Here’s the thing: A recent stat revealed that more than 12 million Brits are forced to take time off work each year because of stress and anxiety.

The cause? Pressure from overbearing or abusive managers. Shame.

Instead of allowing the staff to worry about their mistreatment, however, business experts are recommending something that might not go down well with the managers in question.

They suggest that staff should – you guessed it – “be allowed to take out their anger on voodoo dolls,” reports The Telegraph.

For real:

A study of 229 workers in the US and Canada found that engaging in ‘symbolic retaliation’ lowered feelings of injustice by one third.

Although revenge is often viewed negatively, the researchers say the findings highlight ‘the largely overlooked benefit of retaliation from the victim’s perspective.’

Assistant Professor Dr Lindie Liang, from the Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, said voodoo dolls could help staff:

“As weird as it sounds, yes,” she said “We found a simple and harmless symbolic act of retaliation can make people feel like they’re getting even and restoring their sense of fairness.

“It may not have to be a voodoo doll per se: theoretically anything that serves as a symbolic act of retaliation, like throwing darts at a picture of your boss, might work.

“Symbolically retaliating against an abusive boss can benefit employees psychologically by allowing them to restore their sense of justice in the workplace.”

The study incorporated participants who used an online voodoo doll programme created by Dumb.com [below], which “allows users to name the effigy after their boss, and sticking it with pins, burn it with a candle, and pinch it with pliers”.

Go on, give it try.

Not a fan of the tears, to be honest – makes it all seem pretty brutal.

Dr Liang explained that they decided to embark on the study because, in previous research, it was suggested that “people who feel they have been treated unfairly will lash out at their abuser, but it can spark a spiral of retaliation and counter-retaliation which is detrimental in the long term”:

“We wanted to see, rather than actually retaliating against the abusive boss, whether mistreated employees could benefit from harmless acts of symbolic retaliation,” added Dr Liang.

They asked participants to visualise a workplace interaction, which had involved abuse from a supervisor, and retaliate using a voodoo doll.

Apparently, those who were allowed to stick virtual pins onto their boss were far less likely to still feel bitter.

I say go ahead and make a real one; clicking to poke that pin is just not the same.

[source:telegraph]