Re: Something new to worry about.....

[Guest guest]

> Bored to Death?

>

> Boring jobs can kill you. At least that's

the claim

> of a team of researchers from the University of

> Texas School of Public Health.

>

> The researchers found that workers who

spent their

> lives in undemanding jobs with little control

> over their work were 35 percent more likely

to die

> during a 10-year period than workers in

> challenging jobs with lots of

hi all!

i recall that Classic study of rats and stress! there were two cages

full of rats. at random, the floors of each cage would be shocked

with electric currant. the first cage had it so that there was a

switch where the rats could press it and turn off this currant; they

quickly learned to shut the currant off.

the other cage had no switch, that rats had to take what ever

timespan that the currant flowed through the floor of their cage: it

would come and go at random, but the rats had no control over the

length of the duration of this currant.

Later both cages of rats were disected. the rats of the lever cage

were normal. but the rats, those who were still alive[!!], as many

had died already, of the no-lever cage....they all had stress-symptoms

galore, in their blood vessals and hearts!!

Morale of the test, they found: that control over the stress is more

important than the stress itself. thus a " boring job " would be an

ultimate in " no control " ....thus a high " bad stress " level!

freestone

[Guest guest]

> Bored to Death?

>

> Boring jobs can kill you. At least that's

the claim

> of a team of researchers from the University of

> Texas School of Public Health.

>

> The researchers found that workers who

spent their

> lives in undemanding jobs with little control

> over their work were 35 percent more

likely to die

> during a 10-year period than workers in

> challenging jobs with lots of decision-

making

> responsibilities, after controlling for other relevant

> factors, including age, overall health,

income,

> race and gender. The team's findings were reported in

> the latest issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

>

> Professor C. Amick III and his

research

> team analyzed data collected annually by the

> University of Michigan, based on surveys

from about

> 7,500 individuals. Participants had been

> employed for a minimum of three years

during

> the1968-91 study period.

>

> These workers were divided into four

categories

> based on their answers to questions that measured

> how much latitude they had to decide what

work to

> do and how to do it, the psychological demands

> their job placed on them and

other " psychosocial "

> factors. On one extreme were low-stress jobs

> with little decision-making

responsibilities --

> typically jobs such as maintenance worker or

> housekeeper that " are largely lacking in

meaningful

> content, " Amick said.

>

> At the other extreme were jobs with lots

of demands

> and lots of freedom to make decisions, such as

> high-stress managerial positions --

precisely the

> kind of jobs that people typically think can shorten

> your life span.

>

> Well, apparently, those high-pressure,

high-control

> jobs don't kill you -- or at least not as quickly as

> boring jobs, these findings suggest.

>

> " This alienating work could result in

social

> disengagement and/or adopting of high-risk behaviors

> that lead to a higher risk of death, " such

as

> eating, drinking or smoking too much, Amick wrote. " In

> addition to the amount of job control a

person has

> during a working life, the meaningfulness of

> work may be an important contributor [to

the risk

> of dying]. "

Aaaaaaaack! That certainly popped me out of lurk mode. Good thing I

am looking for a new job :-)

On the CRON side,I am down to 1,200 cals a day and keeping my

nutrients up. So far,so good! I have read my " Maximum Lifespan " book

and am looking for a " Beyond 120 " book to buy. Also,I am making sure

to walk or rollerblade each day.

I want to participate in chat,but I get home after 7PM Pacific time.