Stress Down Day

Over 80% of workers have been bullied during their careers and a third of people are so stressed they have dreamed of quitting for a life abroad. Over half say their jobs are getting more stressful and that work is overtaking their home lives.

These are the key findings of Samaritans’ survey for Stress Down Day, taking place on Friday February 1st; a national campaign to encourage people to take better care of their health at work and reduce currently damaging stress levels, www.stressdownday.org.

It found more than half of employees say the situation is getting worse, with work overtaking their private life more and more. More than 40% believe their bosses try to get everything they can out of them, regardless of their stress levels.

Samaritans' Joe Ferns says: "Job-related stress has a serious and unrecognised impact on the health of the nation and the economy, affecting concentration and efficiency...Thirteen million working days were lost to stress, depression and anxiety in 2005 at a staggering cost of £3.7billion to UK plc."

Samaritans Stressed Out survey also shows that:-

• 49% of people are worried about the affect stress is having on their health, compared with 44% of people last year
• 32% of workers feel their employers turn a blind eye to the problem of stress and 43% feel their bosses try to get as much out of them as possible, regardless of their stress levels
• Over half have seen colleagues cry over pressure and 83% would rather say they were sick with flu or another problem rather than admit they were stressed
• There is still a large gender imbalance when it comes to sharing domestic stress; with three quarters of women in the UK taking sole responsibility for domestic tasks