Overwork is a condition of the body caused by too hard, long and continuous work. Most often, overwork is associated with prolonged work that goes beyond the limits established by law and hygiene rules, and causes physical and mental disorders.
Fatigue refers to prolonged fatigue, exhaustion and disruption of the functioning of certain body systems. Ultimately, without sufficient rest (for example, when working overtime), this leads to overwork.
Overtime is generally defined as hours worked in excess of forty hours in a week that an employer forces an employee to work under threat of job loss or threat of other reprisal, such as demotion or assignment to unattractive assignments or job changes.
Relevance of the problem
According to some reports, about two tens of millions of people suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome in the world. At the same time, scientists note that approximately the same number are simply not diagnosed with it.
People first started talking about chronic fatigue syndrome in 1988, and it was from that time that it began to be regarded as a disease, which is also fraught with complications.
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“Given the modern pace of life, the problem of overwork is extremely relevant. Irregular working hours, typical for many, require full dedication and lack of free time not only on weekdays, but also on weekends and holidays,” says Evgenia Parshina, head of the department of allergology and immunopathology of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Russian Academy of Sciences, allergist-immunologist, assistant of the department of immunology of the Russian National Research Medical University. . N. I. Pirogova .
The following factors also contribute to the development of overwork:
- recent infectious diseases, including a new coronavirus infection;
- lack of sleep and poor quality of sleep;
- unbalanced nutrition and lack of a structured diet;
- lack of physical activity with daily mental workload and multitasking.
In addition, daily stress at work and at home aggravates the situation, notes Evgenia Parshina.
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Causes of overwork among workers
Some of the causes of overwork are organizational, while others are personal.
Organizational causes are those caused by changes occurring in both the external and internal environment. Personal reasons are psychological problems in the lives of employees.
There are a number of reasons that contribute to the increase in overwork. One of the main reasons is the changing economy, in which it is not uncommon for an organization to depend on one key client.
The globalization of the economy has led to job insecurity. As a result, employees started working longer and longer hours to keep their jobs. The reduction in administrative support is another important reason for the sudden increase in the trend of overwork among workers.
As a result, some employees work overtime to show their loyalty. Most companies provide monetary incentives to their employees for their extra efforts at work. Employees work overtime to earn as much money as possible.
In addition, highly motivated employees want to move up the career ladder, so they spend more hours on their jobs. High ambitions and the desire to fuel a sense of superiority have led to a growing tendency for employees to overwork.
The practice of reducing the number of employees has led to an increase in the workload of employees, who at the same time must maintain their jobs. Additionally, layoff survivors fear losing their jobs and therefore work harder and longer to prove their worth.
Types of overwork and its symptoms
“Fatigue can be both physical and mental. However, the ways to deal with them are different. If you are physically overtired, it is enough to just have a good rest, for example, sleep. But with the mental one, it’s more complicated, because it often develops unnoticed,” says the immunologist.
The specialist also emphasizes that it is worth taking a close look and listening to yourself and your loved ones in order to identify symptoms of mental fatigue. These include:
- irritability and nervousness;
- headaches, which are otherwise called tension pains;
- absence or, conversely, increased appetite;
- disturbance and lack of sleep;
- fatigue and apathy;
- decreased concentration, slowness.
All this leads to decreased performance. “If you have identified such signs in yourself, you need to start correcting them without pushing yourself to the extreme,” emphasizes Evgenia Parshina.
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How to understand how many circles are normal
In order for the child to be fully developed and not deprived of anything, parents try to involve him in many clubs and activities. It turns out that in addition to schoolwork, the child rushes to other clubs instead of rest and has no free time. In this regard, he plunges into a state of overwork. Many parents do not immediately notice this condition of the child, since the main thing for them is academic performance in all these clubs.
There are no specific standards for assigning the number of clubs for a child. Each parent, when determining the number of circles, should proceed from the child’s abilities and capabilities, as well as his physiological characteristics. Each child is individual - some may be involved in clubs and activities all day, while some children have difficulty mastering school lessons. The most important thing after classes in the circle is to monitor the child’s condition and ask how he likes visiting it and what emotions and knowledge it gives him.
Why is this condition dangerous?
Doctors note that the development of such fatigue and the progression of its symptoms can seriously harm health. So, some people escape from overexertion and stress by engaging in bad habits, and this is the cause of alcoholism, etc., relationships with loved ones may collapse due to emotional instability. There are also problems in the digestive system against the background of constant stress and nervous experiences. Then problems with the heart and blood vessels develop, a person begins to experience pressure surges and metabolic disorders.
People with overwork often have characteristic external defects - bruises under the eyes, pale skin, bluish lips, deterioration in the quality of hair and nails, etc.
At the same time, it is worth understanding that overwork is deadly. Thus, in Japan there is already a special term “karoshi”, which means death due to overwork, which usually leads to strokes and heart attacks. This definition was derived after studying a large number of deaths among workers. Then the researchers came to the conclusion that the reason for their premature death was that people overloaded themselves at work and were constantly overtired, worked to exhaustion and did not pay attention to health disorders. Rough calculations have shown that 10 thousand people a year are susceptible to this phenomenon.
