What are your odds of burning out in high-stress Hong Kong? It seems mine are low, even after living for nearly two fast-paced years here. This is according to Hans Holdhaus, a specialist in burn out prevention and corporate health promotion, who recently monitored me for 24 hours via a portable electrocardiogram (ECG) device.
Holdhaus, head of the health management department at IMSB Austria Institute for Sports Medicine and Science, says I have "good total vitality". My energy typically dips between 4pm and 5pm, and, contrary to what I believe, I'm more of an evening person than a morning one.
It's amazing the conclusions Holdhaus could draw from just one simple measurement: my heart rate variability (HRV), or the beat-to-beat changes in heart rate.
A healthy heart speeds up with increased activity or stress and slows down during relaxation. This is the result of the interplay of two components of the body's autonomic nervous system: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The former causes the heart rate to rise, while the latter slows it. When working well together, they ensure that the heart rate is steady but ready to respond to changes. So, a higher HRV is a good thing. Reduced HRV is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular death.
In a recent study published in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia discovered that reduced HRV best predicts cognitive disturbances, such as concentration difficulties commonly reported by people with chronic fatigue syndrome.