Do You Enjoy Your Work Yet Feel Extremely Stressed? You Might Be Experiencing A Brain Shrink

As much as most of us have been told that we should love what we do to the extent where we never have to feel like we need to work another day in our life, have you ever paused to see if you¡¯re the work that you love so much seems like child¡¯s play or something that makes you pull you hair out at the end of the day?

Well, the reason is simple. You can feel stressed even as you perform you dream job.

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While you can absolutely love your career, it is important to realise that your job will also cater to certain tasks that you simply loathe. For example, if you are a writer, there might be days when you are asked to write about topics that you have no clue about. Maybe you hate the meetings or you simply don¡¯t enjoy the whole technical part of your job.

Whatever that aspect of your job is that you simply don't like, one thing you need to know is your passion can ACTUALLY feel like work sometimes. This then is a precursor for stress.

It¡¯s problematic when your work causes chronic levels of stress is because that might cause your brain to shrink, found a recent study.

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Chronic stress reduces the volume of grey matter in the areas in your brain, which are responsible for self-control, thoughts and even creating new memories. The study conducted at the University of California compared the levels of cortisol in people. Even their memory, attention and brain volume were tested.

It was found that those with higher cortisol levels¡ªalso known as the stress hormone¡ªhad lower brain volume when compared to people with lower cortisol levels. The results are more prominent in women. In other words, stress actually shrinks your brain.

Another study conducted at the University of California itself found that chronic stress can lead to mood disorders, including anxiety.

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Here¡¯s how you can identify if it is indeed work that is stressing you out and the possible triggers for all the stress in your life:

Speaking to Times of India, Dr Sandeep Vohra, who is a senior consultant psychiatrist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said, ¡°There are 5 basic domains of life that can actually be the cause of stress, either partially or completely. It includes your nature, circumstances, your personal life, your body/mind and your professional life.¡±

¡°So, if your work is stressing you out, you need to ensure that it is not the stress from the four other domains of your life which seem to be interfering with your professional life, making you believe that the core of this stress lies in your job,¡± states Dr Vohra.

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Dr Vohra further added that if you have rooted out all the other 4 factors and are sure that it is your work which is stressing you out, figure out whether you actually have very high standards or unrealistic expectations from your profession.

Question yourself to find out the trigger for your stress?

Dr Vohra advised that before quitting your job, identify the cause of your stress. Ask yourself whether it is actually your work or is it the work environment; a boss who keeps yelling at you or colleagues who keep pulling you down; identify who is influencing your decision.

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He further stressed that you need to figure out if you are bringing household stress to your office subconsciously or there is simply a lot on your plate right now and you need a break. In fact, your lifestyle plays a big role in keeping your life on track. For example, if you are not getting enough sleep or there is a lot happening in your personal life, you are bound to be in a bad mood while at work.

Is the overload of technology getting to your head?

According to Dr Vohra, the over-dependence on the technology can also be blamed if you are feeling pretty bummed out at work.

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Ultimately, if you do decipher that it is your actual work--even if it is something that you love--be smart enough to figure out whether it is a temporary problem or a permanent one before calling it quits. He strongly advises that you should fight out the temporary issue and even if the root cause of a problem is permanent in nature, discuss the same with your closed one and seek their advice.

Are you putting pressure on yourself based on other people¡¯s achievements and success stories?

In this online era, where social media feeds constantly bombard us what others have achieved, it becomes very difficult to segregate between what is real and what is not. What we don¡¯t realise is people always present their highlight reels of life and there are only a selected few that actually give you a glimpse of what goes behind the scenes.

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Keep in mind that nobody brags about their failures on the internet rather only selectively showcase their achievements. This makes us lose sight of the fact that everything is not what it seems.

Another important thing to be noted is while you are extremely lucky to be getting paycheques for doing something you love, work is not always fun. In fact, it is not even supposed to be fun all the time. It requires hard work and concentration and might also put added pressure on you. There are days when you want to throw your hands in the air and not get anything done, even if you have a job that you are extremely passionate about. Your work is not child's play.