For many, smoking cigarettes is not just a habit, but a way of life. While "casual" smokers enjoy a cigarette while having drinks or in other social settings, others smoke a pack or more daily, with the need to smoke sometimes triggered by pressures such as occupational stress.
Dutch Study
A 1994 Dutch study reported by Statistics Netherlands concluded that heightened work-related stress is correlated with higher smoking levels. The study reported that men with higher levels of control in their jobs were less likely to smoke than men who felt they possessed less control. It also found that such control-related issues were more predictive of smoking than general job-related stress.
German Study
Another report, by Germany's Institute for Medical Sociology, concluded that occupational stress did not cause smoking and nicotine dependence. Rather, it said, higher levels of job stress were correlated with lower levels of nicotine dependence. According to the report, heavy workload actually correlated with lower smoking levels. The researchers hypothesized that this may be the result of busy workers having less time to smoke.
Naval Study
Yet another study, by the Naval Health Research Center, covered not only cigarette intake and job stress, but also coffee drinking and alcohol use among those in high-stress job situations. The researchers found that after 34 weeks of studying subjects with jobs featuring systematic stress increases, perceived high job-related stress did indeed correlate with smoking increases.
The researchers did present a caveat: Smoking levels varied highly among high-stress workers; thus much of a person's reaction to such stress--in terms of smoking--may be related to pre-existing individual personalities and attitudes.
Health Risks
Despite the urge to smoke that some say high job stress can cause, there are myriad health risks related to to it. Smoking is a leading cause of cancer and heart disease, in addition to various other lesser illnesses such as emphysema. And it doesn't only affect smokers; secondhand smoke causes between 22,700 and 69,600 deaths from heart failure every year, according to statistics published by the American Lung Association.
Smoking in the Workplace
While smoking at work may have been widely accepted a few decades ago, that's no longer the case, both in terms of social norms and laws. While there are no federal laws pertaining to smoking at work, many states have passed laws limiting smokers to designated areas, so as to protect nonsmoking co-workers from exposure to secondhand smoke. Such laws vary in scope and detail by state.
References
- Oxford Journals: Job stress and smoking in the Dutch labour force
- Tobacco Induced Diseases: The influence of occupational stress factors on the nicotine dependence
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior: Occupational Stress and Variation in Cigarette, Coffee and Alcohol
- American Lung Association: Secondhand Smoke
