ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Psichiatrica 2015 March;56(1):13-31

Copyright © 2015 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Stress in workers in the world of performing arts

Capozzella A. ¹, Rosati M. V. ¹, Melcarne R. ¹, Sacco C. ¹, Sinibaldi F. ¹, Casale T. ¹, Loreti B. ¹, Tomei F. ¹, Tomei G. ²

¹ Department of Anatomy, Histology Medical‑Legal and the Orthopedics, Unit of Occupational Medicine “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy; ² Department of Neurology and Psychiatry “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, Italy

AIM: The show business is a high working risk sector. This survey aims to identify and evaluate the etiology, the clinical relevance and the impact of stress in the working population.
METHODS: The research was carried out on the major search engines by entering the following keywords: stress, stressors, artist, “performing artist”, dancers, musicians, choristers, “media personnel”, “sound engineers”. A critical analysis of the literature was performed on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria, by identifying 47 publications consistent with the purpose of our study. Given the variety of professions of the show business, the single professional categories with their own unique and specific stressors are considered.
RESULTS: From the results of this survey the show business turns out to be a sector where working-related stress risk is significant and high nevertheless, it is a non-traditional, unusual and heterogeneous environment with its specific problems due to different working realities. In particular, for manual professional workers the stress level is strongly associated to the working environment and working conditions, while for artists individual personality, interpersonal relationships and external pressures are the major sources of stress.
CONCLUSION: Therefore, considering the emerged problems, it seems necessary to promote policies of health and safety at work, even in the show business, in order to safeguard these professionals not only as “artists” but also as “workers”.