HEAVY WORKLOADS & STRESS ≠ DVT

I’m writing about this story now, not because its only just come to my attention, but
because I wanted to take some time to compose what I wanted to say and of course wait for the hype surrounding this story dies down. I didn’t/don’t want anything that I write to be construed as either speaking ill of the dead or insensitive. Nothing that follows is intended to cause any offence to anyone.

When I first heard of this story (before the first newspaper reports, through a forwarded email) I went to all the various online forums, reading how and what happened. I noticed very quickly that people were making it out that the lady in question had died because of overwork. Contributors to these forums, many her friends, kept making references to items in her blog and the fact that she had complained about her heavy workload just days before she died. This worried me for a number of reasons – primarily that these people seemed to have missed the point completely. Secondly and flowing from the first problem, that many people (and I think I know quite a few of them) will use this story and this particular interpretation of the story as a licence not to work hard and to skive. Afterall, the thought running through their minds would be something along the lines of, ‘I’m not going to work so hard and kill myself one account of my job and employer!’ or perhaps ‘there are much more important things in life than my work… afterall work can kill!’.

The reason why I feel that many of her friends (although I can understand why they may interpret the situation in this particular manner) and anyone else who follows this line of reasoning have missed the point to their own peril is because she had died of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis).

DVT or by the term it is more commonly known, ‘economy class syndrome’ first came to public conception and usage with the particularly high frequency (all occurring right about the same period) of reported cases in the newspaper some years back. In these cases, apparently as a result of the small and minimum amount of leg room in many airlines, people were unable to move around much during long haul flights. This in turn allegedly resulted in blood clots forming in their legs (commongly thighs and calfs) which travelled to their hearts as the passenger attempted to get off the plane, causing him/her to collapse and die.

It is because of the severity of such an ‘attack’ that I believe is most vital to us understanding the situation for what it is and what it isn’t. A clear distinction must be drawn between this lady’s death and her working hours, work stress, and work load. In fact, I would venture to suggest that her workload, work stress and work hours had little (or nothing) to do with her death whatsoever.

This is simply because workload & work stress ≠ DVT.

DVT is caused by long periods of inactivity and motionlessness!

I would further venture to suggest that if someone (perhaps a child) were to spend 8 hours straight playing computer games (the type where you are able to stay relatively still – perhaps a strategy game of sorts) or someone who is completely engrossed in a book for 8 hours, would be at an equal risk of contracting DVT as this lady.

This is why the distinction so important. Because until and unless we understand and accept this, we will be unable to learn from it and ensure that we don’t share a similar fate.

So what is the solution? Make every conscious effort to move your legs! Get up if you have to. As I’ve said in many previous entries, working long hours is only going to get increasingly more common. Even the late night conference calls (because as companies become global and have international customers, time zones get blurred) and ridiculous deadlines will become much more frequent. We will not be able to prevent the workload and our employer’s expectations from getting more demanding, but we can make every effort to ensure that we do not end up dying of DVT!