Can working too hard cause health problems?

It can and it does. First of all, there’s stress. Working too long or too hard or without having enough going on in your life to counterbalance work can create extremely high stress levels. And that can undermine your health in all sorts of ways.

Study after study has shown that prolonged stress has a negative impact on health. Stress is implicated in everything from high blood pressure to infertility. Indigestion, allergies, migraine, diabetes, ulcers, skin disorders and depression are just some of the conditions that have been linked to stress.

Letting work dominate your life also means you’re probably not getting enough exercise, or any at all. Exercise keeps your body healthy and helps you to deal with stress. It may also mean you’re not getting enough sleep, or that your sleep is disturbed. Proper sleep is essential to good health.

If you’re working too hard there’s also a good chance that you’re ignoring your diet. Grabbing something from the office canteen, downing endless cups of coffee to keep going and then heating up a pre-prepared meal at night because you haven’t the energy or time to make anything better is a fast road to poor health.

Then there are health problems related to the way you work. Whether you’re operating a drill or working at a computer screen, you need proper breaks and time to give your body a chance to recover from spending long periods in fixed positions. Overwork often means not taking enough breaks and spending too much time in the one position, and that can cause long-term problems including RSI , back injury and eye strain.