or 3rd car (sometimes an SUV) to a home that's twice as big as they need to their big screen TV that they paid for with a bonus check that could have been put to retirement....

      As long as we Americans want our toys and things, we'll never get get 6 weeks vacation....

      • 50% of all tax returns are less than $35K (Score:5, Informative)

        by Cryofan ( 194126 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:41PM (#10160657) Journal
        Fact. Google it. In 2002 (or was it 2003?), about 30% of all tax return had a gross income of less than $20K. And about 50% of all tax returns had a gross income of less than $35K. That is counting BOTH single and joint filers. Those people are working the longer hours with little vacation just like the rest of America, but it is a little hard to get all those SUVs on that pay. Let's fact it: we Americans do not make as much money as we like to pretend we do.

      • I've heard somewhere that if we wanted the same level of wellfare as a century ago, we'd only have to work 2hrs/week.

        (redundant disclaimer: it's hear-say)

        Anyway with all that unemployment, I wonder how many work there IS worldwide. Divide that by the number of people living on the planet (minus children etc), and maybe you'll get a 20hrs of work per week?
    • It's more than that depending on where you look. Parts of Europe, like France, have mandated 35-hour work weeks, whereas in the US most fulltime jobs are 40-45 hours a week. The motivation for shorter work weeks there is reducing unemployment. The theory is that you can have 7 hours working 40 hours a week or 8 working 35, so the latter is preferable because it employs more people. The problem is that if you pay the employees the same amount per hour, those 8 employees each make 12.5% less per year; and
      • Let's face it: the Europeans have their governments and media working on their side, while we Americans have our government and media working on the side of the investors and the corporations. Just like it was back in the days of slavery.
        • What I meant by "encouraged" is that many people are driven to work overtime because they want to buy things they couldn't afford otherwise. Sometimes they'll work overtime to buy a new TV, sometimes to buy a car or a house. None of those things are really needs, since you can live with a cheap used car and an apartment, and you don't need a TV at all. Hence my use of the word.

          Now as for the scare-quotes, there's no denying that businesses conflate the sorts of things I listed above with a better lifes

    • Re:Go tell it to the Europeans (Score:5, Insightful)

      by servognome ( 738846 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:36PM (#10160629)
      Ironicly this is posted labor day weekend... why do we have labor day in september? Because the goverment felt we needed a token holiday during the 3 month period between 4th of July and Columbus day (which I think most places besides federal goverment ignore)
      The US may have the most "stuff" but we pay for it with our health. We buy a $5000 plasma TV to get our minds off the stress of all the work we need to do to afford a $5000 plasma TV.

    • Re:Go tell it to the Europeans (Score:5, Interesting)

      by fermion ( 181285 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:44PM (#10160662) Homepage Journal
      The interesting thing is that the number of hours work and productivity are not neccesarily related. I think in some companies at lot of hours are put in, but the results are not untilmately benificial. Enron was renowned in Houston for how hard working the employees were.

      I think what we have brainwashed into believing those who work the most are the most dedicated, when in fact they may just be the least effecient, or, possible, the least qualified to do the job. Or pehaps the employer will not pay for the proper tools because he or she knows that the employee will donate the time neccesary to compensate for the substandard equipment. I am in a situation like that right now. Crappy cheap web designer are costing me a few hours a week of free time.

      One last point. Healthcare and vacations should pay for themselves. A healthier worker will be more effectient. However, this only matters when the company is worried about the long term viability of the worker and has to pay for the long term care of the worker. Neither is that true in the current situation. The pay for unskilled labor is low enough so it does not matter if the worker is not effecient. Skilled labor is often on salary, so it often does not matter if all the labor is inexperienced and takes 25% more time. Health care is largely oursourced to the middle class, through taxes and insurance payments, so that is not a big issue either.

      the belabored point from above is that Sweatshop America is realy TemporaryJobAmerica, in which companies hire on an as needed basis, works the employer as hard as possible, and then throws the employee away as soon as the job is done.

      • Re:Go tell it to the Europeans (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Billly Gates ( 198444 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @12:18AM (#10160803) Journal
        It is more productive in terms of costs. Not work involved.

