2023-09-01 08:00:00
A doctor coined the term to define and warn of the physical and psychological consequences of a bad relationship with the work environment
The 21st century has brought with it new work dynamics and terms such as freelance, engagement and networking that reflect this reality. However, challenges associated with these dynamics have also arisen. Overwork is known as workaholic, stress and exhaustion accumulated over the years is called burnout. Now, a new term has been identified that defines the obsession with wanting to do everything perfectly in the work environment, derived from ambition and self-demand: sisifemia. José Manuel Vicente, director of the Chair of Expert Evaluative Medicine at the San Antonio de Murcia Catholic University (UCAM), has been the one who coined this term.
Sisyphemia takes its inspiration from the Greek myth of Sisyphus, condemned to eternally repeat the task of climbing a rock uphill.
Vicente, who is a doctor and also head of the Medical Unit of the INSS Disability Assessment team in Gipuzkoa, identified this ailment for the first time in 2022. According to Vicente, sisiphemia is a health disorder derived from the mental and physical exhaustion of a employee who faces unattainable goals, imposed either by the management of the company or by himself. This creates an excessive workload that you seek to meet, but which is never completed despite best efforts.
People with sesisphemia cannot disconnect from work during their rest days or when they lie in bed. Their minds become automatic and they constantly ruminate on pending tasks, self-criticism and work concerns. This leads to long working hours, lack of sleep, reduced leisure time and social isolation in favor of work. These behaviors generate a vicious cycle, driven by self-demand and perfectionism, which leads them to take stimulants such as caffeine or resort to anxiolytics to try to meet self-imposed standards.
Sisifemia differs from other work disorders due to its high self-demand and perfectionism, as well as the feeling of having a single opportunity to do well. In the long term, this tendency can lead to anxiety, distress, depression, sleep disturbances, and physical health problems such as heart disease and high blood pressure. José Manuel Vicente warns that the unhealthy relationship that many people have with work, driven by competitiveness and long hours, contributes to sesisphemia. In addition, he points out that the development of teleworking during the pandemic has erased the limits of hours and has made it easier to take work home.
Experts emphasize the importance of paying attention to mental health in the work environment and recommend implementing psychosocial prevention mechanisms. It is crucial that companies value the mental health of workers as much as their physical health and promote a preventive culture. Sisiphemia does not affect all professions in the same way, being more common in vocational professions with a high level of demand and responsibility, as well as in people with a high sense of responsibility and self-demand.
It is essential to recognize and understand this work trend in order to provide the necessary support to those who suffer from it. Establishing healthy boundaries between work and leisure time, and promoting a workplace culture that values mental health, are crucial steps in preventing and addressing sisiphemia and its detrimental health effects.
#Labor #Sisyphemia #Dangerous #Cycle #Obsession #Perfection #Work