Work and Depression

Many of us can find work depressing; especially in the winter months when it is dark outside and the evenings are becoming colder. Some depression can be directly linked to work however and should be dealt with as soon as possible – many do not because of a fear of derailing their career, and this is a big mistake.

Why Don’t People Report Depression?

The fear of “derailing a career” is the main reason; because depression can be caused by stress depressed employees may see admitting it as an extra stress upon them. Secondly they feel it may damage their image within the company – the company may begin to perceive the depressed person as weak or unwell. Both of these can be massive negatives in a machoised business environment.

Yet, without reporting and dealing with work based depression can become something which takes over a person’s whole life – and while depressed at work you are unlikely to be working to the best of your ability.

Depression?

Depression can often be missed because of a “keep busy,” ethic – those who are depressed attempt to suppress their feelings by staying active constantly. Physical pains and sleeplessness can be attributed to depression as early warning signs.
We are all fed-up sometimes, and not all of these times should be considered to be deep-seeded depression. Classic symptoms of depression are: poor concentration, fatigue, disturbed sleep, agitation, any change in appetite, feelings of worthlessness/guilt and thoughts of death or suicide.

Positive Steps

Taking positive steps in your life can be all it takes to break the spell of depression, changing your routine and finding the most valuable part of your day is a good start. Once you’ve found the most valuable part of your day you should focus on bringing that to the front of your agenda – we can often feel depressed because we are doing something we feel is unimportant. Filling your life with important things is a good way to avoid depression.

If you believe your issues are financial you can attempt to change this by restricting your spending, having some money in the bank is likely to make you feel much better and certainly more secure.

Asking For Help

Depression is widely supported in many companies and “admitting” you are depressed should have little effect on your career in the long term – they may demand that you have treatment however. Many large companies have in-house procedure and access to mental health support; this may be the best route to take.

If you do not want to apply through your company, the NHS and self funded mental health charities offer support in the form of support-groups and therapy as well as more standard treatment.

The sooner you begin to get treated the sooner you’ll be back at work happy again.