Bullied at Work? You Might Be More Prone to Heart Diseases

Workplace bullying and violence can lead to higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Workplace bullying and violence can lead to 120% and 36% rise in risk of cardiovascular disease respectively. 

(Photo: iStockphoto)

An aggressive boss, an intimidating colleague and an anxious work environment, while leading to a stressful state of mind, might also be responsible for an increase risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), says a new study.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, examined over 79000 working men and women, aged 18-65 and free of heart disease and recorded their exposure to workplace bullying and violence using self-reports. 9 percent reported being bullied at work and 13 percent recorded exposure to workplace violence in the past year.

People who were bullied frequently had a 120 percent higher risk of heart disease than those who were not, and those subjected to workplace violence or threats had a comparably higher risk of 36 percent than those who did not report violence.

Although the study could not ascertain a cause-effect link, it proved the existence of some definite association between workplace bullying and violence and cardiovascular problems. In the words of Tianwei Xu, a postdoctoral student from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark,

If there is a causal link between bullying or violence at work and cardiovascular disease, then the removal of workplace bullying would mean we could avoid five per cent of all cardiovascular cases, and the eradication of violence at work would avoid more than three per cent of all cases.

Workplace bullying, as defined in the study, is characterized by ‘repeated or enduring psychologically aggressive behaviors at work’, while workplace violence is the ‘intentional use of force or threats of such actions at work’.

Earlier studies have shown that both these social stressors may contribute to lowered self-esteem, behaviorial changes, overeating, and excessive alcohol consumption.