Study on the Impact of Long Working Hours on the Mental and Physical Health of IT Sector Employees

Introduction

Excessive working hours was reported to be accountable for almost one-third of the total estimated work-related global burden of disease or an underlying factor for illnesses. Although the mind and body are frequently thought of as different entities, mental and physical health are inextricably linked. A Good and healthy mental health will also be showcased by the individual's physical health which will be good. Similarly, a weak and bad mental health will showcase a person with weak physical health. This emphasises how important mental health is in one's life Mental health is extremely crucial in leading a healthy life. Good mental health can help you stay healthy, positive and can also stop some serious health problems. There are several factors that can contribute to poor mental health in the workplace, but most of them only lead to further stress if left untreated. This includes things that go wrong with fellow workers, over the top workload, and tighter or faster deadlines. For new entrants, this can be an unfriendly team, lack of support from other employees, and inadequate training. Adding the latest pandemic to your mix can add pressure to your list, such as working from home, changing routines, or lack of support. Mental health problems, such as anxiety, can cause someone to lose focus and make multitasking and daily work activities very difficult. Employee endurance may be weakened, making fulfilling work deadlines difficult. People are also seen to have paranoia when they surfer from problems like anxiety and depression. In other words, even constructive criticism can be taken personally, questioning yourself and your work, and damaging your confidence and ability in the future. It doesn't have to be the physical work aspect that is affected. It can be the dynamics of the workforce that makes the office competitive rather than teamed. Patients with mental health problems can become isolated due to the difficulty of interacting with others. This creates a huge block of communication. This means that potential unaddressed issues can cause permanent damage in the future. Mental illness affects workers in many ways. Of course, it can adversely affect job performance and productivity, but mental illness also affects employee communication with colleagues and physical fitness in daily life. To address the importance of mental health in the workplace, we need to change the way we think about mental health between workers and employers. It's also crucial to realise that medication does not always result in a speedy fix so employees can be rest assured that they are taking the time to treat their mental health problems.

These activities can increase the risk of dehydration that means lose more fluid than you take in and hyperglycaemia. At first it might seem small, only causing small problems like hunger pans and cracked lips but with time it starts getting worse. Stress at work will also impact both the quality and quantity of sleep as deadlines or target needed to be fulfilled. We know how much sleeping is important for our body and without it can affect body and lower immunity, but it could also greatly hinder other areas like hinder learning ability, loss of appetite, to be in a bad mood mostly. Also, employees who are working for long hours might not get the time to go to the doctor for proper treatment when they fall ill. Furthermore, working long hours may increase the risk of getting metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, hypertension, and diabetes, and ischemic heart disease, stroke, and increased mortality are all severe conditions that can be caused by it.

Remaining in a single position for long periods of time without moving or shifting leads to back pain in the office. Sitting in a single place and doing less activity and more work during the day can compress and force water out of the intervertebral discs in the spine. This puts pressure on one’s spinal nerve as it causes ones spinal discs to bulge. Back pain tops the list of workplace injuries as it comes as the most frequent problem found in workplace only after headaches. Seating for three to four hours without having to get up leading to poor form, which can cause to discomfort and pain. This does not mean that people are getting less active, it mostly means that the overall workload can cause them to sit for long hours that causes strain. At work, when people sit for long hours at a desk, they are usually going through work or staring at the computer or doing other stuff which shows that there is very less movement of their back and neck muscles. It also may mean poor posture. Either of them can lead to the muscle being stiff and that might create problem which might affect the employees’ work performance.