Working 11 hours a day may be linked with depression

[The Straight Story]

Working 11 hours a day may not only make you more tired -- it could also make you more depressed.

A study of civil servants in England found that working excessive hours was linked with more cases of major depressive episodes. The 2,123 men and women observed in the study, published this week in the online journal PLoS One, were followed for an average 5.8 years and assessed for depression.

Working 11 or more hours a day was associated with a 2.3- to 2.5-fold increased risk of having a major depressive episode compared with those who worked a standard seven- to eight-hour day. That association held true after researchers adjusted for social and demographic factors, smoking, alcohol use and job strain.

The link between working very long hours and depression, researchers said, may be because of conflicts between work and family, problems winding down after the work day, and increased amounts of cortisol. Cortisol is a stress-related hormone that, when over-produced by the body, can cause health problems such as lower immunity and high blood pressure.

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-working-depression-20120126,0,4395697.story?track=ud

[magical thyme]

1. anecdotally, I concur

I was recently forced by bullying and threats to work several 12 hour overnight shifts in order to keep my job. Consider the ramifications:

* sheer exhaustion, physical and mental
* caused several errors, and threats and bullying from doctors, nurses and co-workers due to those errors, adding to my stress
* became physically ill myself with swollen lymph nodes
* stress on my fur and feather family
* added work dealing with the stress to my family
* no time for anything except work and sleep for 2 weeks
* furfamily member became seriously ill and I didn't recognize early symptoms
* lost equivalent of 2 weeks pay to pay for emergency and ongoing treatment of serious illness to my furfamily member. Nearly lost him as a result, and he may have sustained permanent liver damage as a result.
* my entire couple of weeks of unpaid time off has been spent caring for him

I once again ended up ready to rent a van, take the critters to shelter and check out. The struggle to simply tread water has repeatedly put me in the position of working 12+ hour days, day after day. It is simply too much. Who wants to exist like that?

And to think they effing tried to sucker me into taking that shift on permanently. Instead, they suckered a younger person, still in training, into it. She's having 2nd thoughts now.

[justabob]

2. may?

I think it is pretty safe to conclude working that much will not make you happy unless you absolutely LOVE your job. Hell, eight hours a day at some jobs is enough to cause depression.

[xchrom]

3. Du rec. Nt

[catrose]

4. You THINK? n/t

[Ebadlun]

5. Being Pope linked with Catholicism

[geckosfeet]

6. Nurses routinely work 12 hour shifts.

[TwilightGardener]

7. Yes. One of the reasons I left nursing. By the time you factor in

commuting and having to stay late (happens often), a twelve hour shift can easily consume 14 hours or more. Going to work was like gearing up for an epic ordeal. Add to that the joys of working nights, and not being able to sleep well during the day...