CHENNAI : People working in the information technology and the allied services sector may be earning attractive salaries, but suffer from physiological and psychological problems.

Most of them blame it on the extreme pressure and competitiveness at workplace. Some cope. Others leave the industry, say human resource personnel.

Sleep problems

Employees in call centres and BPOs have problems with their sleep. Those working across time zones suffer more.

Indians working for companies in the West Coast in the United States suffer more than those working for United Kingdom-based companies. "Ten to 20 per cent of people are extremely abusive. If they eat balanced food, take reasonably good care of their body, then it is not a stressful job," says a HR professional with a BPO working for a UK-based company.

Madhan, 46, a former software professional, says: "We used to have people on production support who worked odd hours to be on a par with the U.S. time. In the long term the pressure will be more. Blood pressure will shoot up. We even had a resident doctor. My colleague was diagnosed with high BP and his blood sugar levels rose. He was on insulin for a long time. Then he went for yoga to control his blood sugar."

Madhan is now a part time schoolteacher.

Bhavana, 27, a back office employee for a multinational bank for the past six years, says the job is worth it if one has no personal commitment. Her only problem: "I work the noon to midnight shift and often cannot sleep when I return home."

Medha, 22, a BPO employee, also finds it difficult to fall asleep. "I adjust because I have been here only for three months."

A 34-year-old mother of two, working in a BPO, was hospitalised after she suffered a stroke, recalls age management consultant and therapist Kousalya V. Nathan. She has developed wellness programmes for several IT companies.

Doctors say prolonged sleeplessness could lead to depression of immune function and result in health problems.

Immune suppression

Immune suppression may be due to reduced secretion of melatonin, a powerful anti-oxidant that the body naturally produces.

The pineal gland secretes melatonin, the growth hormone associated with sleep. Melatonin secretion is at its peak until the age of 10. By adolescence the secretion begins to fall and as we reach the age of 60 the secretion is half of what the body produced in the twenties.

"It is called circadian rhythm. In response to darkness our body secretes melatonin. Morning walks help to bring down the level of melatonin," says N. Ramakrishnan, director, Nithra Institute of Sleep Sciences. "Dim lights and darkness are conducive for the secretion of melatonin. But when people have to stay awake it confuses the rhythm."

"Too much caffeine"

"Because of too much caffeine in the night, the body refuses to relax. That is why when we visit people at their home, we advise to darken the room to help them sleep. It also increases melatonin level."

In the past year he has treated over 200 people in IT/ITES/BPO sector for sleeplessness, he says.

(Names have been changed to protect identity).

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