Email anxiety new health hazard for young Indian professionals

New Delhi Thirtyfiveyearold Shikha Girgla a Delhibased brand consultant and a happygolucky personality for her peers never thought that shifting office emails to her smartphone will reach a stage where she will require medical attentionThe habit of checking emails every 10 minutes or so caused her sleeplessness anxiety and lack of concentration in family affairs After much deliberation and counselling she finally decided to deactivate office emails as soon as she reached home Today Girgla feels much better and in control of her lifeRepresentational pictureLike Girgla if you too cant avoid responding to work or client emails after every few minutes you may be suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder that is debilitating and needs immediate intervention experts sayWith smartphone use on a rise email stress has become a new health hazard for young Indian professionalsBesides the immediate impact on physical health excessive dependence on technology like checking emails every few minutes is likely to lead to poor lifestyle choices disturbed sleep a source of distraction and social alienation Dr Samir Parikh director of mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis Hospital in New Delhi told IANSWith the blurring of lines dividing work from home individuals are being more prone to have unclear boundaries which is likely to contribute towards increasing stress levels and intermingling of roles thereby having an adverse impact professionally personally as well as in social aspectsEarlier workplace issues would mostly be encountered when the employee was physically present at the workplaceNow because of instant communication not only can he be sent an email at any time he is also held accountable by superiors to respond to it as soon as possible rues Dr Ajit Dandekar head department of psychiatry at Nanavati Hospital in Vile Parle MumbaiYoung professionals are lining up at his clinic with complaints of insomnia anxiety and insecurity at the root of which lies the unhealthy work cultureConstantly hounded by work communication the stress is clearly visible on their facesIn recent years I have counselled several young professionals suffering from an obsessive need to check email every few minutes at the cost of their sleep and general health Dandekar said He said this was also true for selfemployed professionalsHaving emails accessible to us at one click can be used as a major advantage as it saves time energy and also improves connectivity At the same time an excessive dependence could be aggravatingIf an individual develops such a dependency having the need to constantly check for emails regularly this tendency could be manifested in the form of an anxiety which would be hampering the individuals personal social as well as occupational functioning explains Dr ParikhAccording to a study released by the apex trade association Assocham in April this year over 42 percent of employees in the Indian private sector suffer from depression or general anxiety disorder due to demanding schedules high stress levels and performancerelated perquisites at workDelhi had the highest number of such employees followed by Bengaluru Mumbai Ahmedabad Chandigarh Hyderabad and PuneAccording to Dr Manish Jain psychiatrist at BLK Super Speciality Hospital checking emails frequently has become a new trigger of anxiety for the working professionals who come to see him quite often nowadaysA new deadline or task can just be communicated through mail which may become a trigger for anxiety attacks for some he saidIf ones work environment is extremely demanding there is a greater likelihood of a worklife imbalance To add to this an excessive dependence on technology could definitely blur the demarcation between work and home thereby leading to an overflow of stress into various aspects of the individuals functioningSuch an anxiety is likely to interfere with the persons cognitive as well as social functioning People with mild preexisting anxiety traits are at a higher risk Dr Jain stressesSleep deprivation and longstanding unattended stress are known to disturb endocrine functions and biological rhythm This leads to various psychological and psychosomatic disorders such as depression and anxietySelfdiscipline is the key when it comes to dealing with work communicationLearn to say a polite but firm no when the demand on your time and body or the expectation is unreasonableBeyond office hours you owe your body proper sleep relaxation exercise and a balanced diet the experts advise