For most of Britain’s workers, the daily commute is a chore, something to be put up with. But how many of us know that how we get to work and how long it takes an impact how we feel?
Some people use their commute to work, others to try to relax and unwind after a tough day but the commute does have a stressful side too.
Qualified and fully-trained therapists from the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH), however, have the skills to offer their clients ways of counteracting stress. A hypnotherapist can help assess your anxiety, identifying the root of stress or anxiety whether it is a situation, a physical issue, a past experience or a relationship.
Once this is done, a goal asking how the client wishes to feel, how they would like to be. The therapist will then work with the client to reach these goals using a range of different techniques. Every therapist may use slightly different techniques, but they will be working towards the same goal.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average worker in Britain spends 54 minutes commuting each day. This important and ever-increasing chunk of the working week doesn’t come without its costs – and they are not just financial. Research has shown that one’s personal wellbeing is affected and, in general, the longer the commute the more it shrinks.
This was more prevalent in lengthy commutes, between an hour and an hour-and-a-half long. But travelling by bus or coach was worse. , have the most negative effect on personal wellbeing, the ONS research found, while taking the bus to work on a journey lasting more than 30 minutes was the commuting option most likely to give us the grumps.
The 2011 census tells us that 7.2 per cent of working people in England and Wales travel by bus or coach to work compared to 5 per cent by train and 3.8 per cent by underground or tram.
The large majority, 59 per cent, drive or get a lift in a car or van.
In an ideal world, commuting should not affect psychological health because it is a choice. Commuting journeys increase because people move out of towns and cities to find better housing, more green space and a higher standard of living.
Professor Jenny Roberts, from the University of Sheffield, has researched how wellbeing is affected by changes in commuting times by tracking 7,000 men and 7,000 women over 13 years.
In contrast, the ONS report is based on a one-off survey of more than 60,000 people in employment between 2012 and 2013.
Roberts discovered, in her paper published in the Journal of Health Economics, that women were adversely affected by commuting, while men were not, despite the fact that women in general commute less and work shorter hours.
This was after accounting for income, job satisfaction and housing quality.
So why are women more sensitive to time spent commuting?
“The only reason we could come up with was trip-chaining,” Prof Roberts explains.
However, some commuters do find positives in the daily commute because it gives them time to work and read or simply wind down.
‘Extreme commuting’ is becoming more common and the ONS research suggests that a commute time of three hours of more is often a happier experience than shorter journeys.
This may be because these extra-long journeys are a positive lifestyle choice for extreme commuters, who tend to have a higher average income, and are able to use their travel time more productively as a result.
In the end, the psychological health of commuters is important because everybody commutes but we are often reluctant to analyse how we do it, says Rogers.
“Do people really make that calculation when moving out to a suburban house of how much time, how much income it’s going to cost and how it’s going to affect their mental health?”
Maybe not but by checking your stress problem with a hypnotherapist can go al long way to counteracting the commuter stress. Visit the NCH’s directory by clicking here to find a therapist near you.