BY CHERYL LIM

DOCTORS are seeing more young patients complaining of body aches, headaches and insomnia, the cause of which doctors have attributed to the economic downturn.

Dr Clarence Yeo from Killiney Family and Wellness Clinic told my paper about a female patient in her late 30s who complained of insomnia and headaches.

He said: 'She said she felt anxiety as her company was cutting back on staff due to the recession.'

He has observed a 20 per cent rise in patients with those 'stress-related ailments plus anxiety symptoms, like heart palpitations and excessive worrying', since the onset of the downturn.

Dr Roy Teow, who owns United Health Family Clinic and Surgery in Yishun, said some of his patients confided in him that 'their bosses have reduced their working days to cut costs, worrying them'.

He added: 'Others say they're holding down two jobs. Or they're doing the jobs of two persons because their companies are cutting costs.'

There is no silver lining except to wait for the 'bottoming out of the economy', said Dr Alvin Wong from Well Family Clinic and Surgery.

In the United States, studies have shown that during recessions, the number of stress-related ulcers tends to spike.

Earlier this year, the National Health Service in the United Kingdom was set to hire thousands of psychotherapists to help victims of the economic downturn.

More than 3,000 health-care professionals will be taken on to deal with people suffering from anxiety and depression as a result of losing their job or becoming inundated with debt, reported the Sunday People.

Mr Jeffrey Gan, a 42-year-old sales manager whose health-care company has laid off a quarter of its sales team, including his boss, is now doing the job of three people.

He said: 'I've been having difficulty sleeping at night, and feel tired in the day.

My wife saw that I had lost weight and told me to see a doctor. I'm on medication and feel slightly better but I still worry about my financial situation.'

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