Excessive work-related travel

Overly frequent travel causes stress. Major factors are the lack of support away from home, separation from one's family and heavy workloads. These result in perceived instability, emotional isolation and overwork without allowing recovery time from travel.

The symptoms include depression, anxiety and sleeplessness, beyond what is normal for jet lag. The ability to work efficiently is severely impaired by the stress of travel. Men tend to become aggressive and anxious; women tend to become obsessively tidy. The unwillingness of executives to admit any weakness that might endanger their career makes it hard to identify sufferers and help them find a solution.

Modern executives and airline staff have to fly long distances every week. Executives work both on airplanes and immediately before take-off and after landing, rather than saving work for the office, and sleeping after flights. In addition, the excessive travelling impinges greatly on time for social and family activities; work takes over one's whole life, and one lives in an emotional vacuum.

Regular fliers are 3 times more likely to develop a stress-related psychological disorder than office-bound colleagues.