        Efficiently is calculated by cost per work returned for that cost. I agree an overworked worker is not as efficient as working regular hours for the cost of 2 workers it just may not be efficient. Especially in this tight job market and economy.

        Businesses view employers as expenses and cost centers. They need to be cut because they get in the way of profits. Sadly this is why the stock market has gone up as of recent. Its because despite the recession businesses are hiring Indians and having 1 person do the job of 3. This saves alot of money.

    • Let's all do Karoshi [japan-101.com] !
      Just think of the long-term benefits if we all just follow the trend and work ourselves to death.
      Fewer people on the highways
      Fewer elders collecting retirement
      No need to raise taxes on the beleagured wealthy to prop up social security

      Cheers!

    • Re:Go tell it to the Europeans (Score:5, Insightful)

      by FFFish ( 7567 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @01:06AM (#10160949) Homepage
      We work about 25% more per year than do most Europeans.

      And you still have to shop at Wal*Mart.

      Think about it. It's not like Europeans have a low standard of living. They get paid well, they get great vacations, they get great social benefits. WTF are you thinking, working harder for less?! Something is wrong in America.

      • Re:Go tell it to the Europeans (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jburroug ( 45317 ) <slashdot AT acerbic DOT org> on Sunday September 05, 2004 @03:25AM (#10161265) Homepage Journal
        You're right something is wrong over here, which is why I submitted the story.

        WTF are you thinking, working harder for less?!

        The answer to that is simple: I want a job. It's pretty much impossible to negotiate for a shorter work week for a professional job here. Beleive me, I've tried. When I got hired on at my current job I actually asked if I could get double vacation (4 weeks) or a seven hour work day if I took pay cut, my request was met with a confused stare and a refusal. I was honestly afraid that even by just asking I'd lose the offer because management would then assume that I wasn't a 'team player.' I should point out that the company I work for is considered liberal by US standards - a paid lunch break is factored into our work schudules, which is almost unheard of in the US these days. And we get to leave early on the day before a holiday.

        Still though, I often find myself badgering co-workers to leave on time almost daily. Since I work 10-6:30 (thanks to clients out west we need extended hours) instead of the normal 8:30-5 I know when everyone leaves. Waaay too often they'll inist on staying till they finish "one last thing" which costs them an hour of personal time they won't ever get back. Thus increasing their stress, and their health care costs and raises the insurnce premiums we all pay. So sad. Also makes it harder for me to goof off ala Bonjour Paresse :-)

      • And you still have to shop at Wal*Mart.

        Weird, isn't it? The US economy is staggering in world terms. We hear that all the time. Yet, for the people within the US, their purchasing power isn't wildly different. There are other factors, such as the massive availablity of land, that change things such as the size of your typical house, but broadly speaking, the average US citizen isn't much better off than a european counterpart. And judging by the other posts in this thread, he works a bit harder for it t

  • Garumph (Score:5, Insightful)

    by iamdrscience ( 541136 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:21PM (#10160563) Homepage
    The problem about anything that surveys the economic losses caused by productivity losses is that they're all vague measurements of approxiamate things that are then multiplied by a huge group of people. Really, what this means is that while there might be truth in the idea these statistics try to show, the numbers are almost completely bullshit. For example, let's suppose 100 million workers in the united states have air blowing hand dryers instead of paper towels in their restrooms. These dryers take longer than paper towels, let's say maybe a minute instead of 10 seconds. I would think it's fair to say that on average a worker makes 1.5 trips to the bathroom per day. So if the average hourly wage of these employees is something like 15 bucks, 10 seconds of paper towels is worth $0.0417, one minute of air drying is worth $0.25. That means that we're wasting ~$31 Million per day! That's billions per year! My God! Something has to be done!

    • Re:Garumph (Score:5, Insightful)

      by lukewarmfusion ( 726141 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:33PM (#10160609) Homepage Journal
      "These dryers take longer than paper towels, let's say maybe a minute instead of 10 seconds. I would think it's fair to say that on average a worker makes 1.5 trips to the bathroom per day."

