Durban - Work, health and finances have lead to South African professionals becoming stressed-out. This is according to the 2019 Profmed Stress Index, an annual survey conducted to gauge the stress levels of professionals.
The survey, the results of which were revealed this week, was conducted by more than 3500 professionals from Profmed’s membership base across a variety of sectors, with 43% of respondents from the medical industry.
Profmed chief executive Craig Comrie said over the years the index has taught them that work-related stress remains one of the biggest health concerns.
“As we all know, stress can affect us physically and impair our health, so we all need to learn how to recognise our stress and find healthy ways of coping,” Comrie said.
The 2019 Stress Index highlighted lack of sleep, losing one’s temper and eating too much or too little as the top three indicators of stress.
Dr Ela Manga, an integrative medical practitioner, defined the feeling of stress as a set of physical sensations such as muscle tension as a direct result of feeling overwhelmed and anxious, saying this was caused by overthinking and an inability to rest and recover.
“Often we are not aware of the stress patterns that develop in the body and mind over time. We almost become accustomed to the feeling of low-grade stress and it feels almost normal,” Manga said.
Lindelwa Mkize, a clinical psychologist based in Durban,
said stress makes one feel lonely
and has a huge impact on a person’s state of mind.
“Conflict in the workplace can be really stressful and people worry about moving on because of the high unemployment rate.
“Stress leads to other complications such as insomnia, depression, anxiety and even alcoholism, and that has a negative impact on people’s health.”
Mkize encouraged people to seek help if they suffer from stress, saying a lot of people suffer because they do not know who to talk to.
The survey also revealed that 35.8% of professionals did not feel it was important to speak to anyone at all.
On a positive note, Manga said when used constructively, stress can help us to focus, concentrate and give us energy to get things done.