Impact of a Bad Job on Mental Health as Harmful as No Job at All

[vauxall]

source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110314184714.htm

Impact of a Bad Job on Mental Health as Harmful as No Job at All

ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2011) — The impact on mental health of a badly
paid, poorly supported, or short term job can be as harmful as no job at
all, indicates research published online in Occupational and
Environmental Medicine.

Because being in work is associated with better mental health than
unemployment, government policies have tended to focus on the risks
posed by joblessness, without necessarily considering the impact the
quality of a job may have, say the authors.

They base their findings on seven waves of data from more than 7000
people of working age, drawn from a representative national household
survey conducted every year in Australia (HILDA).

Respondents' mental health was assessed using a validated inventory
(MHI). And they were asked about their employment status.

If in work, the "psychosocial" quality of their job was graded according
to measures relating to demands and complexity; level of control; and
perceived job security. Respondents were also asked if they felt they
received a fair wage for the work they did.

Not unexpectedly, those who were unemployed had poorer mental health,
overall, than those in work, the results showed.

There is some evidence to show that employment is associated with better
physical and mental health, and the mental health of those out of work
tends to improve when they find a job, say the authors.

But after taking account of a range of factors with the potential to
influence the results, such as educational attainment and marital
status, the mental health of those who were jobless was comparable to,
or often better than, that of people in work, but in poor quality jobs.

Those in the poorest quality jobs experienced the sharpest decline in
mental health over time. There was a direct linear association between
the number of unfavourable working conditions experienced and mental
health, with each additional adverse condition lowering the mental
health score.

And the health benefits of finding a job after a period of worklessness
depended on the quality of the post, the findings showed. Job quality
predicted mental health.

Getting a high quality job after being unemployed improved mental health
by an average of 3 points, but getting a poor quality job was more
detrimental to mental health than remaining unemployed, showing up as a
loss of 5.6 points.

Paid work confers several benefits, including a defined social role and
purpose, friendships, and structured time. But jobs which afford little
control, are very demanding, and provide little support and reward, are
not good for health, say the authors.

"Work first policies are based on the notion that any job is better than
none as work promotes economic as well as personal wellbeing," comment
the authors. "Psychosocial job quality is a pivotal factor that needs to
be considered in the design and delivery of employment and welfare
policy," they conclude.

 

[nigel]

x-no-archive: yes

source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110314184714.htm

Impact of a Bad Job on Mental Health as Harmful as No Job at All

ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2011) — The impact on mental health of a badly
paid, poorly supported, or short term job can be as harmful as no job at
all, indicates research published online in Occupational and
Environmental Medicine.

IMO that's a rather conservative finding.

Crap jobs can cause mental health problems, so it would be no surprise
for a crap job to come out worse than no job in many if not most cases.

Evil Nigel

 

[Niteawk]

source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110314184714.htm

There is some evidence to show that employment is associated with
better
physical and mental health, and the mental health of those out of
work
tends to improve when they find a job, say the authors.

MH is a very broad spectrum, you can't pigeon hole everyone by saying
having a job is going to help them. If it was that simple MH issues
would cease to exist.

 

[nigel]

x-no-archive: yes

It is not only the job than can cause more problems, staff in the work
place are usually less sympathethic towards people with MH issues and
resent them for not being able to keep up, because all they see is an
able bodied person who should be able work just the same as everyone
else, which leads to sarcastic and insulting comments being made about
them.

It also depends on the type of MH issues a person has, many of them have
a fear of going out and being in social situations and can't cope with
being around other people and react badly towards them, and in the most
extreme cases have been known to kill people. Many more are simpletons
that behave like children. There is no way having a job can help people
like that.

While I don't disagree, my reading of the article was that the study
wasn't specific to subjects already diagnosed with mental health problems.

It doesn't state that definitively so there's room for doubt; someone
would have to track down the actual study to confirm or deny that.

Evil Nigel

 

[Niteawk]

x-no-archive: yes
While I don't disagree, my reading of the article was that the study
wasn't specific to subjects already diagnosed with mental health
problems.

No, it just generalised to give the impression that if you have MH
issues and you are unemployed then you are better off working, which
is completely misleading IMO. I am not sure if it even qualifies as a
study, just more propaganda to have a go at the sick.

