Research

Researchers, led by Dr Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg of the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany, were trying to find out more about how the brains of different people handle stress. They discovered that city dwellers' brains, compared with people who live in the countryside, seem not to handle it so well.

"cognitive load", the wearying of a person's brain by too much stimulation, which is thought to weaken some functions such as self-control, and perhaps even contribute to higher rates of violence. In terms of its impact on public health, Adli believes that urbanisation may even be comparable to climate change.

in cities there is a much richer environment
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/feb/25/city-stress-mental-health-rural-kind

_____

"The heavy tolls of stress falls not only on workers and their families, but also on businesses as they find that their staff under-perform, need more sick-leave and are less efficient. Businesses that want to help their staff lead more rewarding lives cannot fail to analyse and tackle levels of stress within their organisation," said Filippo Sarti, Asia Pacific CEO and Global COO for Regus.

Almost 80 per cent of NZ respondents identified that one way to ease the stress was through flexible working. People believed this was a key method for businesses to save on costs and to help to improve productivity, therefore enhancing job security.

Sarti added: "Giving employees tools that allow them to work from home more or from locations outside the office, or enabling more suitable hours, can be an effective way to reduce stress. It can also help people be more efficient, and a productive person feels more happy and secure in their job."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10835104
_____

Human minds struggle to keep up with the mental over-stimulation that’s ubiquitous in most cities. This can lead to mental and emotional fatigue in city dwellers.
http://www.utne.com/science-and-technology/cities-stress-the-brain-nature-restores-the-mind.aspx
_____

This news article is about the stress in bigger cities around the world. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/oct/08/where-world-most-stressful-city-urban-life-depression-anxiety?CMP=share_btn_tw
_____

Really nice descriptive reading about New York city with facts and personal experience.
"How can we function in the midst of overstimulation? Overstimulation psychologically induces anxiety and creates a response of fear within the brain, often causing us to shut down and reject whatever may be in front of us. Finding ways to disconnect or calm ourselves regularly are the only ways to maintain sanity is such an intense environment. Here are a few suggestions on how to de-stimulate, relax and recuperate to make life seem more manageable again."
http://thekarmicpress.com/2014/07/how-to-function-in-the-midst-of-overstimulation/
_____

Stimulation comes in on all sensory channels: sights, sounds, smells, vibrations, touch.
A worker may not always have the luxury of leaving an intolerable workplace…
http://highlysensitive.org/highly-sensitive-people-and-depression-overstimulation-may-lead-to-depression/

_____

The Sonic Environment of Cities.
http://search.proquest.com/openview/e5069ae062a8b8c712ccfb2d4b240032/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1821084

_____

Working life in Wellington- 17,751 people (16.8% of workers) work more than 50 hours per week!
http://www.stats.govt.nz/

_____

Study from America

View NIOSH Report
Highlighted statistics from the report:

•40% of workers reported their job was very or extremely stressful;
•25% view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives;
•Three fourths of employees believe that workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago;
•29% of workers felt quite a bit or extremely stressed at work;
•26 percent of workers said they were “often or very often burned out or stressed by their work”;
•Job stress is more strongly associated with health complaints than financial or family problems.

Attitudes in the American Workplace VII
Highlighted statistics from the report:

•80% of workers feel stress on the job, nearly half say they need help in learning how to manage stress and 42% say their coworkers need such help;
•14% of respondents had felt like striking a coworker in the past year, but didn’t;
•25% have felt like screaming or shouting because of job stress, 10% are concerned about an individual at work they fear could become violent;
•9% are aware of an assault or violent act in their workplace and 18% had experienced some sort of threat or verbal intimidation in the past year

A subsequent 2000 Integra Survey similarly reported that:

•65% of workers said that workplace stress had caused difficulties and more than 10 percent described these as having major effects;

•10% said they work in an atmosphere where physical violence has occurred because of job stress and in this group, 42% report that yelling and other verbal abuse is common;
•29% had yelled at co-workers because of workplace stress, 14% said they work where machinery or equipment has been damaged because of workplace rage and 2% admitted that they had actually personally struck someone;
•19% or almost one in five respondents had quit a previous position because of job stress and nearly one in four have been driven to tears because of workplace stress;
•62% routinely find that they end the day with work-related neck pain, 44% reported stressed-out eyes, 38% complained of hurting hands and 34% reported difficulty in sleeping because they were too stressed-out;•12% had called in sick because of job stress;
•Over half said they often spend 12-hour days on work related duties and an equal number frequently skip lunch because of the stress of job demands.http://www.stress.org/workplace-stress/

_____

Talks about the relationship between employer and employee

https://employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/other-types-of-leave/stress-leave/