The climate of the last two years has been incredibly stressful for everyone, and it’s hard to think of anyone whose life hasn’t been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in some way.
Most of the conversation has been on the impact of the virus itself: how many cases, how many deaths, government responses, and how best to protect ourselves from serious outcomes. All of this is understandable, but one area has been largely overlooked: the effect of the pandemic on heart health.
Stress has long been known to have a significant negative impact on heart health. Ordinarily, advice would be to eliminate sources of stress where possible and to practice stress management techniques.
This is helpful advice for those interested in heart disease prevention, but the ongoing nature of the pandemic means many stress-relieving activities have become more difficult or even impossible. With travel restrictions, lockdowns, and restrictions, it’s been difficult or impossible to take vacations, meet friends, or treat yourself to a spa day. And that’s not to mention the additional stress caused by the pandemic itself.
On top of this, there’s the impact of working from home. For many people, the workplace is a community and an essential support network, both of which are incredibly valuable in controlling stress. Lockdowns and other measures can increase stress and decrease support, which is a recipe for disaster.
In this article, I’ll explain the impact of stress on the workplace and the different ways you can work to reduce stress during the pandemic.
The impact of stress
Stress has an impact on many areas of our lives, including health, behavior and our ability to work effectively.
In the workplace, stress affects not only individuals, but also the ability of your business to function correctly.
According to a survey conducted in 2021, as much as a third of adults reported suffering from a significant increase in stress due to the pandemic. The potential loss of the workplace community does not, however, reduce the importance of the support that companies can offer in reducing employee stress.
The current climate emphasizes the importance of understanding the effects stress can have on employees, and why you should support them.
How stress affects performance
Stress can have a huge impact on someone’s ability to perform at work and, left unchecked, can cause a significant dip in productivity. Research has shown that stress can ‘cut an employee’s productivity by up to 77 percent.’
This means that the extreme stress caused by the pandemic could be significantly impacting your business’ ability to operate at a time when a huge number of businesses are already suffering and many are having to close.
Stress impacts your employees in a number of ways, including:
- A lack of energy
- A lack of focus
- Constant worry
- Reduced creativity
- Negative effects on personality e.g. more anger or less patience
Empathy and compassion aside, it simply makes good business sense to help reduce employee stress.
How stress affects the body
On top of the impact that chronic stress can have on a person’s ability to work effectively, it can also wreak havoc on cardiovascular health.
When we’re stressed, the body releases hormones that increase our breathing and heart rates. Our stress response is intended to help us escape immediate danger, but when it’s happening frequently or for extended periods of time, it can put significant strain on the heart. Chronic stress should be addressed, as left unchecked it can lead to high blood pressure, blood clots, strokes, and inflammation.
All of these significantly increase the risk of developing heart disease, and to make matters worse, on top of the direct physical impact of stress, people suffering from chronic stress are more likely to use unhealthy methods to cope.
Learning to cope with stress
There are many healthy means of dealing with stress. By working with a metabolic health coach, you can teach your employees about all of them.
Stress reduction training is a hugely important step for promoting heart health in the workplace, and studies have shown that it can reduce the employer cost of sick days by as much as 20% – that’s a significant number that can really boost your bottom line.
And as we continue to face COVID-19 and its complications, the amount of people affected by chronic stress is only increasing. So a focus on heart disease prevention is key.
This is why I offer my services as a metabolic health coach, and in this role I work with businesses to promote heart health in the workplace.
Perhaps the biggest limiting factor for those working toward heart disease prevention is the huge wealth of misinformation surrounding what’s healthy. The result of this is many people are making poor choices without even knowing it.
By far the most important step in heart disease prevention is acquiring the knowledge of how to make heart-healthy choices both in and outside of the workplace. The effects of this training even reach beyond your workplace, as employees can take this knowledge home to their friends and family.
My business coaching program lasts for three or six months, and you and your team will learn:
- What metabolic health is
- How to assess your current metabolic health
- Healthy decisions to optimize your health
If you are interested in promoting heart health in your workplace, then click here to learn more.