 

[Pendragon]

No, it just generalised to give the impression that if you have MH
issues and you are unemployed then you are better off working, which
is completely misleading IMO. I am not sure if it even qualifies as a
study, just more propaganda to have a go at the sick.

As usual it also completely misses the point. A job is a job, it pays
the bills and feeds us which is all a job is supposed to be. We cant
all have the plum, mind stimulating jobs can we, who on earth would
polish the silver, kick the dog etc?

I do however firmly believe the biggest crime for our generation is
too much time on our hands, and as we know the devil makes work for
idle hands, it's explains a lot. Adolf had it right when he proclaimed
*work makes you free* and so did Stalin. There was a method to their
madness.

 

[Harry Stottle]

I do however firmly believe the biggest crime for our generation is
too much time on our hands, and as we know the devil makes work for
idle hands, it's explains a lot. Adolf had it right when he proclaimed
*work makes you free*

Pity he didn't practice what he preached then, unless you mean that the
imprisoned workers he forced to work until they dropped were set free when
they died

 

[humble.life]

Pity he didn't practice what he preached then, unless you mean that the
imprisoned workers he forced to work until they dropped were set free when
they died

too much time? lol.

 

[mike]

As usual it also completely misses the point. A job is a job, it pays
the bills and feeds us which is all a job is supposed to be. We cant
all have the plum, mind stimulating jobs can we, who on earth would
polish the silver, kick the dog etc?

Simply doing a days work and getting paid as such is seen as unworthy,
you have to be climbing the ladder, being challenged or stimulated in
some way by your job.

Some of the happiest people I know view their jobs as a pay packet and
don't seek any greater fulfilment from their jobs than that.

I do however firmly believe the biggest crime for our generation is
too much time on our hands, and as we know the devil makes work for
idle hands, it's explains a lot. Adolf had it right when he proclaimed
*work makes you free* and so did Stalin. There was a method to their
madness.

Quoting Hitler is never a good idea ...

Mike

 

[Pendragon]

Pity he didn't practice what he preached then,

Yes sadly ultimate power seems to corrupt and to hell with all the
bright ideas that got them in to power. Why is that I wonder? I
imagine if I ever had power like that I would always do good and carry
out my promises, but I have no doubt I too would end up corrupted

unless you mean that the
imprisoned workers he forced to work until they dropped were set free when
they died

Sadly I fear that may well have been their interpretation after all

 

[Pendragon]

Simply doing a days work and getting paid as such is seen as unworthy,
you have to be climbing the ladder, being challenged or stimulated in
some way by your job.

Only if we have ideas above our station. We currently live in a world
where everyone wants to be the leader, the daddy, the top dog. It just
breeds anarchy and contempt as we can see surely?

What's wrong with a job that pays the bills and no more. We cant all
have top jobs.

Some of the happiest people I know view their jobs as a pay packet and
don't seek any greater fulfilment from their jobs than that.

Isn't that getting rare these days?

Quoting Hitler is never a good idea ...

Even in a sane world?

 

[mike]

Only if we have ideas above our station. We currently live in a world
where everyone wants to be the leader, the daddy, the top dog. It just
breeds anarchy and contempt as we can see surely?

What's wrong with a job that pays the bills and no more. We cant all
have top jobs.

A better title for this thread is Being Invested in Your Job is Bad for
Your Health. I think a lot of people have worked this out so unless
they see promotion they are just apathetic which ironically in itself
can lead to stress.

Isn't that getting rare these days?

Aside from people counting down to retirement the only people I know are
those with a bigger interests which doesn't involve work or at least a
plan not involving their current employer.

Even in a sane world?

Perhaps, but the chances of the world becoming so are slim.

Mike

 

[humble.life]

source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110314184714.htm

Impact of a Bad Job on Mental Health as Harmful as No Job at All

ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2011) — The impact on mental health of a badly
paid, poorly supported, or short term job can be as harmful as no job at
all, indicates research published online in Occupational and
Environmental Medicine.

Because being in work is associated with better mental health than
unemployment, government policies have tended to focus on the risks
posed by joblessness, without necessarily considering the impact the
quality of a job may have, say the authors.

They base their findings on seven waves of data from more than 7000
people of working age, drawn from a representative national household
survey conducted every year in Australia (HILDA).

