Signe Godsk suddenly found herself pregnant in her kitchen garden. It was only then that she realized she had been affected by stress.

Large set since her time at high school, 36-year-old Signe Godsk Hermansen has only just realized that she too has been affected by stress.

International study periods, education from various parts of the world, and almost no time outside of the workforce. New positions, expanded areas of responsibility, new work tasks far beyond her competencies – all of this she juggled quite happily.

And when her husband fell ill with stress a year ago, she also took on the role of the primary caregiver at home.

It was actually only when she suddenly woke up cold one night with her bare feet buried in the kitchen floor, that it occurred to her:

She too had become sick with stress.

"I had a thought that I could handle everything both at home and at work, and it became a huge pressure," she says.

Signe Godsk Hermansen is by no means alone.

A new large study from the Academic Workers' Main Organization about the psychological work environment of private academics reveals that:

* 18 percent of private academics evaluate that they are often or always stressed.

* It is more women than men who are stressed. Nearly 28 percent of private academic women feel stressed. For men, it is 14 percent.

* They attribute their job as the source of their stress. In total, 14 percent say that they are stressed solely due to their work. This is more than for all Danes, where previous surveys have shown that only about one in ten is stressed due to their work.

* It is partly about a high work tempo and many weekly working hours.

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Flashing alarm clocks

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It was in Signe Godsk Hermansen's second job on the labor market, which she longed for after her studies to come out and do well on, that she became ill.

"I worked in a larger international company in their HR department, so it was very paradoxical that it was now me – who should take care of the company's employees – who was now sick," she says.

For Signe Godsk Hermansen, stress came slowly.

It started with fatigue, dizziness, heart palpitations on the way to work, and a short cough especially towards her daughter. Since it developed into sleep problems with insomnia, which culminated that night in the kitchen.

"When I wrote to my leader about setting up a meeting because I was sick with stress, I almost apologized for being a bother. That shows quite well how I was," she says.

The aforementioned study was commissioned by the main organization Academics, which represents 26 professional organizations and over 500,000 members – among others, dentists, doctors, building constructors, and engineers.

It is the largest study among AC's 26 professional organizations and is based on a total of 20,000 responses.

And after seeing its conclusions "flashing alarm clocks" go off at the head office of the main organization's chairman, Tomas Kepler.

He clings to the fact that especially women like Signe Godsk Hermansen are affected:

"This is a huge problem. And it shows that it is such a serious problem in scope that I almost don't know how it can be solved further," says Tomas Kepler:

"Our best advice is that it costs society over 70 billion dollars a year. This is a problem that ranks on a level with defense and climate."

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Small talk

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At Academics, it is believed that the study also once and for all puts an end to the "small talk" when questions are raised about whether it is really the work life and not private life with children, Aula messages, lunch boxes, and a perfectionist culture that stresses:

"These are some explanations that I especially think that employers rhetorically move out on. It has to do with what happens on the workplace. The tempo, complexity, and number of tasks have increased," says Tomas Kepler.

He points in that context to employers:

"It is an employer approach that has completely failed. Imagine if we had taken psychological work environment as seriously as physical.

Tomas Kepler now "invites himself to a serious and serious dialogue" with the large employer organizations.

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Coffee on the table

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At the largest employer organization, Danish Industry (DI), there is always coffee on the table and time for dialogue about stress and psychological work environment, says Søren Kryhlmand, who is director of Labor Market & Labor Law.

When one reads the conclusions of the study in DI, one takes it first and foremost "seriously". Here one thinks both about the human and societal consequences:

"But I also hear fundamentally that there is a high prioritization of well-being and work environment out in the companies. So we take the challenge seriously," he says and mentions that DI with a series of measures in these years has a large focus on the problem.

Also he clings to the fact that women seem more stressed than men.

"We want more women in the private sector. We believe that there is a massive untapped potential that we can benefit from, so when we see studies like this, we should also look at what it requires of us as workplaces. We are concerned about it, but it is not because I sit here with the solution," he says.

However, Søren Kryhlmand rejects that employers "push responsibility away" with reference to an unresponsive management, or that there should be a need for more legislation in the area.

"We do not have the silver bullet solution lying ready. Some of the answers to this problem must also be found on the micro level on the individual workplace," he says.

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A male dark figure

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For Signe Godsk Hermansen, the meeting with her leader on her former workplace was decisive.

The leader took full control of the process and her work tasks. Together they made a plan for the further course.

She ended up being part-time sick-listed for four months.

"To begin with, it was a defeat and a huge shame for me. I had always been able to handle everything myself. Now I could suddenly not handle a job. I was flustered over having to ask for help," she says.

Signe Godsk Hermansen has thought about why it is more women who are affected by stress.

"I think maybe it has to do with the fact that many women – myself included – take a very large responsibility on a workplace. We want to deliver academically, be loyal, and be a good colleague. But I also think that it has to do with the fact that we in higher degrees dare to speak up," she says:

"I think there is a dark figure lurking for men. They are also pressured, but I do not think it is always as easy for them to ask for help."

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