If you really want to put stress and it’s effect on your health in perspective, here are some statistics about stress that are pretty eye opening.
*Approximately 100 million Americans suffer from stress related illness.
*A 1996 survey from Prevention magazine found that 73% of Americans experience “great stress” on a weekly basis. (Imagine how much greater that number is now)
*American Institute of Stress in Yonkers, NY-43% of all adults suffer adverse health effects due to stress, and 75-90% of all visits to primary care phyisicians are for stress related complaints or disorders.
*Stress is linked to the top 6 leading causes of death-heart disease, cancer, lung disease, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide.
*According to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA, more people are turning to smoking, overeating and drinking to cope with stress. Nearly 50 million Americans smoke. More than 60% are obese or overweight. One in 4 Americans gets little to no regular exercise. Reported cases of type-2 diabetes (adult onset) has jumped approximately 40 percent since 1990.
*Over 25% of all prescriptions written by physicians are for medications that treat stress, depression and anxiety disorders.
*Regular stress management practice can reduce the risk of cardiac events such as heart attacks by up to 75% in people who already have heart disease.
*Stress management can be even more effective than exercise at reducing cardiac risk.
Job Stress Statistics
*American Institute of Stress- 1 million people in the work force are absent on an average workday because of stress related complaints.
*Job stress costs US industry over $300 billion each year in absenteeism, reduction in productivity, employee turnover, and medical, legal and insurance fees.
*Workers compensation claims because of stress were once rare¸ but in recent years have increased dramatically. Now, 9 out of 10 suits resulting from job stress are successful with an average payout of more than four times the payout for injury claims.
*Nearly half of all American workers suffer from symptoms of burnout, or severe job related stress that impairs job functioning.
*Between 60-80% of industrial accidents are most likely due to the stress of workers.
*CBS News report from Sept. 1999-the 5th annual Labor Day survey found that more than half of American workers are moderately to extremely stressed at work. One in six workers reported being angry enough to hit a coworker. One of the most common source of work stress is technology which is ironic, since it is technology that is supposed to make life easier.