Great article today on boston.com today about how some researchers believe that eight years inthe Oval Office could equal about 16 years of aging.
"The pounding stress of the job can unleash biological forces that translate into wrinkles, gray hair, weight fluctuation - and sometimes even premature death, although there is far from universal agreement on the long-term health effects of the presidency."
The article goes on to say that people who endure pitched levels of stress, hormones such as cortisol can begin flowing.
The key to releasing that stress? Dr. Michael Roizen with the Cleveland Clinic says it takes six close friends or social groups to relieve that kind of stress.
No real surprises here, but it does make you wonder how people in high-profile, high-stress positions relieve stress. Have you ever found yourself in a pressure cooker type of situation for months or years? Did you notice a change in your health?
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The stresses of the most visible and politically powerful position in the world are hardly imaginable for most of us. Then again, motherhood is hardly imaginable for any man. I think more gray hairs appeared on my head from dealing with my teenagers than during my days as an institutional trader with a Wall Street firm, lol!
January 5, 2009 - 7:21pmThis Comment
I'm always struck by the physical aging of presidents in the White House. Within their first term, it seems like you truly see the effects of the job, especially in their graying hair.
Presidents are of the age where we are graying anyway, but I know that both Clinton and George W. Bush seemed to gray very very fast once in office. I have never understood how something like graying -- which is so genetic -- is affected by stress, but I'm learning that everything is affected by hormones, and stress can make all our hormones go nuts at times.
The job that Barack Obama has cut out for him going into the office seems so huge. He has high priorities on every plate -- international affairs, the Middle East, domestic affairs, health care, education and now the economic crisis. Any one of those could cause a person enough stress to affect them deeply, and he's in charge of our efforts on all of them.
Alison, I'm convinced that what you say is true, however -- for the most part, the work we actively seek is work that we're well suited for. I had a high-stress job in a newsroom and was at my best when things were going crazy. There is a time when your instincts take over, and if you're in the right job, it's a very fulfilling thing. If you're in the wrong job and it's high-stress, I would guess it's easily twice as stressful, and twice as harmful psychologically and physically.
We often saw Clinton and, later, Bush jogging with the press corps. I wonder if Obama's security team and his press corps are practicing their pickup basketball games, of which he's apparently a huge fan!
January 5, 2009 - 11:40amThis Comment
I've often wondered about such high-stress careers, especially those with a high-level of responsibility but a low-level of control (in outcomes), such as medical, law enforcement, fire-fighters and the presidency.
The stress level would make quite an impact on overall health, I'm sure, but I wonder what "types" of people (personality, characteristics, etc) actively choose those high-stress jobs, and if those jobs have the same effect on individuals who would not actively choose those jobs (but wind up in high stress jobs, anyways).
In other words, what motivates certain people toward these high level jobs in the first place?
One study found that the "types" of people in high stress jobs felt the effects of stress less (as measured by respiratory illnesses) if they perceived that they had personal control and had confidence.
The employees who were sick most often perceived they had control over their job responsibilities but did not have confidence and/or blamed themselves for bad outcomes.
It makes sense that President Bush may not experience as much stress as you would think with his job title, as (to the public eye), this research finding fits him best: the individual who sees him/herself as having control over work conditions and does not blame themselves for negative outcomes suffers the least amount of stress, even in a demanding job.
Interesting, right? The individual can essentially have a poor work performance, demanding job, high-stress levels, low approval/evaluation ratings...but if they are CONFIDENT and DO NOT BLAME THEMSELVES FOR NEGATIVE OUTCOMES...then they experience the least amount of stress.
Talk about the power of perception and positive thinking!
Source:
January 4, 2009 - 6:02pm(April 2001) How people perceive personal control when coping with demanding jobs can make them more vulnerable to colds and the flu, says new study. Original study published in Journal of Applied Psychology.
Accessed at: http://www.apa.org/releases/controlflu.html
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