Reducing + Managing Stress Andrew Sykes

Transcription

1 Reducing + Managing Stress Andrew Sykes President + Habit Actuary

2 The Impact of Stress on Health + Productivity Habits at at Work

3 Prevalence of stress Stress = the amount of stressors relative to the perceived ability to cope + support provided by others. 22% of Americans report feeling very stressed % of doctor visits are stress related. Stress related disorders cost the U.S. $42billion/year. Women report higher stress levels than men: 5.3 vs. 4.6 (on a 10-point scale). 37% of Americans feel they are actually doing an excellent or very good job of managing their stress.

4 Stress changes by age over past 5 years Decreased Stayed the Same Increased Percentage Millenial Gen X Boomer Mature

5 Physical symptoms of stress Percentage Anger Anxious Fatigue Depressed Lack of Interest Headache Crying Indigestion Muscular Tension

6 Causes of stress % Significant

7 Stress at home and at work Work Stress: Stress is the harmful physical and emotional response that occurs when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources or needs of the worker (National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety - NIOSH). Home Stressors: Relationship Responsibilities Finances There is a strong relationship between stress at home and employee satisfaction at work.

8 Stressed employees have greatest impact on medical costs High Risk Group Annual Effect as % of Annual Total Expenditure 8% 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% 0% -1% -2% Risk Category Stress Level Former Tobacco Use Body Weight Exercise Habits Blood Glucose Level Depression Blood Pressure Excessive alcohol use Cholestrol Nutritional Habits

9 Reducing stress related risk associated with lower costs 4,500 Annual medical costs ($) 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 Very high risk High risk Moderate risk Low risk Relative Stress Risk Indications

10 Difference from Low Risk Group 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Reducing stress linked to reduced costs; by up to 24% Stress Risk Level Very high risk High risk Moderate risk

11 All results subject to constant update as new research emerges

12 Potential Impact of Stress Management

13 Stress Management + Absenteeism Stress management techniques reduce employee absences by 15-45%. Entire work units that applied stress reduction techniques had 16% fewer absences 3 months after the intervention and an absolute reduction of just under 25%. We believe that a 25% reduction in absenteeism is the likely impact on a working population. As the vast majority of workplaces do not offer stress management (say 80%), the potential impact of stress management on the overall working age population is a reduction of 20% in absence levels.

14 Stress Management + Presenteeism Presenteeism: Being at work but performing below par because of illness or medical conditions. Difficult to measure because presenteeism is: Mostly self-reported Sometimes reported by others Mostly subjective Very sensitive to memory or the look back period Is defined differently according to industry and occupation In spite of this difficulty, estimates for the COSTS of presenteeism range from 2 3x the cost of absenteeism.

15 The stress / presenteeism link Negative Stress Stress Response Decreased allocation of cognitive processes; trait and state anxiety; poor mood; decreased positive affect Presenteeism Decreased creativity, slower time on task, reduced productivity

16 A Comprehensive Stress Management Program

17 Stress management techniques Comp Stress Management Program Music Therapy Exercise Muscle Relaxation Meditation Worker Productivity Workplace Design

18 Comprehensive stress management focuses on the organization as a whole Comprehensive Stress Management Program Individual Whole group Self Management Stressor Reduction Process

19 The Stressor Reduction Process decreases unit (group) absenteeism Percentage Improvement 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Group Absenteeism 24% Stressor Reduction 7% Control

20 Popular meditation styles in the West Concentrative Receptive Mindfulness Attention is restricted to a single point Focused Transcendental Meditation is one example Whole field Awareness of events as they occur Open awareness Combination of concentrative and receptive Vipassana Being present Roots in Buddhist tradition

21 Benefits of Meditation Practitioners of concentrative & receptive meditation: Perform with 16% better accuracy on tests of sustained attention. Are able to maintain their accuracy for a longer period of time. Practitioners of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction commit 36% fewer errors on tests of speed and performance quality. More experience (length of time) practicing meditation correlates to higher levels of accuracy (6% improvement in those practicing for 25 months or longer over those practicing for 24 months or less).

22 Transcendental meditation reduces physician costs Annual Expense Change 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% -2.0% -4.0% -6.0% -8.0% -10.0% Non TM TM Difference Pre intervention Post intervention

23 Mean total estimate score Meditators are 16% more accurate in tests of sustained focus All Meditators Test of Sustained Attentional Focus The higher the score, the greater the accuracy (fewer errors) Long Term Meditators Short Term Meditators Non-Meditators

24 Attentional Task Raw Score Accuracy drops steeply in non-meditators The higher the score, the greater the accuracy (fewer errors) Set 1 Set 2 Concentrative Meditation Mindfulness Meditation Non-Meditators

25 Mindfulness-based meditators make 36% fewer total errors than non-meditators 20 Test of processing speed and performance quality Mean Errors Meditators Non-Meditators

26 Meditation reduces state anxiety Mean State Anxiety Score State anxiety measure = self reporting, Likert-type scale Experimental Control Pre-Test Post-Test Follow-Up

27 Meditation reduces emotional exhaustion Emotional Exhaustion Score Exhaustion measure = self reporting, Likert-type scale Experimental Control Pre-Test Post-Test Follow-Up

28 Listening to music improves positive affect Mean Positive Affect Baseline Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Music Music NO MUSIC Music re-introduced

29 Listening to music reduces anxiety Mean State Anxiety Score Control (no music listening) Primer (music listening prior to task) Periodic (music listening prior to and during task) 14 State Anxiety 1 (initial experimental instruction) State Anxiety 2 (after 11 minutes music listening) State Anxiety 3 (after completion of task)

30 Benefits of Meditation for Presenteeism Those who listened to music while they worked: Completed tasks 29% faster Reported 6% lower levels of anxiety Scored 15% higher on complex tasks Mantra-based meditators had lower self-reported: Anxiety (31%) Exhaustion (27%)

31 Our HABITS are our DESTINY!

32 Thank you. Questions? habitsatwork.com