Peer Support Groups for People with Challenging Jobs and Careers

One of the fastest growing applications of peer support groups is their use to support people who have to deal with stress and other challenges in their career or daily work.   When adults are asked to identify their most common stressors, employment is one of the most commonly reported, with over 70% of adult saying that is a significant sources of stress (APA, 2011). Work stress has been defined as “the emotional, cognitive, behavioral and physiological reaction to aversive and noxious aspects of work, work environments and work organizations.”  (European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, 2000). 

 Work stress has been linked to a wide range of medical and mental health problems including cardiovascular disease (Kivimäki et al., 2002), gastrointestinal problems (Nixon, Mazzola, Bauer, Krueger, & Spector, 2011), as well as mood and anxiety disorders (Wang, Lesage, Schmitz, & Drapeau, 2008). It is also predictive of a shortened lifespan (Taouk, Spittal, LaMontagne & Milner, 2020).  In a large public survey of 7,000 workers, 60% reported that work stress had made them “physically sick” and 7% reported that work stress had resulted in symptoms so severe that they were hospitalized (Dill, 2014).

 There has been a great deal of interest in using peer support to help people cope with work stress.  Some of the interest has resulted in new peer support groups. In one of the most carefully done research studies in this area, peer support groups have been found to result in significant improvements in workers’ health and perception of stress (Peterson, Bergström, Samuelsson, Åsberg & Nygren, 2008).

 Community-based organizations have not waited for the research or for employers to create peer support groups.  Organizations of people working in many of the most stressful professions have created regional or national peer support groups.  I’ve listed those with national directories below.  Others have created local peer support groups that are available in local hospitals, police and fire departments, and at schools and other organizations.  You’ll need to look at local sites for information about those groups if you are interested in attending or referring.

 This use of peer support groups will continue to grow, and will create opportunities for Peer Support Specialists to facilitate those groups.  You may want to get involved in this rapidly growing application of peer support.  Consider these examples of networks:

The First Responders Foundation facilitates on-line peer support groups for first responders (e.g. police, fire, EMT’s), as well as groups for their family members.  There also many local support groups within individual police and fire departments.

 NurseGroups is an organization that facilitates online support groups for nurses, with the goal of helping them reduce their work anxiety, increasing their capacity to support themselves despite emotional distress, and to develop supportive connections between nurses.

 Physicians Anonymous describes itself as the “only anonymous and confidential peer-support platform aimed to reduce physician distress, burnout, and suicide.”  It seeks to address the high levels of burnout reported by physicians, with the goals of helping member achieve better mental health and having fewer providers leaving the field

 The Journalist Trauma Support Network seeks to provide support groups that help journalists cope with the unique stressors associated with their work, including simple work stress as well as online abuse. 

 The Lawyers Depression Project describes itself as a grassroots organization of legal professionals.  Attorneys, paralegals, law students, and admin meet regularly to provide mutual support as they seek “to help break the stigma around discussing our mental health and to provide peer support to each other”.  The groups provide help in coping with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD, eating disorders, trauma, sexual abuse, addiction and other mental health conditions, or just not “feel quite right”.

 The Dental Council provides virtual support groups for dentists, seeking to address “the human needs of clinical dentists and provide support in the loneliness and isolation of a clinical life of heavy responsibility and expectation”.

 Entertainment Community Fund (Formerly the Actors Fund) provides a number of virtual peer support groups for actors and others working in the arts field, reflecting the highly competitive and stressful work environment in the field of entertainment.  Groups have topical areas of focus including ‘Finding Hope in Uncertain Times’, ‘Support for Parents in the Industry’ and ‘The Anxiety Toolbox’.

 These efforts are new and likely to grow rapidly as people find that they are available and helpful.  You will want to keep an eye out for clients who are impacted by work stress and who could benefit from a peer support group focused on challenges in their specific field of work.  I would also suggest you keep an eye out for other professions that generate stress but where there are no current support groups – consider helping to build or promote something for those workers.

NOTE: You can find links to these groups at https://www.charlesdrebing.com/peersupportgroupdirectories.

REFERENCES

Dill, K. (2014). Survey: 42% of Employees Have Changed Jobs Due to Stress.  Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathryndill/2014/04/18/survey-42-of-employees-have-changed-jobs-due-to-stress/ Downloaded 9/24/2024).

 Kivimäki, M., Leino-Arjas, P., Luukkonen, R., Riihimäi, H., Vahtera, J., & Kirjonen, J. (2002). Work stress and risk of cardiovascular mortality: prospective cohort study of industrial employees. Bmj, 325(7369), 857.

 Nixon, A. E., Mazzola, J. J., Bauer, J., Krueger, J. R., & Spector, P. E. (2011). Can work make you sick? A meta-analysis of the relationships between job stressors and physical symptoms. Work & Stress, 25(1), 1-22.

 Peterson, U., Bergström, G., Samuelsson, M., Åsberg, M., & Nygren, Å. (2008). Reflecting peer‐support groups in the prevention of stress and burnout: Randomized controlled trial. Journal of advanced nursing, 63(5), 506-516.

 Taouk, Y., Spittal, M. J., LaMontagne, A. D., & Milner, A. J. (2020). Psychosocial work stressors and risk of all-cause and coronary heart disease mortality. Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health, 46(1), 19-31.

 Wang, J. L., Lesage, A., Schmitz, N., & Drapeau, A. (2008). The relationship between work stress and mental disorders in men and women: findings from a population-based study. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 62(1), 42-47.