(USA TODAY) -- Mounting stress in the workplace is reaching burnout levels for some as more workers report feeling unable to keep up with the demands of their jobs.

The rise in stress -- driven by mounting unemployment, leaner workplaces and a jobless recovery -- could pose a bottom-line threat to companies as workers suffer more mental and physical health problems related to job pressure, experts say.

Chicago-based employee assistance provider ComPsych experienced a 23% increase in crisis- and stress-counseling requests from client companies in the first quarter of 2003 compared with the first quarter of 2002. Nearly 30% were because of worker anxiety and terminations.

Nearly 35% of workers say they've seen an increase in anxiety and stress-related physical ailments in their workplace in the last year, according to a May survey by The Marlin Co., a North Haven, Conn.-based workplace communications firm. Twenty-seven percent report a rise in emotional problems such as insomnia and depression. The impact:

• Stress-busting corporate programs. Companies are trying to help workers cope with job-related tension. At AstraZeneca, a Wilmington, Del.-based pharmaceutical company, a form of meditation called Qi Gong has been introduced. Classes take place at regular department meetings, including a pre-meeting meditation and -- instead of a coffee break -- there is an afternoon energy break with Qi Gong and tea.

  One reason for the attention: Human-resources experts say employees exposed to stresses such as layoffs are more likely to engage in violent behavior.

• Mounting health care costs. Employees who worry about losing their jobs were less safety motivated and had more injuries, according to a study of 237 food-processing plant employees by psychologists at Washington State University-Vancouver.

  A survey through the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls of more than 2,000 workers found ongoing work stress and long hours had a negative effect on physical and mental health.

  After Steve Braman put his company, Sunshine Farms Poultry, into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001, he suffered a blood clot and heart trouble.

  "It was all stress related. I went from being content financially to selling my home," says Braman, who now works as a food broker in Stuart, Fla. "It was more stressful than when I was on Wall Street trading."

• Lowered morale. "It surfaces in morale, which has a tremendous impact on how hard (employees) work," says Carol Kauffman, a psychologist and instructor at Harvard Medical School. "They work more but less effectively."

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