The purpose of this article is to examine possible circumstances for a long lasting improvement of workers' psychological health. After having synthesized the main immediate causes of psychosocial problems, those problems were placed in the contemporary context which is characterized by the incessant renewal of technical and managerial apparatus. To understand the phenomena of psychosocial problems at work one has to be aware of the effects of perpetual change. To analyze these effects on workers' health, an analysis grid is presented, which was built based on the heritage of sociology of work and the notion of work institution (proposed by Lallement). This analysis grid is then applied in several empirical situations (hospitals, universities, multinational companies) to demonstrate that permanent changes lead to a polarization of individuals. Some workers loose their connection to work and, as a consequence, develop a process of degradation of their health, while others take advantage of the movement and remain in good health. Finally, perpetual change is explained as a result of typical dynamics of the management field and of a reification posture which is emblematic to the rationalizing approach. Therefore, it is necessary to intervene in the core of social relations to be able to improve workers' psychological health in a long lasting way.
perpetual change; racionalization; management; reification; psychosocial problems