Mar., 09 / According to Fortune magazine, stress-related problems are reaching the executive suite. The reasons are variations on the same things that cause stress for middle managers and frontline workers: a tough economy, the pressure to exceed the last success, and not being heard.

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The American Institute of Stress estimates that the results of job stress-- absences, burnout, mental health problems-cost American business more than $300 billion a year.

In a new study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), half of US workers consider job stress a major problem-twice as many as 10 years ago. And last year, the European Community announced that stress was the second-biggest occupational health problem in its member countries.

Other studies from Northwestern National Life, Families and Work Institute, and Yale University cite figures from 26 to 40% of workers who consider themselves highly stressed or burned out at work. Health care expenditures are nearly 50% greater for workers reporting high levels of stress. Their symptoms range from headaches to cardiovascular disease and workplace injuries. And from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics-workers who have to be off the job for stress-related disorders are out an average of 20 days.

A new DVD program from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and NIOSH, "Working With Stress" (Pub. No. 2003-114D), is available from the NIOSH Publications Office, (800) 356-4674. Other resources are available at www.cdc.gov/niosh


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