STRESS IS THE SUPER VILLAN, MASSAGE IS YOUR SUPERHERO!

It’s been estimated that 2/3 of physician visits are related to stress. Stress can affect you physically with mild symptoms like headaches and increased susceptibility to catching a cold. Chronic stress can develop into serious health problems. Stress-influenced conditions include heart disease, anxiety disorder, ulcers, sexual dysfunction, obesity, diabetes, depression, hypertension (high blood pressure) and even linked to cancer. 

If there were an America’s Most Wanted for health problems, stress would be at the top of the list. So why does it continue to remain out of sight and out of mind for policy makers and health insurance when it’s ravaging so many lives and bankrupting the nation?¹ Because we’ve been sold the idea that stress is some kind of personal flaw that we must bear with on our own. Until recent times, we have considered stress to be a personal mental problem with no effect on anyone else. But even though it’s not infectious, stress is highly contagious. 

We know you’ve read about stress x1000 times, but did you know… 

• 83% of US workers suffer from work-related stress. 
• 6 in 10 adults listed work and money as a significant source of stress (APA, 2019).
• Most common causes of workplace stress are workload (44%), lack of support (14%), changes at work (8%) (HSE, 2019).
• 7 in 10 adults reported that workplace stress affects their personal relationships (ADAA).
• Some other common stress factors are low salaries, lack of opportunity for growth, unrealistic job expectations, and long hours (SHRM, 2020).
• 55% of Americans reported feeling stress during each day (Gallup, 2019).
• 51% of workers in low-paying jobs reported being stressed, and 41% of average and high-paying jobs reported feeling the negative effects of stress (SHRM, 2020).
• 62% of workers said they end the day with neck pain, 44% reported stressed out eyes and 34% reported difficulty in sleeping because of stress (WM).
• Only 43% of US employees think their employers care about their work-life balance. 

How Stress effects Businesses everywhere. 

• 12.8 million working days are lost in a year due to work-related stress, depression, or anxiety. 
• US businesses lose up to $300 billion yearly as a result of workplace stress. 
• Stress causes around one million workers to miss work every day. 
• Depression leads to $51 billion in costs due to absenteeism and $26 billion in treatment costs. 
• Work-related stress causes 120,000 deaths and results in $190 billion in healthcare costs yearly. 

So how can you reduce stress at work? 

MassageAtWorkUSA is your answer! On top of benefitting your mental health, massage can reduce current health conditions or symptoms such as: 

• Improves your immune system. 
• Relaxes the nervous system through stress reduction. 
• Reduces the adrenaline and cortisol hormones (stress hormones). 
• Calms the nervous system. 
• Reduces stress of your mind and body. 
• Reduces stress to your heart, improving heart health. 
• Lowering blood pressure. 
• Reduces the hormones that create tension in the body. 
• Increase joint mobility and flexibility. 
• Stimulates relaxation – releases endorphins. 
• Reduces muscle fatigue. 

We need to focus on where the stress is coming from more than the symptoms. We have been treating the symptoms of stress — heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes — instead of the cause itself. You should set aside time to identify your stressors, develop professional and healthy responses for them, find ways to relax, and consider talking to a health professional.² 64% of employees reported their organization offered support related to job stress (PeopleManagement, 2019). Does yours? 

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss another Massage At Work Blog!

• How To Prepare Your Office for Corporate Massage Services
• A Quick Guide to In-Office Massage Services
• How Office Massages Can Benefit Employee Well-Being
• How Chair Massage Makes a Difference in People’s Work Lives
• Building Bone Strength

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest

Resources:  

Robinson, J. R. (2013, May 22). Three-Quarters of Your Doctor Bills Are Because of This. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stress-and-health_b_3313606#:~:text=An%20estimated%2075%20percent%20to,are%20for%20stress%2Drelated%20issues 

Milenkovic, M. M. (2019, September 23). 42 Worrying Workplace Stress Statistics. The American Institute of Stress. https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/workplace-stress-statistics/