      That's assuming that people wash their hands when they're done. If you've ever watched the people that finish up and leave, you'd know better.

      Yeah, I'm the freaky guy that stands in the bathroom watching everyone else.

      • Re:Garumph (Score:3, Funny)

        by cerberusss ( 660701 )
        Yeah, I'm the freaky guy that stands in the bathroom watching everyone else.

        You call that freaky? I use a hidden camera for that.

        ...

        (just kidding people)

    • Re:Garumph (Score:2, Insightful)

      by KarmaOverDogma ( 681451 )
      I agree with your point about statistics being used for vague and innappropriate ends. I, personally have a copy of Darrell Huff's "How to lie with Statistics." (the 39th printing, no less...) published by W.W. Norton, ISBN number: 039309426X.
      It is a very intersting book with does address your point about vague measurements being used for whatever ends the user intends.

      However, I think you are missing the larger point of the article in that it intends to continue the discussion of: are Americans working t
      • Well that's really what I meant when I said that there might be truth in the ideas. The idea that stress makes you less productive is certainly something worth discussing, and I happen to agree with it. The statistic(s), however, is rather worthless.

  • The Cure (Score:5, Funny)

    by MikeMacK ( 788889 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:22PM (#10160567)
    The advice that most experts offer is deceptively simple: Dr. McEwen, for example, recommends getting enough sleep, avoiding cigarettes and alcohol, eating sensibly and exercising.

    How can I do all that, I'm too busy working.

  • on the plus side.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by brauwerman ( 151442 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:24PM (#10160577)
    Fortunately, stress is proving a boon to the health care industry, motivating $600M in additional revenue!

  • Eh? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by edunbar93 ( 141167 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:24PM (#10160586)
    How can a country lose $300 billion in productivity and still be the most productive country in the world? Americans work longer hours, spend less time on vacation, work harder, and as a result your economy outpaces countries like Japan, whom you used to believe were insanely overworked.

    This is another one of those monetary statistics that we can file under "overblown."

    • Re:Eh? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Foxyloficus ( 810876 )
      Not sure about the 'work harder' bit, as far as I'm aware, productivity per hour worked is higher in most European countries. People in the US do work a lot more hours, but less productive hours. BTW much of the US economic growth that you tout is driven my debt, which is funded from the savings of people in Japan, China and Europe. Economies such as Japan and Europe where people tend to save more and consume less tend to grow at slower, steadier rates. At the moment the US government appears to be trying
      • I'm not talking about growth though, but more about where you are now. More interesting is that this has been going on for a few years now.
    • 1. Because we've got vast resources. We're a large nation with relatively few people in it, but with many diverse communities. This allows cheap expansion, effective regional competition, cheap natural resources, etc.

      2. Because we've got good cooperative neighbors to take advantage of. Canada and Mexico also have vast resources that compliment US corporations' ability to gain money on a large scale. From labor, to timber, to mining to many other things, they expand on what gives American businesses a

  • "Mental health" day (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Therlin ( 126989 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:25PM (#10160587)
    At my workplace, it is widely accepted to use a day of sick leave and call it a "mental health" day.

    We all need to step away from the everyday crap and let our brain rest. Sometimes you need it and you usually come back to work energized and ready to finish the rest of the week.

  • This is what happens when (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:25PM (#10160588)
    Decent companies are forced to drug test their employees for harmless substances like THC.

    I tried my best to work in the u.s., but I couldn't hack it, just couldn't do it. Even the innocuous suggestion that we go down the pub for an ale during lunch raised some eyebrows and instilled fear in my coworkers. Why do the people working in corporate america have this attitude ? Is it just plain fear? Are you all so desperate to climb the corporate ladder that _living_ takes a backseat to it? Then the 60 and 70 hour workweeks, people taking work home with them for at least another dozen hours of unpaid work...

    Absolutely ridiculous... I'm glad to be back in .AU for good this time. My advice to americans... hmmm, get the fuck out of that madhouse now.

    • GREAT POST! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Cryofan ( 194126 )
      Man, you just said what I have trying to tell people for the last year: America is FUCKED!

