Better Life Lab | The Art and Science of Living a Full and Healthy Life

American Karoshi — the Problem with Work Stress

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Episode notes

In Japan, generations of workers have given their all to the code of Karoshi. It’s a word that literally means, “Work til you die." 

Few Americans know the word “Karoshi.” We don’t think it happens here. But the workplace now actually ranks as the fifth leading cause of death in America. 

To help us understand work stress better, we’re joined by the co-directors of the Healthy Work Campaign. Marnie Dobson and Peter Schnall. How do we shift from work being something that can make your life miserable, to something that can enhance the quality of your life? It comes down to how much power, control and autonomy you have at work.

Guests:

• Cate Lindemann, a lawyer in Illinois who suffered a stress-induced heart attack
• Cherri Murphy, a pastor and former Lyft driver in California
• Marnie Dobson and Peter Schnall, co-directors of the Healthy Work Campaign

Resources:

• The Relationship Between Workplace Stressors and Mortality and Health Costs in the United States, Joel Goh, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Stefanos A. Zenios
• Global, regional, and national burdens of ischemic heart disease and stroke attributable to exposure to long working hours for 194 countries, 2000–2016: A systematic analysis from the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury, Pega et al, May 2021
• Bad Jobs, Bad Health? How Work and Working Conditions Contribute to Health Disparities Burgard & Yin 2013
• Psychosocial Factors at Work: Recognition and Control, a report of the Joint International Labour Office and World Health Organization Committee on Occupational Health (1985)
• Employee Control and Occupational Stress, Paul Spector, 2002 “Evidence is growing that enhanced control at work can be an important element in employees' health and well–being.” 
• Healthy Work Campaign fact sheet
• Work, Stress and Health and Socio-Economic Status, American Psychological Association
• Workplace Stress, ILO, 2016