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Mild stress can lead to disability

Even relatively mild stress can cause long-term disability that prevents people from working.

Mild stress can lead to disability

Even relatively mild stress can cause long-term disability that prevents people from working.

While it has long been known that mental disorders can be a cause of long term disability, recent findings indicate that the effects of milder forms of stress should be taken more seriously.

Researchers studied over 17,000 employed adults in Sweden. At the start of the study in 2002, the participants completed a questionnaire designed to assess their mental health and stress levels, as well as other aspects of health and wellbeing and were tracked through 2007. During the follow-up period, 649 of the participants began receiving disability benefits - 203 for mental health issues and the remainder for physical health problems.

Study participants who had initially been assessed as having higher levels of stress were found to be much more likely to start receiving long-term disability benefits during the follow-up period.

After taking into account other factors that might affect the results, the findings revealed that even mild levels of stress raised the risk of receiving disability benefits by up to 70 percent.

It is important to consider these findings in the context of modern working life, which places greater demands on employees, and social factors, such as fewer close personal relationships and supportive networks. Mild psychological distress may be associated with more long-term disability than previously acknowledged and its public health importance may be underestimated, the researchers concluded.
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