The IT and BPO employees have a high incidence of errant and deviant sexual behaviour, psychological disorders, including psychosomatic problems, identity crises and obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD), say city mental health experts. These ailments in a significant percentage of patients are now a concern, besides the usual orthopaedic, gynaeocological and lifestyle-related problems associated with their jobs.
“Out of every 10 cases that we see, at least 50 per cent pertain to BPO and IT employees. Deviant sexual behaviour is common, with low libido followed by sudden and reckless bouts of binge sex,” said Dr Pragya Rashmi, consultant clinical psychologist at the Yashoda and Asha hospitals. Such tendencies are also usually associated with lower sperm count in men and menstrual problems in women, leading to difficulty in conceiving.
Another problem peculiar to this group of patients is that of ENT, with most of them complaining of trouble in hearing, throat congestion, etc., the doctors said. This could probably be due to constantly speaking in a foreign accent. BPO workers also suffer from identity crises, Dr Rashmi added. It is the nature of jobs in the BPO sector that gives rise to ENT problems, said Dr Minhaj Nasirabadi, consultant psychiatrist, Apollo Hospital, Jubilee Hills.
“One of my patients feels irritable the moment she has her headphones on at work. She feels that the voice on the other side is always too loud and suffers frequent bouts of headache. She is unable to stick to a particular job for long,” he said. Erratic job timings and stress also lead to low libido and frustration post a sexual encounter, Dr Nasirabadi added.