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What is overwork?
Overwork occurs when overtime hours worked, week after week or year after year, begin to have a detrimental effect on a person's health, family, community and economy. What happens is that fatigue and stress accumulate, leading to a greater risk of errors, accidents, injuries, health problems, reduced product quality, and decreased productivity.
Working hard is to some extent a competitive advantage for both employees and management. However, the resulting fatigue also leads to poor health in the long term.
Overwork is a self-destructive condition. A situation where there is too much work, not enough time to complete the required tasks and not enough resources will certainly not lead to anything good.
The body's response to overwork varies from person to person, but ensuring industrial safety in such conditions is difficult. Ideas about overwork of an individual are of great importance, since each working person reacts differently to overwork.
Endurance and the ability to cope with stress are individual for each working employee and depend on his needs, grievances, ambitions, lifestyle and expectations.
How to deal with the situation?
If there are symptoms of fatigue, both physical and mental, you need to act. In the first case, as the doctor said earlier, you need to give yourself a good rest. The only thing you should understand is that, for example, you won’t be able to get enough sleep - you must definitely adjust your regime and always rest normally.
If we are talking about mental overstrain, we need to act more comprehensively. “First, you need to try to organize your day so that you have time for quality sleep of at least 8 hours. Naturally, you should take care of your diet and make it more balanced. You should also not forget about physical activity - various walks and physical exercises,” notes Evgenia Parshina.
In addition, the immunologist advises, in order to normalize the condition and overcome chronic fatigue syndrome, to devote time to those activities that you have wanted to get interested in for a long time, but did not have enough time and energy. For example, this could be embroidery, knitting, watching movies, as well as other hobbies. “The most important thing in this matter is to have fun and positive emotions,” the specialist concludes.
How to reduce the load?
In order for the child to stop being in a state of constant overfatigue, it is necessary to ensure that the level of stress is reduced. First of all, you need to start with the emotional load. When parents come home, they need to avoid talking about a difficult day at work and how tired they are. Since children are very susceptible and take on the emotional fatigue of their relatives.
Also, you should not scold your child rudely and quite often for his misdeeds and poor performance at school. It is necessary to try to understand what is bothering him, talk to him, have a conversation and analyze the problem in more detail.
The next stage is to reduce the level of physical stress in the child’s body. Initially, it is necessary to find out what disease prevents the child from developing normally and transfers his condition to the stage of overfatigue. This may occur due to an improperly organized diet and nutrition menu, as well as due to the lack of vitamin complexes and foods in his diet. In this regard, you will have to work hard and develop an optimal menu that will help strengthen the child’s overall emotional and physical condition.
Also, optimal time spent in nature and fresh air plays a huge role in children’s lives. To do this, it is necessary to review the child’s daily routine and plan it in such a way that he is outside more often. To keep him interested, you can come up with outdoor games for him.
To ensure that your child does not have sleep disturbances, it is necessary that he goes to bed before 10:00 p.m. This will contribute to a stable metabolic process, and will also be accompanied by a surge of cheerful and wonderful mood when the child wakes up in the morning.
What can you do to prevent fatigue?
To save a child from the possibility of overwork and eliminate its occurrence, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures based on the following:
- Do not overload the child with clubs and activities. Determine a sufficient number of them, among which the child will have personal time to relax and do what he wants.
- You should not encourage your child to memorize large amounts of information. It is necessary to distribute classes in such a way that they alternate from memorization to classes on attentiveness, memory development, logical tasks, analysis and summarizing what has been learned.
- If there are sporting events in a child’s life, then a suitable training regime and training process should be selected individually for him. So that they are aimed at developing and strengthening the child’s health, and not worsening or undermining it.
- The child must live according to a developed daily routine, starting from nutrition, playing sports and studying home material, and ending with sleep patterns. If he follows a regimen tailored specifically for him, he will feel cheerful and full of energy.
- You should not allow your child to watch TV for a long time, play gadgets and computer games. The child not only undermines the condition of the organs of vision, but also overworks his body.
- Spend as much time outdoors as possible, engage in an active lifestyle, participate in sports activities, do exercises and exercises to maintain immunity.
- Develop a system of proper diet and nutrition menu for the child. Include all necessary foods and vitamin complexes in your diet. The diet should be varied as much as possible with healthy foods - dairy products, meat, fish, herbs, mushrooms, several varieties of nuts and seeds, seafood, eggs, fruits and vegetables.
- It is necessary to carry out procedures to harden and strengthen the child’s overall immune system. To do this, you should select a number of sports activities and hardening procedures, which may include dousing procedures, morning jogging, and exercises. In addition to the health promotion program, include the use of vitamin complexes, especially in autumn and spring. In order to correctly develop a set of measures, you can contact a qualified specialist who will competently develop and advise everything.
