Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant working with Ernst & Young in Pune, died due to “excessive workload”, her mother said in a heart-wrenching letter to the company.

“The workload, the new environment and the long hours took a toll on Anna physically, emotionally and mentally. However, she kept pushing herself and believed that hard work and perseverance were the keys to success,” the mother wrote.

The workplace culture of high pressure, overwork and extremely short deadlines has taken a toll on our health. ‘Hustle culture’ is a modern work environment that emphasises hard work and long hours as the key to success.

Kritarth Mittal, a 25-year-old software developer and founder of a social app, was hospitalised after staying up all night, sleeping less than five hours and eating an unhealthy diet.

Sharing a photo from the hospital, Kritarth cautioned his social media followers about the ugly side of “hustle culture”.

Earlier this year, Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath suffered a mild stroke, the causes of which the CEO attributed to stress due to “the passing of his father, poor sleep, exhaustion, dehydration and overwork.”

Working 9-10 hour shifts has become a common routine for most professional employees, stretching their working hours to almost every day.

It promotes the idea that working long hours and prioritising work over personal needs can help lead to higher promotions and higher pay. It is often linked to the idea that you can achieve anything if you work hard enough, and that busyness is a sign of productivity.

This can lead to a state of burnout due to an attitude of toxic positivity.

“The modern lifestyle has led to three risk factors – unhealthy diet, long hours of sitting and lack of sleep. All three are unhealthy as sleeping less than 7 hours increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. It also reduces your longevity,” Dr Sudhir Kumar, senior neurologist at Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad, told India Today.

Dr Kumar recommended that to “break the sitting cycle”, one should take a short walk or do 10 sit-ups every 45 minutes.

“The rush culture becomes toxic when we start focusing only on work, keeping work aside. People work 15 to 16 hours a day and don’t get enough sleep. We have normalised this practice and I have been both an aggressor and a victim of it because I always felt this was the right way to work,” Kritarth Mittal, who landed up in the hospital because of his hectic lifestyle, told India Today.

Sleep expert Dr Sibasish Dey had earlier spoken to IndiaToday.in about the lack of awareness about sleep health in India.

“One is that the medical community does very little study about sleep and its consequences. Another factor is increasing urbanisation. We no longer prioritise our sleep. Even if we are aware, we don’t think it is important. And even if there are people who are aware about sleep, there is a lack of sensitivity,” said Dr Dey.

Experts believe that taking a break from the hustle and bustle of life, focusing on mental health, and prioritizing health can help reduce many illnesses.