Respondents' mental health was assessed using a validated inventory
(MHI). And they were asked about their employment status.

If in work, the "psychosocial" quality of their job was graded according
to measures relating to demands and complexity; level of control; and
perceived job security. Respondents were also asked if they felt they
received a fair wage for the work they did.

Not unexpectedly, those who were unemployed had poorer mental health,
overall, than those in work, the results showed.

There is some evidence to show that employment is associated with better
physical and mental health, and the mental health of those out of work
tends to improve when they find a job, say the authors.

But after taking account of a range of factors with the potential to
influence the results, such as educational attainment and marital
status, the mental health of those who were jobless was comparable to,
or often better than, that of people in work, but in poor quality jobs.

Those in the poorest quality jobs experienced the sharpest decline in
mental health over time. There was a direct linear association between
the number of unfavourable working conditions experienced and mental
health, with each additional adverse condition lowering the mental
health score.

And the health benefits of finding a job after a period of worklessness
depended on the quality of the post, the findings showed. Job quality
predicted mental health.

Getting a high quality job after being unemployed improved mental health
by an average of 3 points, but getting a poor quality job was more
detrimental to mental health than remaining unemployed, showing up as a
loss of 5.6 points.

Paid work confers several benefits, including a defined social role and
purpose, friendships, and structured time. But jobs which afford little
control, are very demanding, and provide little support and reward, are
not good for health, say the authors.

"Work first policies are based on the notion that any job is better than
none as work promotes economic as well as personal wellbeing," comment
the authors. "Psychosocial job quality is a pivotal factor that needs to
be considered in the design and delivery of employment and welfare
policy," they conclude.

quite agree, apparently low-skilled labour is a guarantee of ill-health,
dying 7 years younger, developing RSI and symptoms that mimic arthritis.

i remember learning about this when studying environmental policy for a
course i was on. shocking stuff.

we still live in a herded society, where there is a deliberate hammering
down of aspiration to ensure manual labour for the factories.

the tories made no bones about it when they lowered the 12+ to 11+....
it was decided that 11 was the age where people would be "split"... 20
years later the stats are in!!!

we're still taking advantage of people who haven't had a chance...

 

[humble.life]

Simply doing a days work and getting paid as such is seen as unworthy,
you have to be climbing the ladder, being challenged or stimulated in
some way by your job.

Some of the happiest people I know view their jobs as a pay packet and
don't seek any greater fulfilment from their jobs than that.


Quoting Hitler is never a good idea ...

Mike

i don't know anyone with time, that's why i have to deal with my shit
alone, if my friends had time, i'd have the support and wouldn't be
bumming out the NHS...

 

[Pendragon]

A better title for this thread is Being Invested in Your Job is Bad for
Your Health. I think a lot of people have worked this out so unless
they see promotion they are just apathetic which ironically in itself
can lead to stress.

Apathy is what the country thrives on. Look at how the politicians and
executive civil service get away ripping us off left, right and centre
and STILL we vote them in

I reckon it could be something they put in the water. Britain (No
longer worthy of great) has never been so apathetic as it has in the
last 20 years. Is there anything we do any more that is worthy of
note?

Aside from people counting down to retirement the only people I know are
those with a bigger interests which doesn't involve work or at least a
plan not involving their current employer.

A classic is why we have so many migrant field workers from the East
Europe regions. How can they be happy to travel thousands of miles,
well a thousand anyway as many never return home lol, and work in the
fields and yet we are no longer willing ourselves. Talk about ideas
above our station. I'm not keen on the government reforms because they
are not reforms but designed to rip us all off, but we sure do need a
kick up the backside at times.

 

[Pendragon]

i don't know anyone with time, that's why i have to deal with my shit
alone, if my friends had time, i'd have the support and wouldn't be
bumming out the NHS...

Isn't this more a case of inclination lacking rather than time. Surely
we can all *make the time* if we really wanted to. I'm not saying it's
clinical in that they don't want to help, it's just we seem to have
forgotten how to help

 

[Pendragon]

quite agree, apparently low-skilled labour is a guarantee of ill-health,
dying 7 years younger, developing RSI and symptoms that mimic arthritis.

i remember learning about this when studying environmental policy for a
course i was on. shocking stuff.

we still live in a herded society, where there is a deliberate hammering
down of aspiration to ensure manual labour for the factories.

the tories made no bones about it when they lowered the 12+ to 11+....
it was decided that 11 was the age where people would be "split"... 20
years later the stats are in!!!

we're still taking advantage of people who haven't had a chance...