      I mean it, man. I was born here, and served in the military for America. But when I started comparing it to other countries (which I could finally do only with the Internet), I discovered that something is wrong with this country. And it is not something new. It is something that goes back decades. Or maybe even centuries.

    • Re:This is what happens when (Score:5, Insightful)

      by k4_pacific ( 736911 ) <k4_pacific@yah[ ]com ['oo.' in gap]> on Sunday September 05, 2004 @01:17AM (#10160977) Homepage Journal
      Amen to that.

      Here's how I dealt with it:

      1. Identify something at your company that isn't "sexy." And I'm not talking about the 50 year old receptionist. 3 years ago, right out of college, I took a job with a small software company. They make applications for point-of-sale systems, and about half of the customers are still running old hardware with MS-DOS 6.22 with no plans to upgrade. However, they still wanted new features so there was constant development in this area which no one wanted to do because the Codeview debugger sucks and putting printfs everywhere is tedious.

      2. Get good at it. Ideally, you want to find a better way to do things than just do things. So I invested a bunch of time and effort into learning how DOS works at its lowest levels and memorizing the 286-protected mode extender's manual. Then I cooked up some better debugging tools. One thing I did was created an exception routine that would iterate through the frame pointers on the stack and print the address of each called function to a file when the app crashed in the field. It also saved off various variables indicating when in the transaction the crashed occured as well. I then created a script that would automagically match up these hex values to addresses in the map file and give me a human readable call stack. No more unexplainable, unreproduceable offsite crashes. Totally revolutionized how we do things. I was a hero and suddenly I am THE DOS expert. Mostly I now sit in my cube and read Slashdot, pausing occasionally to help the other developers with their DOS problems. Oh, and I write the occasional module to interface to a new device (RS-232, another unsexy area of expertise).

      3. Live below your means. As I live in the midwest, housing is cheap to begin with. I shopped around until I found a house that needed some work and had a motivated seller. It was $45K (less than I make a year!), has three bedrooms plus a large finished attic, and is located in a reasonably decent, working class neighborhood. A little paint, a new roof on the garage, and some carpet and its good to go. I've almost got it paid off.

      4. Don't get married for a while. For me, this was easy because most of the women I dated up until now have been psychos. Ideally, you want to find a mate that's not horribly materialistic. See that girl with the nice hair and make-up and the designer clothes? Ignore her. She's hugely materialistic and probably a total flake to boot. Instead look for someone that at first glance you wouldn't ordinarily glance at. She's the one wearing the T-shirt and blue jeans and hastily combed hair that likes to stay up all night watching Monty Python. (They do exist, I'm dating her right now. I love you honeybunny.) She may not be as attractive initially but, I've noticed that, if I date an attractive woman with no personality, she quickly becomes less attractive. On the other hand, a relatively unattractive woman with a great personality will become more attractive as you get to know her. (Subjectively attractive that is, they don't let themselves go or anything.)

      5. After establishing yourself as the resident expert in something, be sure your boss knows you are living well beneath your means. But don't tell him outright. You don't want to come off as cocky. Instead, drive a shitty car to work as your primary vehicle or casually discuss how you spent the weekend re-roofing the garage. He'll get the idea. Once your house is paid off and you got it fixed up (and it will be soon within a few short years if you do most things yourself and don't spend a ton of money on a new car or other luxuries), you'll be able to quit any time you want and go to work at the local Dairy Mart and your boss will know it. Suddenly, he's kissing YOUR ass. You won't be asked to work 80 hours a week anymore. You might even get to telecommute.

      Oh, and as for the THC thing, shave your head and keep a sample of clean urine handy.

      So to recap,

      • Your plan is somewhat lacking...what about those of us who live in an area that isn't cheap? Sorry, but living "below my means" in the Bay Area means moving to the Central Valley. And commuting 2 hours each way to work. And guess what...more stress.

        Sorry, but I happen to like my toys. I took Friday off for this Labor Day weekend to give me 4 days of no work. What did I do Friday? I went stomping around the Santa Cruz mountains in my new car. And then I came home and watched a movie on my big-ass TV.
    • Why do the people working in corporate america have this attitude ? Is it just plain fear?

