Noticed this article at New York times.
The findings have surfaced with ominous regularity over the last few years, and with little notice: Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.
Public health experts who have led the studies caution that there is no simple explanation of why so many members of a profession once associated with rosy-cheeked longevity have become so unhealthy and unhappy.
But while research continues, a growing number of health care experts and religious leaders have settled on one simple remedy that has long been a touchy subject with many clerics: taking more time off.
I find this line worrying: Many would change jobs if they could. I’m not worried that people would think it, but it worries me that people are staying in ministry because they feel trapped there.
For me, Electrical Engineering was more fun than preparing a sermon or praying or bible study. I do have the choice to go back and do something else, which I often think about, but I choose not to. I reconsider and remake that decision most weeks, and yet I am doing what I want to do.
If you feel trapped in ministry, I suspect more time off is not the answer? Doing different work might be.
Any comments?