Is stress on the job making you sick?

The evidence is clear: work-related stress is not just in your head; it's the cause of serious physical illnesses. New research has found that workers who have little or no control at work and who feel they are not properly paid or recognized for their hard work and effort are at high risk of heart disease.

Other work-related stressors--including discrimination, bullying, monotony, social isolation, job insecurity and few promotional opportunities--are also associated with increased rates of disease.

Such occupational stress is taking its toll in the workplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 1997 the median number of days absent from work for cases of occupational pressure was 23--four times the median absence for all other work-related injuries and illnesses.

People don't experience stress in a vacuum. When you feel overwhelmed in the face of enormous pressure at work, certain biological/hormonal reactions are triggered in your brain. A part of your brain (hypothalamus) alerts the pituitary, which, in turn, sends a signal to your adrenal glands to secrete several substances, including cortisol.

At normal levels, cortisol performs vital tasks in the body, such as maintaining blood pressure and cardiovascular function, reducing the immune system's inflammatory response, balancing the effects of insulin breaking down sugar for energy, and regulating the metabolism of proteins and fats. Its most important job, however, is to help the body respond to stress. But when chronic stress causes too much cortisol to be secreted, the results can be disastrous.

Everyday signs of too much cortisol include:

• rapid weight gain, especially around the middle;
• mood disturbances, such as irritability and anger;
• high blood pressure; and
• excessive fatigue.

In addition, people with chronic stress and high levels of cortisol may be at risk of developing depression. The excess cortisol can also destroy brain cells in the hippocampus, impairing the short-term or working memory.

With such an array of stress-related health concerns, we need to protect ourselves from work-related stress. True stress reduction depends on eliminating the high-demand, low-control or high-strain jobs that cause so much stress in the first place. Good contract language that gives PSRPs more say in how their jobs are performed and guarantees respect for school employees will help reduce the physical toll.

While your local union is working on that contract language to improve PSRPs' working conditions, you can do a lot on your own to protect yourself.

Get more sleep: If you sleep fewer than eight hours a night, you may be building up a sleep deficit. Not enough sleep has been associated with high blood pressure and cortisol levels.

Lose a little weight: At least two studies have found that if you lose as few as 10 pounds, cortisol levels go down.

Get some exercise: Regular exercise (30 minutes of moderate exercise four or five days a week) will reduce cortisol levels and blood pressure.

Find social support at work and in your family: Research has found that people with large social networks succumb less often to work-related stress than isolated workers.

Map out alone time, especially if you are female: Working women who are parents secrete much higher levels of cortisol day and night (regardless of their marital status) than women without children, studies have shown.

Place yourself in situations where you feel more in control: Get involved in the union, the PTA, church or other community organizations.

Find ways to have more fun and joy in your life.

Try not to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs: Alcohol, in particular, has been shown to raise cortisol levels in heavy drinkers.