      Short answer: Yes

      Longer answer: Employee are expendable in the USA. You may be let go for not being a "team player" and working the extra hours your peers work. This creates a competitive atmsphere where no one wants to be seen as the slacker. Once you have been let go, you lose your benefits (yes you can continue your health benefits at a very high cost under a program called COBRA, but that is short term and v

  • It's all about balance. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Soko ( 17987 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:29PM (#10160596) Homepage
    The Buddists have one thing right - there is a Yin and a Yang to everything. Call it a dual edged sword, whetever - in our world, there is an upside and a downside to everything.

    There will enevitably be many +5 (Insightful) comments about how we're being mowed down by "the Man, squeezing more blood out of us to make more money", but when you think about it, the reason for that is we all, in reality, want to be "the Man". We want the things they dangle in front of us, that require disposable income to acquire. "Ooooh, Shiny iPod/Beemer/Opteron" crosses our lips and we've bought into this system. Work more to get more things for our "leisure time", which ends up being non-existant. "If work hard, I'll get promoted and get that raise - then I'll get a life" used to be my mantra. Now, after my good paying job was killed and in essence just moved out of province in the name of profits, I'm fed up enough to say "Fuck you - as long as my family is warm, healthy, clothed and fed I'm happy".

    Capitalism is good, it's the best system we've got, but like all things it can go too far. Don't forget why your toiling away - it's to make a life, not make money. Remember, there is a downside to everything - no exceptions.

    Meh. Just Crown Royal influenced ramblings from a slightly bitter old man. On to our regularily scheduled bashing of "the man"...

    Soko
    • Wealth is by defintion RELATIVE. The odds of becoming "The Man" are BY DEFINTION quite slim. For every McMansion in the suburbs of Big Metro, there are 10 middle aged Quickie Mart clerks hiding away in flyover country, where they escaped after the Big City busted them.

      And that McMansion is usually mortgaged to the hilt....

    • The Yin and Yang is actually a Taoist concept but the principle still exists in buddhism. I think you are on to something though. The buddhists advocate elimination of desire as the key to happiness. Thats essencially the problem in this country, too much desire leading to stress.

    • Well, I think Yin and Yang is essentially Taoist, but you're right about us Buddhists finding a happy medium.

      The example from Buddhist canon that springs to mind is the Lute Simile, where our choice of lifestyle is likened to the strings of an instrument. Too much tension, and they snap. Too slack, and their noise is unpleasant. But just the right balance, and you have beautiful music.

      Likewise, it's important to be energetic and dedicated in our pursuits, but not to the point where we work ourselves to

    • But the best balance is about picking and choosing the best of all possible scenarios, not about dogmatic loyalties to particular arbitrary reference frames.

      Capitalism works if there are resources to waste, that is if we can afford to have 20 different firms making a product, knowing that 80% of them will not exist in year, and half the inventory will be surplus.

      In any system there are the vested interests that will oppress to maintain power or profits or whatever. And there are as many people in a Ame

    • I Am the man (Score:5, Insightful)

      by NotQuiteReal ( 608241 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @12:56AM (#10160924) Journal
      At least for myself. And I am a harsh boss - no drinking until at least 3pm! My stupid dot-com went bust, like so many others, so, now, I work for myself.

      When I am not working I relish the fact that I am saving thousands ($USD) per month in taxes, so the lack of income really isn't that bad, since I don't aquire every "Ooooh, Shiny iPod/Beemer/Opteron" piece of crap that passes in front of me.

      When I am working, I can easily take in $10 - $12K per month. Taxes eat almost half of it, but I always stash plenty away as a "stress reducer", for later.

      There would be a lot less stress in the world if people didn't buy more than they could afford. I have zero credit card debt, and own my cars. I could have bought beemers, but paying cash for Toyotas is so much less stress. Plan to live on a "flippin burgers" income and just think of all the stess-reducing beer money you will have when you earn more!

