Health Risks
In recent years findings have arisen that clergy are more at risk than the general population for obesity, hypertension and depression. Life expectancies for clergy have fallen in recent years. In the last decade the use of antidepressants by clergy has risen. It is not clearly known why these deteriorating qualities of life are now applying to members of the clergy. A likely explanation is a lack of time off from the job. Cell phones and e-mail combined with a sense of responsibility to both God and humanity are likely contributing factors.
Read more about this topic: Clergy
Famous quotes containing the words health and/or risks:
“The middle years of parenthood are characterized by ambiguity. Our kids are no longer helpless, but neither are they independent. We are still active parents but we have more time now to concentrate on our personal needs. Our children’s world has expanded. It is not enclosed within a kind of magic dotted line drawn by us. Although we are still the most important adults in their lives, we are no longer the only significant adults.”
—Ruth Davidson Bell. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 3 (1978)
“The question is whether personal freedom is worth the terrible effort, the never-lifted burden and risks of self-reliance.”
—Rose Wilder Lane (1886–1968)