A nation of emotional hypochondriacs

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Feeling stressed-out by work and in need of help �

"Oh no you aren't," say doctors.

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Thinking of suing your bosses

Don't bother, says new research

For years employees have blamed all sorts of ailments on stress at work. Unions believe workplace stress could be 'the biggest killer of the 21st century.'

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But now, when employers at last seem to be taking the issue seriously, and workers are beginning to win huge sums in compensation for work-related stress, doctors are turning accepted wisdom on its head.

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A report by Dr Rob Briner senior lecturer in organisational psychology at Birkbeck College, London, says although employers should take job conditions seriously, it is hard to establish any clear link between supposed 'stress' and ill-health.

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"I am increasingly sceptical about this alleged crisis. The label 'stress' is bandied around far too easily, covering everything from gripes about the boss to serious depression," said Dr Briner.

Moreover, the fashionable answers to such problems - such as counselling, training and employee support - appear to be rarely effective and can be harmful.

The actual term 'stress' is so vague as to be almost meaningless. Despite all the claims from the self- styled experts of the stress management industry, there is no agreed medical or scientific diagnosis for stress. It covers a huge range of emotional responses.

And since the definition is so loose and the term is so overused, it is hard to establish any clear link between supposed 'stress' and ill-health."

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Potentially worse news comes with his conclusion: "Employment is much better for one's psychological health than not working."

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Dr Briner believes that the rapidly growing stress management industry has a vested interest in spreading the belief that the workplace is riddled with suffering and anguish.

"So much of the stress industry is nothing but gimmickry, a ragbag of fatuous techniques and trendy fads."

Now employers are likely to turn to spirituality to ease the troubled worker, appealing to this or her heart and soul rather than just mind.

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Father Dermot Tredget, a Benedictine monk from Douia Abbey declares. "A spiritually-friendly workplace will be more than just a nice place to work. It will also be more profitable. Such workplaces will have greater staff retention rates, so lowering recruitment costs; see an increase in creativity and innovation; see improved morale, co-operation and teamwork and will see an improvement of the interface between the organisation and its customer-base."

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