  • Good and/or bad (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mnemonic_ ( 164550 ) <jamecNO@SPAMumich.edu> on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:33PM (#10160611) Homepage Journal
    Mod me down if you want. I'll use my karma bonus this time to fend off your savage attacks. Ha ha! Take that.

    Anyways...

    What I find interesting is that if this were about another country, such as Germany, people would be speaking highly of the German people's work ethic, their productivity and their strength. When it's about America though, it's because we're greedy and don't know how to enjoy life (regardless of the fact that for some, work is enjoyable).

    Now what if this article stated that the U.S. had the least stressful workers with the most leisure time? There would be endless comments citing this as evidence of American laziness and preoccupation with entertainment. No matter what, it is possible to interpret the data however one desires, to fit any man's personal slant.

  • Temporary effect of capitalism? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Pingla ( 64700 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:35PM (#10160621) Homepage
    It seems quite evident that stress is a result of stronger pressure regarding performance, and this is again a result of tougher competition between companies. So naturally the employers try to squeeze out as much as possible out of their employees as they see it most beneficial. But what I cannot grasp is why they continue to do se even when it has been demonstrated again and again that having overworked and stressed employees doesn't improve efficiency! It may look like it in the short run, but at a point it turns, drastically.

    If a company needs more work done, why not hire more qualified people and keep the working hours down? Overtime is compensated quite heavily and by hiring an extra person instead of all the compensation the company will not spend more money on the work force, more people will be working, and there would be less stress. Can it be this simple, or is there something that I am completely missing? If this had been the most efficient solution one would think it had been adopted as a standard in the constant fight in our capitalistic environment.

    • Re:Temporary effect of capitalism? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by benna ( 614220 ) <mimenarrator@g m a i l .com> on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:45PM (#10160671) Journal
      I'd say its more of a permanent effect of capitalism. Capitalism is all about people constnatly trying to do more and more, and make more and more money, and get higher and higher positions, and get better and better grades and a million other things. No wonder people are stressed. If people would just sit back and realize that they are ok right where they are they would be alot less stressed. Life is like a dance or a song. You wouldn't dance to get to a spot on the floor or play to get to the end of the song.

      • Re:Temporary effect of capitalism? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by boomgopher ( 627124 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @02:12AM (#10161078) Journal
        If people would just sit back and realize that they are ok right where they are they would be alot less stressed. Life is like a dance or a song. You wouldn't dance to get to a spot on the floor or play to get to the end of the song.

        You don't have a family and kids do you?

        Working hard to buy a home so your family can have stability: good
        Working hard to live in a good neighborhood so your family doesn't live next to drunk homeless guys: good
        Working hard so your wife doesn't have to work (and keeping kids out of daycare): good
        etc...

        That's not capitalism, that's common sense and being responsible.
        And sorry, I don't trust the government enough to let them try and provide those things for me via social programs.

  • Might I suggest a cure ... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ... cool, refreshing marijuana?
    • This is actually an interesting point. The benefits of a society of pot heads may actually outweigh the costs. With stress costing that much theres a pretty good chance of it anyway.
  • Yet another fact we always knew but couldn't quantify. When are "they" gonna start listening to us plebes?

  • The Perfect Solution! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Clark_Griswold ( 692490 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:48PM (#10160681)

    Outsource our stress to India! They'd be glad to stress out at 1/3 the cost.

    - Primary numbers are out to kill me

  • Greed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by sbillard ( 568017 ) on Saturday September 04, 2004 @11:49PM (#10160686) Journal
    Out of touch executives are running the country (US) into the ground from within. They percieve a need to squeeze every penny into their quarterly EPS reports. CxOs will stop at nothing to look good on paper. Their shortsighted strategies combined with an out-of-touch lifestyle make life a living hell for a vast majority of their collective underlings. Their only concerns in life are:
    1. Where do I park my boat? What? No valet service?!?
    2. ???
    3. PROFIT!!!!!

    If executives were more entrenched and had more at stake there would be more coherent operations at work. CxOs need to have their livelyhood at stake in the same way the rest of us do in order to make the right decision. Nothing trickles down to the underlings. You might survive in this corporate culture by sucking up. 1 minute of "face time" has become much more important than fixing a problem or making an improvement. God help us all.

