by Marnie Dobson Zimmerman, PhD & Pouran Faghri, MD*
Working from home was a luxury before the pandemic, and typically was composed of mostly people in professional, business, finance, management or freelance roles. Millions of American workers made a transition to “remote work” during the pandemic when employers complied with shut down orders and social distancing in workplaces. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in August 2020, 37% of Americans said they had switched to “telework” or “working from home” because of the pandemic. Those with higher incomes were far more likely to report switching to remote work (73% of…
by Marnie Dobson Zimmerman, PhD & Pouran Faghri, MD*
Work stress during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been causing much uncertainty, anxiety, and stress, touching on nearly every aspect of our lives, and is likely to stay for a while more. Research has shown, long before the pandemic, that work stressors (sources of stress at work) including, high job demands, low job control, long working hours, and imbalance between efforts and rewards, can negatively impact mental and physical health. During the pandemic, many of these work stressors have intensified including lack of social support (due to lockdowns and social distancing) and balancing work and…
by Peter Schnall, MD, MPH*
An epidemiologist walks into an airplane
Prior to COVID-19, I was a frequent flyer: traveling internationally almost monthly for both work and personal reasons, and logging more than one million miles in the past decade. As a physician/epidemiologist, I have had a research and public health focus on working conditions and their impact on physical and mental health for the past 30 years. During plane trips, when passengers beside me asked me what I did for a living, I would talk with them about the impact of work on health, question them about their jobs, and of course, answer many questions…
by Marnie Dobson Zimmerman, Ph.D., & Pouran Faghri, M.D.
During the past few weeks in the U.S., the debate over school reopenings in the Fall, in light of COVID-19 surges, has been fever pitched. The negative mental health and academic impacts of social distancing and online learning on children are given as reasons to reopen schools despite being in the midst of an out-of-control pandemic. But while these are real, legitimate concerns, do they outweigh the risks to the health and safety of children, families, and teachers returning to classrooms amid a surge?
There is growing evidence that the mental…
By Marnie Dobson Zimmerman, Ph.D.*
Meet Sarah
I’m on social media more than usual these days since the pandemic outbreak and stay-at-home order went into place. Questions that have been floating around among freelancers, not just in the spiritual communities, but also in the artistic, wellness, and literary worlds, are things like “What are you getting out of this time in quarantine?” “What changes are you making in your life?” “How are you making the best of this COVID time?” “What’s on the other side of COVID-19 for you?”
Sarah** has been a self-employed/independent contractor/small business owner for many years now and…
by Marnie Dobson Zimmerman, Ph.D. & Pouran Faghri M.D.*
The dog barks. My husband yells at her to be quiet as he continues his Zoom call on mute. The kids can be heard arguing from the other side of our small house, playing video games on their iPads after completing their distance learning work in two hours between 7:30–9:30am. I pause my Zoom-recorded lecture and grind my teeth together. How will I possibly make it through the next several months, working like this? …
By Peter Schnall, MD, MPH**
I first became aware of the issue of burnout as an epidemic among physicians a few years ago when I went to see my internist for my annual medical checkup. Knowing that I was a physician who worked as an occupational health researcher investigating work stress and health, my internist asked me about the latest news about burnout. We had a discussion about burnout before he inquired about my health or examining me. …
By Marnie Dobson Zimmerman, PhD & Peter Schnall, MD MPH*
Burnout is the feeling that everything is wrong with your job and that no matter how much sleep you get, you just can’t get over this feeling of complete exhaustion when you leave work and when you think about going to work. The job you might once have loved is now leaving you feeling overwhelmed and cynical. The patients, students, clients or customers you once enjoyed serving, now might make you feel irritated and hopeless. You may even feel like your job doesn’t have any meaning anymore or that you…
by Marnie Dobson Zimmerman, PhD
United States of Stress
Everyday we hear more and more stories in the media about the stressed-out U.S. workforce. One in 3 U.S. workers report typically feeling stressed during a work day, while 3 out of 5 workers cite work stress as the most significant source of stress next to money. We work more hours per year than people in most other high-income countries, because the U.S. is one of the only countries that does not guarantee paid time off, and many Americans have less, or are taking less vacation time, than any other high-income…
“Working on Empty” (WOE) is a multimedia project on how the U.S. workplace is making Americans sick and what must change to protect the health of our workforce.
Work is fundamental to our well-being. Most of us depend on work for our economic survival and that of our family. Work can contribute to our sense of purpose, belonging, self-esteem and good health. Having a sense of belonging and purpose is related to better physical and mental health and can promote longevity. And, we know that those without work are more likely to experience depression and other illnesses. [1]
At its most promising, work is a place we can develop and apply our skills, engage in a collective enterprise to produce something of value or provide valuable services to…
Healthy Work Now
Stories from the Healthy Work Campaign https://healthywork.org Contact@healthywork.org https://twitter.com/healthyworknow