I disagree as I said elsewhere. We can't all be chiefs and live the
good life. Some people are born to be sheep. Not only in the work
place but academically as well. How many people push their children
(including me) to be academics, when many are just not academic people
and don't have the required ability and hence inclination to succeed.
Many people just want to be part of the basic crowd and get by. Yes
we're all capable of great things, but not all of us want great
things.

 

[727]

.

------------------

A job that saps ones self confidence or re-inforces beliefs of lack of
worth or causes stress and anxiety to already damaged individuals is not
just a job.

Only if we have ideas above our station. We currently live in a world
where everyone wants to be the leader, the daddy, the top dog. It just
breeds anarchy and contempt as we can see surely?

This seems a rather tabloidy view of people and doesn't match my
experience, most people seem to want to be happy and for others not to
hassle them too much.

What's wrong with a job that pays the bills and no more. We cant all
have top jobs.

Isn't that getting rare these days?

When I have time on my hands I walk the dingo or take some photographs
(or stare blankly at a wall for long periods of time.) I don't go out
snd mug old lsdies. It isn't that simple and attributing it to our
creation 'the devil' doesn't seem helpful.

'Arbeit macht frei' was the title of an 1873 book by Lorenz Diefenbach
and adopted by the nazis. It was put on or at the gates of Auschwitz and
other concentration camps where it was true in the sense that if you
were fit and healthy enough to be made into slave labour then you
weren't gassed and burned. I take it that's not quite what you meant?

Now if the guy had stuck to painting...

Even in a sane world?

Wouldn't know.

 

[Pendragon]

.

------------------


A job that saps ones self confidence or re-inforces beliefs of lack of
worth or causes stress and anxiety to already damaged individuals is not
just a job.

I quite agree with you 100%. What I am getting at is why it does this
to us. Rather it's how we perceive the job than what the job is
perhaps? If we just accepted a job is a job and left it at that would
we not be better off?

This seems a rather tabloidy view of people and doesn't match my
experience, most people seem to want to be happy and for others not to
hassle them too much.

But in a society we have to live by certain rules and guidelines, and
that includes doing the menial tasks. I cant wait to run away from
society myself so I know where you are coming from. quit long ago

When I have time on my hands I walk the dingo or take some photographs
(or stare blankly at a wall for long periods of time.) I don't go out
snd mug old lsdies. It isn't that simple and attributing it to our
creation 'the devil' doesn't seem helpful.

Attribute it to anything you like the principle is the same don't you
think?

'Arbeit macht frei' was the title of an 1873 book by Lorenz Diefenbach
and adopted by the nazis. It was put on or at the gates of Auschwitz and
other concentration camps where it was true in the sense that if you
were fit and healthy enough to be made into slave labour then you
weren't gassed and burned. I take it that's not quite what you meant?

No of course not, I hoped that would have been a given.

Now if the guy had stuck to painting...

He was always destined for something that's for sure.

 

[nigel]

x-no-archive: yes

Simply doing a days work and getting paid as such is seen as unworthy,
you have to be climbing the ladder, being challenged or stimulated in
some way by your job.

Some of the happiest people I know view their jobs as a pay packet and
don't seek any greater fulfilment from their jobs than that.

Absolutely.

The most contented, fulfilled, well-adjusted individuals I have ever met
worked in IT through the winter months, then during the summer they did
outdoor voluntary work.

If you invest your life in doing a job, what happens when you have to
retire or lose the job? Suddenly you realise a large chunk of your life
has been wasted. It's worst for women who sacrifice a family for a
career, then one day they realise it's too late and they can never have
kids.

Obviously society needs leaders and it would be great if the people most
capable of contributing achieved the appropriate position, but western
society seems to be governed by the 'Peter Principle'. How else can you
explain people like Dubya, Obama, BLiar, Brown, Cameron, Osborne and
Clegg getting to power? I wouldn't trust any of them to help me cross
the road, let alone govern a country.

Quoting Hitler is never a good idea ...

Isn't mentioning Hitler reputed to sound the death knell for internet
discussions?

Mike

Evil Nigel