Consequences of Workplace Harassment

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Mon, 07 May 2018 09:59:10 +0000

Employees who experience sexual harassment by supervisors, colleagues or subordinates in the workplace may develop more severe symptoms of depression than employees who experience harassment from clients or customers. The research which involved 7603 employees from across 1041 organizations in Denmark was published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.

Also Read: Exercise in big parks can reduce depression

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Dr. Ida Elisabeth Huitfeldt Madsen, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark, the corresponding author said: “We were surprised to see the differences between the effects of harassment by clients or customers compared to harassment by other employees. This is not something that has been shown before. Previous research showed an increased risk of long-term sickness absence for employees exposed to sexual harassment by a colleague, supervisor or subordinate but an increased risk was not always found in association with sexual harassment by clients or customers.”

Dr. Madsen added: “Our findings suggest that sexual harassment from clients or customers have adverse consequences and should not be normalized or ignored. In this study, we found that sexual harassment from clients or customers, which is more prevalent than harassment from other employees, is associated with an increased level of depressive symptoms. This is important as some workplaces, for example in person-related work like care work or social work, may have an attitude that dealing with sexual harassment by clients or customers is ‘part of the job’.”

The researchers found that compared to employees not exposed to sexual harassment, employees harassed by clients or customers scored 2.05 points higher on the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) – a self-report mood questionnaire that generates a diagnosis of depression together with an estimate of symptom severity. Scores on the MDI range from 20 for minor depression to 30 or more for major depression. Employees harassed by a colleague, supervisor or subordinate scored 2.45 points higher compared to employees who had experienced sexual harassment by clients or customers.

When looking at clinical depression only, the researchers found no increased risk among those harassed by clients or customers compared to those not exposed to harassment, whereas those harassed by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates had a significantly higher risk of clinical depression.

Out of the 7603 employees who participated in this study, 2.4% (180) were exposed to sexual harassment by clients or customers, while 1.0% (79) was exposed to harassment by colleagues. Women were more likely to be exposed than men, with 169 out of 4116 women reporting sexual harassment by clients or customers compared to 11 out of 3487 men, and 48 women reporting sexual harassment by colleagues compared to 31 men. Participants employed in care workers were more often exposed to sexual harassment by clients or customers – 152 out of 2191 (6.9%) – than participants employed in other occupational groups such as education, service or industrial work.

The authors note that as the number of exposed individuals in this study was relatively low. This increases the uncertainty of the reported estimates, especially for men. The observed associations may thus largely be reflective of women’s experiences. The cross-sectional observational design of this study does not allow for conclusions about cause and effect. Also, the use of self-reported data that relied on participant recall may have led to sexual harassment being under- or over-reported.

Despite these limitations, the authors suggest that it is important to investigate sexual harassment from clients or customers and sexual harassment by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates as distinct types of harassment and to identify methods to prevent sexual harassment and the development of depressive symptoms.

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Dance therapy: A paradigm shift

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 07:44:26 +0000

Neerja Singh is a retired scientist of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Her interest is in phytochemistry and non-conventional therapies benefiting the patient. She has practised many such therapies like yoga, dance etc.

Dance is an art wherein you can express yourself and have a therapeutic experience. Dance movement therapy is an old concept but needs a grip in India. The author shares her experience on how dance therapeutically heals her mentally and physically.

What is DANCE?
It is not just a form of art wherein you move rhythmically to music for entertainment. But, it is also a type of therapy. Here is how?

The purpose of dance is to express one’s emotion freely and take pleasure in performing it. If one is angry, cheerful, melancholy, afraid or feel strongly about something, one may choose to show it through eyes, facial expression, and body movements in dance.

There is nothing new about dance. It is well known that dance benefits our body and mind. People have been dancing for centuries or you can say since childhood for entertainment. However, dance as a type of therapy was recognized back in modern dance movement of 19th century. During this movement, it was realized that dance could go beyond simple entertainment, and can be used as a form of expressions. By mid of 20th century, dance therapy developed in US and Europe which added observation, interpretation and manipulation of dance elements into the practice. In 1966, a professional organization, the American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA) was established. Dance movement therapy (DMT) in USA, Australia, and dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) in the UK is the psychotherapeutic use of movements and dance to support intellectual, emotional and motor functions of the body,as a form of expressive therapy.

DMT uses movement and expression with the skills of psychotherapy, counseling, and rehabilitation to help individuals to achieve both physical and mental health, stress reduction, disease prevention and mood management.

Following are the benefits of Dance Movement Therapy –
1. Improves cardiovascular endurance
2. Improves balance and coordination
3. Improves muscular strength and flexibility
4. Improves body posture and mobility
5. Reduces muscle tension
6. Reduces stress and anxiety
7. Mood elevator
8. Improves expression of feelings
9. Builds confidence and get over shyness

Following are some recent research which showcases that dance therapy can be effective in the treatment of mental health issues like eating disorder, depression, and anxiety.

A study from the Journal of Arts in Psychotherapy (2007) found that dance therapy had a positive effect on participants experiencing symptoms of depression.

A study from Alzheimer’s care (2009) suggests that DMP improves memory recall in people with dementia.

American Journal of Dance Therapy indicated that DMT may be a treatment option for children on the Autism spectrum.

Also, it can be considered as a treatment option for childhood obesity.

At my golden age with silver hair and a young heart, I must say, dancing helps me feel a lot better. I did all sorts of exercise, yoga, meditation, walking, jogging, etc. but I didn’t enjoy any of it and discontinued it sooner or later. Then, I realized that my body moves with emotions and expressions whenever I hear beats of music. I become thoughtless, feel happy and energetic. My mind connects with my body and soul, it’s like meditation to me. It therapeutically heals my aching joints and stiffness of body due to lifestyle diseases, much better than any physiotherapy ever could. This article is not some kind of scientific research, as lot of research on this topic has already been done all over the world. It’s only my insight and personal experience after joining a dance class. A group or couple dance class helps motivate you to do better each day and builds your confidence.

Some people might think, “A dance class? At this age? ”. Yes, I know it is uncommon but why not. One of the reasons that people of my age do not turn up at dance classes is because they are shy. Many North Indian families in earlier days did not appreciate dancing and did not allow girls to dance as it was looked down upon. I was never allowed to dance but allowed to do higher education in those days.

I will not tell you how to move your body or on which song you should dance or how you should dance…… No. I am only going to tell you to move your body and express your feelings as we all know that dancing makes us feel light, joyful, releases happy hormones such as Seratonin, Endrofin, Dopamin etc. Dance moves can predict our feelings like if we are anxious, or self-conscious while dancing, it will show through our moves. You can do any type of dance i.e. Ballroom, Ballet, Tango, Zumba or just wiggle slightly, do what you love or what you feel comfortable with.

Dance like no one is watching and just let go of yourself is the secret of good health. You do not have to be a dancer to get benefit from dance movement therapy. Do not let shyness, age or stamina come on the way. Let your heart dance with joy and happiness, your eyes will dance with emotions and your body movements will improve motor skills. The concept of DMT is new to India and needs more attention. India being the motherland of traditional and modern dance forms can be the new platform for DMT. A new concept like beer yoga is becoming a fad in our society wherein I feel DMT is much more scientific and effective in gaining holistic health. So be happy, enjoy and destress yourself, have a good diet and get better sleep. That is a secret of a happy and healthy golden age.

If you wish, sometime instead of sport shoes, put on your dancing shoes…Hey…..Come on…..Dance.

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Symptoms of depression Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

Consequences of Workplace Harassment

Dance therapy: A paradigm shift