Stress Management and Anti-aging: Understanding Stress

According to the Labor Safety and Health Survey (Actual Situation Survey: Reiwa second year) conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, 54.2% (58.0% in the Heisei 30th year survey) of workers have strong anxiety or stress related to their current job or professional life, indicating that more than half of the people feel stress [1]. In addition, by age group, 58.3% of people in the 50–59 age group feel stress, which is higher than other age groups. Factors of stress in workers include the quality and quantity of work, failures at work, the occurrence of responsibilities, interpersonal relationships (including sexual harassment and power harassment), the future prospects of the company, complaints from customers and business partners, changes in roles and positions (promotions, upgrades, reassignments, etc.), and employment stability. In addition, in the home, factors such as nursing and caregiving for family members and bereavement are also mentioned, and a wide range of stress measures that take into account psychosocial factors are necessary. Among physical diseases, those in which psychosocial stress is closely involved in the onset and course, and functional and organic disorders are recognized are understood as psychosomatic diseases, and understanding of such psychosomatic correlations has been advancing. With the increasing complexity of social structures in recent years, a variety of psychosocial stresses are likely to occur, and stress-related diseases and psychosomatic diseases are also increasing. In such cases, there are diseases associated with acute stress, and it is not uncommon for lifestyle habits to be greatly disturbed under chronic stress conditions, leading to further diseases. Therefore, the evaluation of stress and its prevention and management measures are important. In 2015, the Labor Safety and Health Law was partially revised, and it became mandatory to conduct stress checks at least once a year, analyze the results, and improve the workplace environment during general health checkups. The importance of early screening of high-risk individuals and prevention of stress-related diseases through workplace environment improvement is shown there.