Call center clocks: The 21st Century Bane..

With India flaunting its GDP ascension and leaping on to the BPO boom, the call centers are aptly today’s ‘youth mantra’. Lofty salaries, luring incentives and considerably simple job requisites seem like a flawless career alternative to the majority of the IT-city youngsters. But the real intangibility concerns the costs they are paying in terms of health hazards for the entire gain.
Speaking about the serious issues of the call center employees’ physical and mental health and the grave repercussions of working in erratic schedules, Pune’s renowned physician, Dr.H.V. Sardesai threw light on some of the alarming medical facts.

Call center jobs are characterized by working in day or night shifts and irregular routines. This disturbs the body’s biological cycle which is called the Circadian rhythm in medical terms. It is the fundamental biological function taking place in the human body based on which there are about 100 dependent rhythms. These rhythms include hormonal functions, fertility, menstrual cycles for women, breathing cycles and acid secretions. These functions are directly affected when the Circadian rhythm is disturbed. The human body is naturally conditioned to follow a particular time table. When this natural flow is drastically altered, the body can seldom cope with the sudden changes. This in turn leads to many physical as well as emotional disturbances. Physical problems include hunger problems, digestion difficulties, severe weight gain or loss, drowsiness and emotional hazards like moodiness, frustration, irritation and restlessness.

Another problem that has recently developed is what is called as the ‘Metabolic Syndrome’. As a result of constant stress, sitting, lack of exercise and movements, there can be weight gain and many bio-chemical changes in the body. This can lead to the development of the metabolic syndrome. The metabolic risks include abdominal obesity, genetic predisposition, ageing, hormonal imbalance and high blood pressure. Proneness to coronary heart diseases and diseases related to plaque build ups in artery walls increases.

Stress in also one of the most common complaints. It causes anxiety due to which there is hormonal imbalance and hormones like adrenaline can be secreted in a large quantity. This can lead to high blood pressure and could also lead to cardiac problems in the long run. Stress can also create disorders like anxietyneurosis and behavioural problems. Stress aggravates even more when a person doesn’t exercise. When there is no muscular exertion or exertion in the young age, problems like cholesterol rise, increase in lipid profile and proneness to diabetes increase in the early 40s or 50s.

Dr. Aparna Pitre, Pune’s leading Homoeopathic practitioner informed about another medical problem known as the ‘Computer Related Syndrome or CRS’ which has become increasingly common among call center workers as a result of using the keyboard and sitting in front of the computer for long hours. CRS is characterized by tightness, stiffness and aching of the upper extremities. It mainly occurs due to long hours in front of the computer, positional errors and body posture. Symptoms like weakness of fingers, tremors and non-specific pains in hands or arms are typical to CRS.
Also the problem of ‘The Brainfag Syndrome’ is becoming very common among the call centre employees. It is medically a psychiatric difficulty characterized by headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, eye exertion and inability to focus and concentrate. This syndrome can occur usually after a prolonged period of job in a call center.
Awareness about the distressing aftermath of challenging the body clock and working against the natural cycle needs to be cultivated. After all, it is truly quoted, ‘Symptoms, then, are in reality nothing but a cry from suffering organs’.