Women show more signs of stress as a result of work than men

Women and men cope with stress in markedly different ways according to new research from Simplyhealth and YouGov. While work is identified as the biggest contributor to stress across all aspects of life for both men and women, the research shows women are far more likely to suffer from the physical symptoms of workplace stress.

Sleep deprivation is revealed as the biggest tell-tale sign of stress, with over half of UK employees (53 per cent) suffering from disturbed sleep as a result of pressures at work. However, this figure is significantly higher amongst women (59 per cent), compared to 47 per cent in men. Women are also far more likely to struggle with constant worrying as a result of stress at work, than men (49 per cent vs. 35 per cent).

In fact, women were considerably more likely to suffer from most of the symptoms outlined in the research, including, loss of appetite, palpitations, dizziness and breaking into tears. One in three adults admits to an aggressive outbreak as a result of pressures at work.

Table 1: Reactions to workplace stress

The cumulative effect of longer hours and increasing workloads is the biggest pressure employees face, closely followed by not feeling valued and financial worries. Again women appear to struggle with these issues more than men, with 24 per cent of women not feeling valued compared to 16 per cent of men. The issue of not feeling valued peaks at 35% amongst lower income households earning less than £40,000, compared to 27% of people with a household income of over £60,000.

When it comes to raising concerns, women aged 40 – 54 are more likely to report concerns around job security and redundancy. However, the research finds that employees across the board are unlikely to discuss workplace stress or anxiety with someone more senior. Similarly only 32% of people feel their work would be supportive if they had to take time off as a result of stress. The fact that over half (56 per cent) of the UK workforce believe talking to senior management about a mental health issue would inhibit their career prospects, may go some way to explaining people’s reluctance.