Add tense, physically demanding and emotionally draining work to the mix and, well, you've compounded that stress. Pay is undoubtedly part of the reason why waitressing has been discovered to be one of the most stressful jobs for more than 20 years. Yes, even when compared to other high-risk professions. While newspaper or broadcaster reporters don't face the physical dangers faced by police officers or firefighters, these people face strict and consistent deadlines.
In addition, those working in the news industry face fear of demands and an increasingly shrinking labor market, which also contributes to high levels of stress. What is the most stressful job in the world? You can think of surgeons, air traffic controllers, lawyers, miners, pilots, truckers, and construction workers. The authors analyzed six previous studies and grouped jobs according to the degree to which workers have control over their tasks and how demanding the work was, taking into account time pressure, mental stress and coordination. People in passive and active employment had no greater risk of having a stroke compared to people placed in the low-stress job category.
Women were especially vulnerable, as those in high-stress jobs had a 33% higher risk of having a stroke than women in low-stress jobs. The study classified certain jobs as high-stress based on how physically and psychologically demanding they were, in addition to the control workers had over their jobs. By comparison, a job such as serving in a restaurant, which often involves a lack of a sense of empowerment, customer demands, management, and an unsociable schedule, can have the worst impact on stress. People in high-stress jobs were 22% more at risk of having a stroke and 58% more likely to have an ischemic stroke than those in low-stress jobs.
Commenting on the findings, lead researcher Dingli Xu said that more research is needed to determine if work stress is directly related to an increased risk of stroke or if external factors related to work stress are to blame. It may seem common sense that demanding jobs with little control equate to more stress, but the study contained some severe warnings, showing that 4.4 percent of a person's risk of stroke is due to work stress, a figure that increases to 6.5 percent in women. When they re-divided participants by gender, scientists found that women in high-stress jobs had a 33% higher risk of having a stroke than women in low-stress jobs. Chinese researchers have determined that jobs with low salaries and high workloads, such as being a waitress, are the most stressful and can put those who perform them at a much greater risk of developing heart disease, cancer and strokes.
People with high-stress jobs were 22 percent more at risk of having a stroke than people with low-stress jobs in general and were 58 percent more likely to have an ischemic stroke.
