Death from working too hard.

[kyrax12]

I remember reading about an indonesian copywriter that died from working too many hours.
Here's the link: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mita-diran-indonesian-copywriter-dies-after-working-30-hours-1429583

What are the chances that this might happen to someone that work long hours without sleep? Apparently she died of heart failure.

An average human can go a month without sleep if I recall correctly.

Anyone want to chime in?

 

[MrDudeMan]

You can't go anywhere near a month without sleep unless you are either very unusual or something has gone horribly wrong. Link

 

[kyrax12]

You can't go anywhere near a month without sleep unless you are either very unusual or something has gone horribly wrong. Link

Ah I see.

Anyways 30 hours is not that long for being awake though.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

There's actually a term for this in Japan - karoshi (literally "overwork death"). There's also a term in China for suicide-by-overwork - guolaosi.

Japan's rise from the devastation of World War II to economic prominence in the post-war decades has been regarded as the trigger for what has been called a new epidemic. It was recognized that employees cannot work for 12 or more hours a day, 6–7 days a week, year after year, without suffering physically as well as mentally. It is common for the overtime to go unpaid.[2][3]
In an International Labour Organization article about karōshi,[4] the following four typical cases of karōshi were mentioned:

1. Mr. A worked at a major snack food processing company for as long as 110 hours a week (not a month) and died from a heart attack at the age of 34. His death was recognized as work-related by the Labour Standards Office.
2. Mr. B, a bus driver, whose death was also recognized as work-related, worked 3,000 hours a year. He did not have a day off in the 15 years before he had a stroke at the age of 37.
3. Mr. C worked in a large printing company in Tokyo for 4,320 hours a year including night work and died from a stroke at the age of 58. His widow received workers’ compensation 14 years after her husband's death.
4. Ms. D, a 22-year-old nurse, died from a heart attack after 34 hours of continuous duty five times a month.

Pretty interesting stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karōshi

 

[BoomerD]

Fuck that shit. Work to live, don't live to work.

I spent much of my 30 years in construction working all the hours I could get...6-10's, 7-12's, all I could get. Made good money, but nowadays...I kind of wish I'd worked more 40 hour weeks and enjoyed life a bit more along the way.

 

[kyrax12]

There's actually a term for this in Japan - karoshi (literally "overwork death"). There's also a term in China for suicide-by-overwork - guolaosi.



Pretty interesting stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karōshi

I am surprise at the 22 year old that died from a heart attack. Quite a young age to get a heart attack.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Had a classmate from college die of a heart attack at work (Microsoft's Redmond campus).
Physically fit, worked out, late 20s. Just BOOM! right at work in the middle of the day.

 

[nakedfrog]

Ah I see.

Anyways 30 hours is not that long for being awake though.

Just being awake, or awake and working? Article mentions drinking Red Bull too.
At any rate, it depends on the person as well, I know the world starts getting pretty strange after I've been awake 24 hours.

 

[MrSquished]

I remember reading about an indonesian copywriter that died from working too many hours.
Here's the link: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mita-diran-indonesian-copywriter-dies-after-working-30-hours-1429583

What are the chances that this might happen to someone that work long hours without sleep? Apparently she died of heart failure.

An average human can go a month without sleep if I recall correctly.

Anyone want to chime in?

I think it's more like a month without food and 3 days without water. You'd go batshit crazy if you didn't sleep for a while well before a month hit. I think I read somewhere that your body can go without sleep for some days but it's your mind that needs the sleep sooner.

 

[Zorander]

The Red Bull overdose (and any other bad habits such as diet) contributed to her death. I once worked with someone with similar habits (long hours, red bulls, irregular meals, cigarettes and no exercise). She lasted about a year in the job before an aneurysm took her at home. I don't know if she is okay or otherwise now. Never heard back from her since then.

 

[Ruptga]

It's not healthy, you can get away with it every now and then but stress has a cumulative effect. People that do that regularly do not live as long, and they don't live nearly as well either.

 

[dawp]

there's a genetic decease that will stop you sleeping and will eventually kill you.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160118-the-tragic-fate-of-the-people-who-stop-sleeping

 

[pmv]

There is the common adage 'hard work never killed anyone', but it's always struck me as being silly because it's so obviously not true. History is full of people who were either worked to death (as slaves or in gulags or prison camps), or who just had shorter lifespans because they were "low status" workers who had a life of hard labour. In almost every society, the people at the top with leisurely lives live longer than those who do hard manual work.