  • This is something that the rest of the world has known for a long time, hence the tredition in Europe of going on a hollyday (of a few weeks) every year.

  • So Slack! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DaHat ( 247651 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @12:03AM (#10160744)
    Want to avoid stress while on the job?

    Just don't care!

    Yea... that deadline is coming quick, but who cares? Which is more important? Some product getting out the door or your sanity and full head of hair?

    • Re:So Slack! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Billly Gates ( 198444 )
      How about my paycheck.

      If you dont do the dealines then your employer owes it to its shareholders to find someone else who will.

      With Indians doing that for 7-14k a year what choice do you have? Suck it up?

  • Nice to see a verification. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by geekwench ( 644364 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @12:04AM (#10160750)
    Interesting article, but it's not anything that I hadn't already figured out - a long time ago.

    Once upon a time, I worked for the Company Formerly Known as USWorst. That experience left me with more knowledge of both their database and their employee benefits program than I ever wanted to know. The stress of that position also left me with carpal tunnel syndrome, the beginnings of a whopping good ulcer, and stress-related dissociative attacks. (Literally, my brain was going on mini-vacations, and neglecting to take me along with it.)
    Now, I own my own business. The pay isn't as regular, but my schedule is my own, and the unreasonable request list is pretty minimal. The carpal tunnel still flares up form time to time, but it's in remission without surgery. (Since I use my hands a lot, this is a critical point.) The other problems started to heal as soon as I escaped the toxic work environment. I'm not spending as much time sitting in a doctor's office, and nowhere near as much money on things like Pepto and pain relief nostrums.

    So, yeah; not exactly news, but it's nice to see that somebody has quantified the impact that work-related stress has on people's lives.

  • Death is Nature's Way of Telling You to Slow Down (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Detritus ( 11846 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @12:07AM (#10160756) Homepage
    You are not indestructible. I've seen too many friends and coworkers die well before their time. I have chronic health problems that were caused or aggravated by high levels of stress.

    You only have one life. Do you want to spend it working overtime, putting cover sheets on TPS reports and dealing with control freaks in management? Working excessive hours will not make your penis/boobs larger or make you a better person.

  • someone who spent two months proving the obvious-- (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jswatz ( 99824 ) <jswatz@well.com> on Sunday September 05, 2004 @12:17AM (#10160801)
    That's me, the reporter who wrote the story. What fascinated me about this is that everybody knows that workplace stress is a problem, but you rarely see the dots connected. There's a lot of fascinating research out there -- especially the Scandinavian studies showing links between change in the workplace and illness. Anyway, I didn't mean to stress y'all out. But I have to say that I did think of slashdotters often while I was writing it...
  • Sure stress may cost $300 billion per year in related costs, but the absence of stress would eliminate at least half of the remaining $11,000 billion in U.S. GDP.

  • Entitlement (Score:3, Insightful)

    by aka-ed ( 459608 ) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .cilbup.tbor.> on Sunday September 05, 2004 @12:49AM (#10160899) Homepage Journal
    As a member of the unemployed, I have to cover the costs of my own stress. How do I get my fair share of that $300 billion?

  • I just recently graduated from college, started an internship, moved away from my home, and left everything that I knew with no idea what my future would be like.

    Since then I have developed an ulcer, suffer frequent tightness of the throat, and am more scared, lonely, and depressed than I have ever been.

    The odd part is that I love my job. Tomorrow I'm going back to see my girlfriend. Maybe my time with her will help me relax.

  • Spinning wheels? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by earlgreen ( 776222 )
    In actual fact, a lot of the work done in those long hours is BS busy work that's either pandering to the overblown ego of some nutso boss or tied up in Dilbertesque office politics and ridiculously heavy "business process". When's the last time you worked in a place that actually had a concept of what work leads to a better bottom line, and focused only on that? How much of the average job could be tossed out the window with no impact to the company's profitability? I wonder how the cost of basic ineffic

  • Stressssss (Score:3, Funny)

    by phrostypoison ( 810255 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @01:17AM (#10160975) Homepage
    I've recently been stressing out myself due to stress of trying to hide myself from stressing. It didn't work. I am still stressed out of stress! Say, anyone here invest STRS?

