There are times when working is both a privilege and hell. The economic crisis has caused the closure of hundreds of thousands of companies and countless downsizing. Those who go unemployed suffer, but those who stay also pay a price.
In desperate cases, the suffering can end in suicide, as occurred with workers at France Télécom and employees at Apple’s iPhone manufacturing plant in China. Without going to such extremes, the following are the most common syndromes among workers today:
stress addicts
According to a survey presented yesterday by Randstad, a third of workers admit that their working life takes its toll on their health. Among the new pathologies: stress dependence. Whoever suffers from it takes refuge in their job to the point of not being able to stop working for a single day in months. Addiction to work, which for years was considered positive, is now recognized as a pathology. Those affected do not set limits between the personal and professional spheres, and this comes to interfere in any part of their lives.
survivor syndrome
One of the consequences of the crisis is uncertainty. As psychologist Iñaki Piñuel explains, the fact of going to work every day without knowing what will happen in the future affects workers: “They suffer from headaches, insomnia and anxiety, and their addictions, such as alcoholism and smoking, increase.”
These problems “are not treated by a psychologist, but remain in the primary care physician’s office.” The effects of this crisis, he adds, “we are going to notice them for many years.” The workers have experienced a tension that has brought out the worst in themselves: “They are capable of anything to keep their jobs, which creates a terrible atmosphere.”
Guido Stein, professor of People Management at Iese, speaks of “terrified workers” by the decisions that are being made in companies, such as mergers that involve downsizing: “Their fear grows when they see the difficult situation in which they are the workers who have been laid off.
Disconnected from the company
As Diego Vicente, professor of Organizational Behavior at IE Business School, explains, many workers have stopped trusting their company and, as a consequence, have disassociated themselves from it: “The biggest problem my managerial students complain about is the lack of commitment of its employees, which has increased with the crisis”.
It is logical, says this expert, “since systematically they are the ones who pay the piper, through staff cuts or other solutions.” Vicente adds: “Threats and punishment are being used, so the workers only think about who will be the next to fall, instead of stimulating their creativity. The way out of the crisis can come from any link in the company.”
‘Mobbing’ and sharks
As Professor Diego Vicente points out, many bosses do not help to ease the situation either. According to the Cisneros 11 study on psychosocial risks, directed by Iñaki Piñuel, cases of mobbing (workplace harassment) multiplied in 2009: they went from affecting 9.2 percent of workers to afflicting 13.2%, according to The report.
The increase, according to Piñuel, is due to the effect of the so-called sharks, also called toxic managers. These bosses “act coldly and exhibit psychopathic traits.” During the crisis, this professional profile has prevailed “because it has achieved the short-term results that were required of it, but they have done so by laying off people.”
These managers charge their subordinates with “inhuman and degrading” treatment. His attitude, comments Piñuel, is “terrible for the labor force that bears that burden.”
‘Powerful’ asthenia
One in ten people suffers to a greater or lesser extent spring asthenia, a disorder that causes tiredness and lack of energy to carry out habitual activity. Well, according to Guido Stein, this evil has been aggravated by the labor situation that workers are going through. “The arrival of spring and the feeling of the end of the year have come together. People are especially tired this year.”
Anxiety disorders
According to sources in the health sector who prefer not to be cited, the number of consultations with the family doctor due to work stress has multiplied. “One of the problems that many patients come with is GAD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder. They present somatic symptoms, such as tachycardia or dizziness, and other psychological ones, such as agitation, stress or emotional tension. All of this is related to fear” . Both wage earners and businessmen suffer it, add the same sources.
standing without strength
We are addressing the problems that concern workers, but what are those of the unemployed? Guido Stein comments: “The unemployed are sinking. Many managers who previously held relevant positions have been unemployed for two years and cannot find a way out. They are over forty and feel that their opportunities are running out. The serious thing is that they are beginning to think that their situation is not going to change. For this reason, many are leaving Spain”.
One of the sources of stress is the fear of losing the previous standard of living. According to Ángela Ibáñez, a psychiatrist at Ramón y Cajal and a member of the Spanish Psychiatric Society, “the dismissal may mean that they cannot pay for their children’s school, keep the same car… All of this generates a lot of stress for them.” Not to mention the effect on families, adds this expert: “That the father goes from spending a good part of the day at work to staying at home destabilizes the functioning of the home.”
Added to this is the feeling of guilt that many unemployed carry. According to Ángela Ibáñez, “they believe that if they have dispensed with them it is because they did not work well and they consider that they should have done better. That guilt leads to a drop in self-esteem.”
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