Scary Risk of Working More Than 40 Hours

21-06-2008 - 01:07

If you're working lots of overtime, you might want to rethink that, especially if you find you're generally unhappy with life. Men and women who regularly work more than 40 hours a week have a high risk for developing anxiety and depression, according to a new study published in the June issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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HealthDay News reports that the rates were also higher among less-skilled workers and those with lower incomes. Specifically, the Norwegian study of 1,350 overtime workers and 9,000 people who worked normal hours found that men who worked 40 hours a week or less had a 9 percent "possible" depression score on standard screening questionnaires. This compared to a score of 12.5 percent for those who worked overtime. Among women, the possible depression rate increased from 7 percent to 11 percent for those who worked a lot of overtime.

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Overtime workers at the highest risk were men who worked nine to 60 hours beyond the standard 40-hour work week. Not only did these men tend to have lower work skills and education levels than others, but also they had jobs that involved heavy manual labor and shift work. HealthDay News notes that what causes working long hours to increase anxiety and depression was not explored in the study.

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