The relationship between work stress and the most common psychopathologies

Work stress is recognized by the WHO as one of the most common problems in the workplace, a form of discomfort experienced daily by millions of workers around the world.

It is a public health problem suffered by more than 45% of workers in all countries of the world, according to the Observatory of Human Resources, and that decisively affects both their physical health and mental.

Currently, work stress is the second cause of sick leave in the European Union, and 28% of Europeans suffer from this problem. But in addition to making us feel bad and affecting our professional performance, work stress is capable of interacting with various psychopathologies, either facilitating its appearance or reinforcing those that the person had already developed before.

• Related article: "Work stress: causes, and how to combat it"

The link between job stress and psychological disorders

This is a brief summary about how work stress can be related to the main pathologies that arise in people's mental health.

1. Generalized anxiety disorder

One of the main mental health disorders that develops in people with high levels of stress at work is included in the anxiety disorders, and within this group, generalized anxiety disorder is the most common manifestation.

The fact of not being able to relax either at work or at leisure (because the person continues to think about their accumulated responsibilities and tasks and does not lower their guard) generates an apparent need to always be alert for possible unforeseen events that would generate extra work that we did not count on and anxiety arises from there widespread.

In addition to that, this anxiety can also be derived from a high level of excellence or performance in the work promoted by superiors and bosses of all kinds, which can also generate fear and anguish in the person.

• You may be interested in: "Generalized Anxiety Disorder: symptoms, causes and treatment"

2. major depression

The feeling of stagnation due to not being able to move forward in the face of all the accumulated work can lead to a feeling of life stagnation, and from there to major depression, a disorder that is also very common in people around the world.

Depression is one of the main mental health disorders and elements in a workplace with overload of tasks, a toxic work environment or high levels of demand can end up causing this pathology that is so serious for health mental.

3. addictive disorders

The addictive disorders, whether they are chemical (such as drug addiction) or behavioral (such as gambling) can also be caused by work stress in any worker.

This happens, again, in difficult work environments, where the worker does not feel fulfilled, has a lot of pressure, his superiors make his work difficult and demand a lot from him or he is simply not happy in his position. The need to avoid any of these problems at work or having "extra energy" to better cope with workdays can lead to drug addiction with substances such as alcohol or cocaine.

4. obsessive-compulsive disorder

The search for perfectionism at work It can cause the development of an obsessive-compulsive disorder, a fairly common phenomenon in jobs where the employee is subjected to great pressure.

The need to do things as well as possible, a pathological perfectionism and a lack of rest are related to this disorder. It is important here to highlight the importance of resting correctly and disconnecting from time to time to avoid the appearance of OCD cases.

5. Burnout syndrome

He Burnout syndrome or the burned worker is the classic alteration suffered by workers with an overload of work, responsibilities or tasks that they cannot delegate to anyone else or with which they do not give supply.

It is a mental health disorder in which anxiety and depressive symptoms are combined, whose effects on mental health and affect the personality and motivation of workers are known by health professionals.

To avoid the appearance of a Burnout syndrome or burned worker, it is important to rest properly, have time and space for oneself, not being overloaded with work and being able to delegate ancillary tasks to other colleagues or subordinates.

6. Panic attacks

Panic attacks are mental health disorders that are based on sudden and unexpected episodes of terror and very intense fear, accompanied by other physical symptoms of discomfort and anguish.

Panic attacks usually last from 5 to 20 minutes and even several hours and are related to high levels of work stress or from an unpleasant and traumatic experience that intensely affects the person.

7. Sleep disorders

Insomnia and cognitive deficits linked to lack of rest They can also appear after experiencing intense work stress for several days or weeks and can be very varied depending on the characteristics of each person.

The most common cognitive deficits are usually loss or decrease in memory, decreased attention, loss of ability to quickly solve problems or decreased ability to learn concepts or information important.