The BBC has a fuller report on the recommendations but I can’t help but wonder why it is so hard to get businesses to take stress seriously enough to do something about it?

You can read about this here …

Also a recent study undertaken by Nottingham University has found that stress tends to peak in workers who are aged between 50-55, after which stress reduces. There could be many reasons for this and most would seem to revolve around lifestyle changes and older people taking less pressured jobs. However with greater demand for people to work longer it seems it could be important to appreciate the pressure points and seek to help workers overcome them.

You can read more on this story here …

However 4% is a pretty meagure amount of stress reduction and this might not work for everyone. This study was undertaken in the UK where there is a kind of informal Tea ceremony in times of crisis – “let’s put the kettle on”. British people have often taken a few moments to think through a problem over a cup of Tea and it could well be the positive psychological effect of this stopping and thinking that could be the reason for these results.

I’m still to be convinced that Tea itself has any medical stress benefits but having a calming routine you can use whenever a crisis hits will certainly help (as I believe this study really shows).

This will come as no surprise to most of us but it is always refreshing to hear it from the mouth of a top business person. I’ve had some bosses in my time who I don’t think got this basic truth – it’s not that they were particularly bad (well one of them was) but it’s just the frowning and struggling that they go through when there is a family situation that means business has to come second.

On the other hand it would be easy for a worker to use their family as an excuse.

I think what is called for is integrity. Workers should stop using family as an excuse to get out of things they would rather not do and employers need to acknowledge that family is more important than business.

It always seems to me that managers should be very glad of workers who take family life seriously – it shows a level of commitment and care than any business should welcome from its employees.

Well done Gerry.

You can read more about it here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630132017.htm

You can read about this story here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629132254.htm

I’ve heard lots of people describing how he had a tortured life but I tend to think a little differently. I think he had quite a lot of happiness and success in his life.

We all have things that we wish were different. Things that have gone wrong or where others have treated us badly. Some of us have to face much tougher times than others but that should never be an excuse for giving up or letting your life collapse into something tortured and sad.

I’ve sign Michael smile and laugh on more than one occasion – in fact I guess most of the time he has come across that way. His friends always talk very highly of him – people who are miserable and sad tend not to have too many friends.

Of course his death was full of drama just like the rest of his life.

He was a very gifted musician who found satisfaction when he was on the stage. He got to realise his own dream.

Now the problems are passed and I hope he has found peace.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

• Violence – Research on media violence and its relationship to real-life aggression is substantial and convincing. Young persons learn their attitudes about violence at a very young age and, once learned, those attitudes are difficult to modify. Conservative estimates are that media violence may be associated with 10 percent of real-life violence.
• Sex – Several longitudinal studies have linked exposure to sex in the media to earlier onset of sexual intercourse. The media represent an important access point for birth control information for youth; however, the major networks continue to balk at airing contraception advertisements at the same time they are airing unprecedented amounts of sexual situations and innuendoes in their primetime programs.

You can read more about it here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090602111814.htm

• Drugs – Witnessing smoking scenes in movies may be the leading factor associated with smoking initiation among youth. In addition, young persons can be heavily influenced by alcohol and cigarette advertising. More than $20 billion a year is spent in the United States on advertising cigarettes ($13 billion), alcohol ($5 billion), and prescription drugs ($4 billion).
• Obesity – Media use is implicated in the current epidemic of obesity worldwide, but it is unclear how. Children and adolescents view an estimated 7,500 food advertisements per year, most of which are for junk food or fast food. Contributing factors to obesity may include that watching television changes eating habits and media use displaces more active physical pursuits.
• Eating Disorders – The media are a major contributor to the formation of an adolescent’s body self-image. In Fiji, a naturalistic study of teenage girls found that the prevalence of eating disorders increased dramatically after the introduction of American TV programs.

You can find the leaflets here:

http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/health/stress/_lnstrswrk.htm

The guidance has been produced in conjunction with the Health and Safety Executive and Investors in People.

You can read the research here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090602171941.htm