Depression at work (A guide)
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OptimistMinds
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The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
In this guide we will discuss depression at work, understanding why people get depressed in their workplace and how to deal with it.
Depression at work
Depression at work is a feeling of sadness, demotivation and continued discouragement related to the job.
Human beings work to meet their needs.
Many people enjoy every day going to their workplace and exercising their functions, they take advantage of their time to grow.
On the other hand, some people have no interest in exercising their job functions.
Going to work is one of the worst things the person can feel.
There are extreme cases where the employee may be able to leave work due to depression.
The feeling of sadness and discouragement that the person feels in the workplace is not punctual but prevails for a long time which causes the worker to perform less in the performance of their duties and have problems to make their life in a normal way.
What is depression?
Depression is a mental illness characterized by the presence of low mood most of the time.
The person has no desire to do anything, feels tired and makes no sense to any of the things it does.
The person feels fatigued and develops physical illnesses, which interferes with their daily life.
Depression is currently the biggest cause of disability in the world.
There are currently more than 300 million people in the world who have depression.
Alarming figures that invite us to reflect and deepen more about this mood disorder which affects any person, regardless of race, colour, gender or socioeconomic status.
A person with depression has trouble finding help because of the stigma the mental disease have.
For many years, the stigma of seeking psychological has made that the person suffering from depression or another mental illness to close the possibility of receiving treatment.
Knowing the symptoms and consequences that can cause depression and the results of not being treated is a way to make the population aware of how serious this disease is.
It is normal to say I go to the psychologist because when a person does not feel well physically go to a doctor, the psychologist takes care of the mind.
The reasons why a person may have depression are multifactorial.
The family, genetics, social environment, all influence when a person has depression.
In the social sphere, the workplace can cause a person to feel so bad that can develops depression.
Why does a person have depression at work?
Work is one of the places where a person can spend a lot of time, in some cases the person spend more time than at home.
Every person who does a job function expects to be in an environment of peace and tranquillity.
May harmony be present and there may be a good relationship between the coworkers.
When a person begins to experience various negative situations at work, their mood begins to change.
A work environment where gossip, disorganization and lack of teamwork are present, makes each of the employees have no desire to do their job in the best way.
A person who has a toxic work environment sees work like hell.
Every day it is harder to get up, the person is always in a bad mood at work, the quality of the functions that have to do falls.
In general, the person is not doing the things in the way they should be done.
A toxic work environment not only influences that the person does not do the corresponding functions, but it also influences other aspects of a person’s life.
Someone who is not well in one area of life will extrapolate those feelings to other areas.
An example would be of a person who hates their work and when being with its partner can express feelings similar to what manifests at work.
The person loses control of their emotions and can hurt others without the intention of doing so.
Aspects such as low working conditions are reasons for developing depression at work.
When a person sees that it is working hard and this is not recognized, feels unmotivated.
Also to see that the company or institution for which the person works has a low salary, which allows to barely cover the basic needs.
All these elements, if are present in the workplace, contribute greatly to a person developing depression at work.
It is more difficult for a person to have depression at work if they know that they do not have the possibility of quitting the job.
There are people if they don’t feel comfortable in their workplace, they quit.
Do not waste a moment when it comes worrying about your mental health. Others would like to make this decision, but they can’t.
Some people have depression at work and cannot quit due to various reasons. Some of them are:
- Be the support of the home: when the person knows that is the biggest provider for their family, feels tied. The person knows that if do not work, it won’t be able to support their parents, partner or children. Understand that they come after the others.
- It is not prepared enough in the labour field to look for other options: some people have a job and do not do their best to grow or seek new opportunities. They get stuck and when they want to decide to quit, it sees himself with arms crossed since they know that doesn’t have certain skills to enter another place to work.
- Is afraid: fear is one of the greatest enemies of human beings. A person does not quit their job for the simple fact that what could happen later. For many, giving up means starting from scratch and some people fear this. They feel they can’t do it and decide to stay there.
- They are not searching for other opportunities: some people express with great desire that they want to quit their job but do nothing to do it. Everything stays in words and they do nothing to look for opportunities.
How can a person overcome depression at work?
For a person to overcome depression at work they must know specifically the reasons why is having depression at work.
The person must know what things cause the feeling of discomfort at work, what situations make unable to the person to do the functions.
Once the person identifies why they have depression at work, depending on the reasons, they should communicate it to their boss in their workplace.
Must express what it makes feel that way and try both to find the relevant solutions to get ahead.
It is also important that the person seek professional help.
The psychologist will help the person to cope with the triggers of depression at work.
FAQs about depression at work.
I have depression but not because of my work, but at the same time it affects my performance, what can I do?
To overcome depression, the best solution is to seek professional help.
Mental health professionals will help identify the causes for which the person is depressive.
Although the work environment is not the cause of depression, it can interfere with at work.
The symptoms of sadness and low mood will cause the person not to do their functions.
I have depression at work, I have communicated to my boss how I feel but has not shown any signs of help, what should I do?
If you feel that you have not been given the necessary support at work due to job depression, the best thing you can do is analyze the situation and make a decision about whether to stay in this work or not.
Mental health is as important as physical health, and if in a work environment they ignore it, it is better to reconsider whether it is worth being in that place.
How can I express at work that I have depression? I am afraid of any action they can take towards me.
Talk to your superiors about how you feel.
Express everything with details and tell you would like them to help you find a solution so that depression does not interfere with your functions and your life in general.
A company or institution that is aware of what depression is going to act comprehensively and will extend a hand to help.
I quit my job because my depression levels were very high but after quitting I am still depressed, what should I do?
Depression, like any other mental illness, needs to be treated by mental health professionals.
The person needs to identify the origin of this and implement a series of strategies that will be given by the agent in the area of health so that it can overcome it.
Should I feel ashamed for having depression at work?
You should not feel ashamed about feeling depression at work. It is healthy to talk about mental illnesses like talking about physical illnesses.
Today there is a lot of struggle to change the stigma about mental health.
It is okay to express feelings about depression or any illness.
Conclusion
Being depressed is hard for the person who has the disease and for those around.
Having depression at work is difficult because the person has to deal with it every day.
Depending on how strong the situation is, the person understands that can no longer be in that place and the best thing it can do is consider quitting.
Mental health is priceless and you don’t have to wait to develop big consequences due to depression to take action.
There are several actions that can be taken at work so that the person can feel better and not get to the point of depression.
It is important that if the person does not feel comfortable in their workplace, they specifically explain why they feel this way and propose solutions, which will be summarized in gains for both parties.
Recommended links
- Overcoming Depression: A self-help guide using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques
- Working In The Dark: Keeping Your Job While Dealing with Depression
- Tackling Depression at Work: A Practical Guide for Employees and Managers
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