  • You people have it all wrong (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @03:52AM (#10161320)
    Saying stress cost us $300 billion a year assumes our economy exists to maximize overall wealth and happiness. In point of fact, our economy is built around making a select few staggeringly wealthy. All enonomies throughout history have been. Right now we're not really noticing this because Globalization has allowed most people in developed countries to be comfortable w/o having that 1% of the populace who won't settle for less than their every desire compromise a few of the more extravagant ones.

    But as the rest of the world developes, we're running into serious resource shortages. As these shortages start to be felt, the greedy won't scale back their extravagance, so the rest will be made to suffer. The stress will be increased, your health will go to hell. But it won't matter, since there are plenty of fresh bodies to replace you, just waiting to be used up. Right now this is an issue because society can afford to coddle it's workers while letting that 1% live like they always have (the phrase 'live like a king' didn't just come out of nowhere). Wait and see. The response to a study like this won't be treating workers better, it'll be discarding them faster.

  • You have to make a very concious decision (Score:3, Interesting)

    by nomadicGeek ( 453231 ) * on Sunday September 05, 2004 @09:50AM (#10162019)

    I guess I am lucky to have had a few good role models growing up and early in my career. You should pick the 1 or 2 most important things that need to be done, knock them out, and then move on to the next 1 or 2. Concentrating your effort and attention gives much better results. You get more done in less time and you make fewer mistakes. It is much more effective and a lot less stressful.

    One of my first bosses is like that. The "fire fighters" as we called them would be running around frantically all stressed out about every problem. They always looked really busy and really stressed. He, on the other hand, would sit down and make a list of the problems and figure out how best to tackle the situation and then concentrate on one item at a time. He would get that one highest priority item done properly and then move on to the next. Sometimes people would get pissed at him for not working on 10 other things but he would stick with it and get them all done. The fire fighters would always look more busy and frantic but in the end they would accomplish very little and much of that would have to be redone.

    Never mistake activity for work. You have to be deliberate and figure out how to get the highest value out of your time. Work less, be more effective, make more money. That's my motto. Everybody gets the same 24 hours in a day. Its how you use them that counts.

  • Random musings (Score:3, Interesting)

    by LarsWestergren ( 9033 ) on Sunday September 05, 2004 @11:46AM (#10162609) Homepage Journal
    Just some random musings, don't try to find a coherent train of thought...

    Some research suggests that people can't really concentrate well more than 6 hours a day (three hours in the morning, and three hours in the afternoon after a lunch break), if even that. Even so, try getting companies to let their employees off that easy.

    Among my friends are some people who work or worked for international companies such as Ericsson, Volvo or Saab-Scania. They said when they came to the US they thought it striking how most companies either didn't allow proper lunch breaks, or had employess who were eager to show how efficient they were. Instead of 40min-1 hour time to go to a resturant, most of the employees remained in their cubicles and ate some sandwiches while continuing their work.

    Also, while American workers stayed long, perhaps until 5-6 pm, there was a noticing slacking of pace in the afternoon. People pent more time talking around the water cooler, killing time by surfing or just staring into space. They were just mentally exhausted and couldn't do much efficient work, but they were still required to stay for several hours.

    One of my friends held a presentation about Swedish working conditions. When he talked about the generous working laws and vacations, such as 4-6 hours paid vacation per year minimum (even with "vacation bonus" to your salary, since you spend more when you are on vacation), the workers were amazed and the managers started to fidget and make unhappy faces. He wasn't allowed to do that presentation ever again. :-)

    I really liked a recent article in the Economist, that suggested that European and American productivity was about equal, Europeans just choose to sacrifice income in favour of more free times, and Americans were willing to sacrifice free time in favour of more money. Perhaps the old joke that Europeans work to live, and Americans live to work has some truth in it. I'm not looking down on people in the US, but I think I prefer our system.

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