Studying overworked Estonians

A new kind of stress

For the first time, the Estonian State Health Insurance Fund plans to survey the effect of overworking on the health of Estonians. “Family and specialized doctors have complained that the engines of people who started building up the state at the start of the new Estonian Republic are now burning out,” said Ado Viik, director of the fund’s Harju County department. Viik noted that overwork is apparently one of the causes of the increase in the issue of certificates for sick leave over the past couple of years.

While foreigners sometimes joke that most Estonians haven’t seen a day of hard office work, that is not the point. Change from a worry-free dependence on the state to individual responsibility includes the introduction of a new kind of stress. Foreign studies have shown work-related stress can be a factor facilitating cardiovascular diseases, the number one cause of death in Estonia.