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SALT LAKE CITY -- New research shows job insecurity can predict bad health just like high blood pressure and smoking. In fact, you could be worrying yourself into depression or worse.
Dr. David Tomb, a psychiatrist and medical director of the North Valley Mental Health Unit as well as a professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah, says such anxiety is a human tendency.
"We see it in the world of mental health all the time. People will have something they are worried about, and they can become pretty non-functional in the amount of worrying they are doing," he said.
Dr. Tomb says it's called anticipatory anxiety. "People will worry in advance of anything going wrong, and when things actually go wrong and they are in the middle of it, they have survived," he explained.
Dr. Tomb says people can have so much anxiety, it may lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"As they spend more time worrying about what the future may bring or worrying about not having a job, they perform less well in the job they are currently employed at," he said.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