Though then there are those guys who keel over dead after playing computer games for days on end - not really sure where they fit in. But then, I suppose 'work' is not a perfectly-defined concept either. I mean, what does it actually mean other than 'something you wouldn't do if you didn't have to in order to get something else you want''?

 

[Squisher]

No one ever looks up from their death bed and says, "I wish I had spent more time at work."

 

[dainthomas]

I think it's more like a month without food and 3 days without water. You'd go batshit crazy if you didn't sleep for a while well before a month hit. I think I read somewhere that your body can go without sleep for some days but it's your mind that needs the sleep sooner.

Your brain uses sleep to sort, catalog, and archive memories. I believe I heard that without sleep it tries to do it when you're awake, which is when you run into the constant hallucinations.

 

[kyrax12]

There is the common adage 'hard work never killed anyone', but it's always struck me as being silly because it's so obviously not true. History is full of people who were either worked to death (as slaves or in gulags or prison camps), or who just had shorter lifespans because they were "low status" workers who had a life of hard labour. In almost every society, the people at the top with leisurely lives live longer than those who do hard manual work.

Though then there are those guys who keel over dead after playing computer games for days on end - not really sure where they fit in. But then, I suppose 'work' is not a perfectly-defined concept either. I mean, what does it actually mean other than 'something you wouldn't do if you didn't have to in order to get something else you want''?

So people that exercise everyday would die faster then?

 

[chubbyfatazn]

So people that exercise everyday would die faster then?

... the people in his examples are at the (opposite) ends of the spectrum. I highly doubt most people who think "oh I should get off my ass and exercise a bit" are gonna exert themselves for 12+ hours until they keel over from exhaustion. And then repeat that for days, let alone months or years, on end.

 

[John Connor]

They should totally play this song at his wake.

 

[cbrunny]

I am surprise at the 22 year old that died from a heart attack. Quite a young age to get a heart attack.

suck back enough redbull and coffee and anyone's heart will explode.

 

[shortylickens]

Ah I see.

Anyways 30 hours is not that long for being awake though.

I agree, being awake for 30 hours is not bad.

WORKING for 30 hours sucks donkey balls!!

 

[cbrunny]

I agree, being awake for 30 hours is not bad.

WORKING for 30 hours sucks donkey balls!!

Could be worse....

 

[Capt Caveman]

There is the common adage 'hard work never killed anyone', but it's always struck me as being silly because it's so obviously not true. History is full of people who were either worked to death (as slaves or in gulags or prison camps), or who just had shorter lifespans because they were "low status" workers who had a life of hard labour. In almost every society, the people at the top with leisurely lives live longer than those who do hard manual work.

Though then there are those guys who keel over dead after playing computer games for days on end - not really sure where they fit in. But then, I suppose 'work' is not a perfectly-defined concept either. I mean, what does it actually mean other than 'something you wouldn't do if you didn't have to in order to get something else you want''?

Not sure if serious. I'm sure those slaves and prisoners ate well to endure their harsh treatment. Oh wait...

 

[cbrunny]

Not sure if serious. I'm sure those slaves and prisoners ate well to endure their harsh treatment. Oh wait...

what? are you trying to say that they starved to death?

 

[pmv]

So people that exercise everyday would die faster then?

Well, there apparently is _some_ evidence that people who engage in extreme exercise regimes do indeed have higher mortality rates than those who exercise more moderately. Not sure how strong that evidence is though. They probably argue about that in the health and fitness forum.

But we are talking about _work_ not 'exercise'. Those aren't the same thing, are they? People do exercise out of choice, and often enjoy it. I've cycled huge distances occasionally, I wouldn't have called it work, it was fun. Which brings me back to the sad fact that I literally am not sure if I know the meaning of 'work'.

I mean playing computer games is 'work' if you are one of those (Korean?) guys who play on-line games for days at a time to 'farm' in-game items for cash. So I guess 'work' by definition is something you only do because someone pays you for it or because you have to do it to get food or some other external reward. Indeed, 'work' might not involve much physical exercise, it could even involve having to endure a situation where you can't get much physical exercise (lorry drivers and taxi-drivers have a high rate of heart disease, for example).

And it seems obvious that historically people have had their lives shortened because the jobs they had to do to do that, were hard and possibly dangerous and possibly involved neglecting their health. Including 'jobs' that were in extreme circumstances, like prison camps.

Hence I don't think its really true that 'hard work never killed anyone'.

This was a lot of work to explain a passing throwaway thought.

 

[KeithP]

I remember reading about an indonesian copywriter that died from working too many hours and drinking way too much red bull (Kratingdaeng).

FTFY

If you are going to push your body to its limits, at least eat healthy in the process.

-KeithP