Worst Jobs for People with Depression (A Comprehensive list)

In this blog post, we will find out what the worst jobs for people with depression are. Moreover, we will see how people with depression can go about employment, tips for managing their work better, and what alternative jobs they can opt for. 

Professional burnout among other factors are contributing to mental health issues at a rapid rate. Further, suicide rates are at an alltime high, and depression among people is becoming more and more common. Employees in America are reporting work to be a source of psychological stress for many reasons including low pay and lack of respect from the public.

Worst Jobs for People with Depression

All jobs can be stressful in their ways, but some are especially challenging for one’s mental wellbeing. 

Following is a list of jobs that are likely to have a negative impact on people’s mental health. Therefore, for people with depression, these jobs can make their condition much worse. Here are the worst jobs for people with depression:

• Social Worker
• Healthcare Worker 
• Lawyer 
• Maintenance Worker or Tradesman
• Artist
• Caregiver
• Food Server
• Teacher 
• Financial Advisor
• Office Clerks

Social Worker

Although rewarding in their altruistic ways, it can be highly stressful. They work with people with emotional crises every day. This job requires courage to be able to work with broken families and children who have been abused. Social workers are among the most susceptible to professional burnout.

Healthcare Worker

This profession includes doctors, veterinarians, therapists, nurses, and other health professionals. These workers have lengthy, unusual hours of work wherein they deal with other people’s lives. Therefore, the stress can reach new heights. Having to empathise with patients on a contimuous basis can have an impact on their mental health.

Lawyer

Lawyers are highly prone to depression as a consequence of professional burnout. Their jobs demand excessive amounts of perfectionism and intense schedules. Many lawyers screen positive for potential alcohol abuse, depression, and anxiety as a result of stress.

Maintenance Worker or Tradesman

Plumbers, lawn-mowers, carpenters, mechanics among others are needed by almost every household at some point in time. Howerver, these workers often work for extremely low pay. Additionally, occupational downsides such as working outside in hot conditions can have an impact on their psychological health. 

Artist

The unpredictability regarding income that comes with being an artist can be bad for one’s mental health. People spend several hours alone and can go unappreciated. The famous artists are the exceptions among creative individuals.

Caregiver

Taking care of sick people automatically increases one’s susceptibility to depression. It is especially worse for people working full-time in nursing homes as the job is emotionally exhausting and demanding at a low pay. Depression is known to be the most common psychological issue among caregivers.

Food Server

This job can be terrible for people with depression as they tend to have inconsiderate bosses, low wages, and can face several rude and demanding customers. As per the Natuonal SUrvey on Drug Use and health (NSDUH), food servers are the second morst likely to see increased risk of depression. 

Teacher

Teaching are even more demanding these days as teachers often work after-school hours as well. Although it can be a highly satisfying job, they are subject to low pay, demanding administrators and parents, and troublesome kids. All of these factors can threaten their psychological wellbeing. 

Financial Advisor

Financial advisors face extended working hours and demands that comes with taking care of people’s finances. Additionally, they are subject to high stress levels and fear making mistakes, thereby reporting increased rate of depression.

Office Clerk

Clerical work can be mundane, repetitive, and dull, and therefore, have a negative effect on one’s mental health. Internal politics and high demands can add to the stress. Moreover, recent economic downfall has led to insecurities surrounding health insurance and unpredictable layoffs. 

How to Go About with Employment for People with Depression

Suffering from depression and other psychological difficulties can feel like a job in itself. However, not all hope is lost, as there are jobs such as those listed in the next section, that can even be good for their mental wellbeing.

While looking for a job, following are a few things that people with depression can consider:

• Option of working from home;
• Minimal or no interaction with large groups;
• Is good for their self-esteem
• Opportunities to be active and challenge oneself;
• Allows one to improve themselves; 
• Flexibility in schedule

Working a job has multiple benefits including earnings and perks like health insurance. It also involves socialisation which can be good for people with depression as this can prevent them from withdrawing themselves. Getting a job in itself can improve certain depressive symptoms in some people or in people with social anxiety disorder. 

While looking for a job, it is important to consider one that rates low on stress levels and attain considerable work-life balance. Having a healthy work-life balance has a great deal of benefits.  

Tips for Managing Work for People with Depression

There are several ways for employees with depression to manage their condition in the context of work. Some of these are:

Learn Adaptive Coping Mechanisms

Stress is related to poor eating habits and other lifestyle choices that tend to short-term gratification and has a negative impact in the long term. Instead of dealing with stress by giving in to such poor habits, it is important to develop healthy coping styles. These mechanims can include yoga, exercise, pursuing hobbies, taking rest, and eating right.

Relaxation Techniques

There are many relaxation techniques, such as meditation and mindfulness practices that can help deal with stress effectively. There are formal and informal ways to practise mindfulness. Formal ones require the help of mental health professionals. Informal ways include focusing on the activity at hand in daily life, such as eating, showering, walking.

Get Support

There are stress management resources at most workplaces. These resources include counselling services, referrals to mental health professionals, online information, and hotlines. Typically, people with depression are recommended to take professional help.

Track Stressors

For people who deal with work stress, it is imperative to track stressors before handling them. Journaling, for even a week or so, can help track stressors and identify current response styles to the same. Information to note down include time of day, cause of stress, emotions the circumstance elicited, and what they did (e.g., went on a walk, spoke about it).

Draw Boundaries 

With technological advancements, employees sometime feel pressure to be available around the clock to bosses and customers. It is important to draw work-life boundaries. These boundaries may include checking work-related emails and other messages only at specific times and responding to calls only during work hours. 

Although work-life boundaries look different for different people, it is important to separate personal life from work. This statement is especially true for those working in demanding fields.

Alternative Options for People with Depression

Depression is a common but debilitating mental condition. Although it can be challenging to work while experiencing depressive symptoms, there are jobs available that could be a good fit. Here are a few jobs to look into for people with depression:

Horticulturist 

This profession offers a wide range of options from landscaping to working at botanic gardens and greenhouses. If a person with depression is interested in working with and being around plants, this is an excellent low-stress job. Apart from physical benefits, plants offer many psychological benefits including an elevation in mood and decrease in stress.

Librarian

Many librarian positions may require a master’s degree. However, there are options such as library technicians or clerks who help with organisation of books, scanning documents, manning the circulation or loans desk, and helping customers to find books and other material. 

Further, working in public libraries may make one feel like they are contributing to society. Moreover, if one is interested in research, working in the archives section could be a good option. Here, librarians maintain and conduct research on historical records and artifacts.

Freelance Worker

This job provides much needed flexibility as one can work from home and as per their schedule. Plus, there are an array of industries that offer freelancing jobs including writing, design, administrative work, and computer programming. This job is an ideal fit for people with depression.

Small Business Employee

Small businesses provide a work culture that is suitable for people with depression as there is a more intimate crowd of people to work with. Additionally, the timings are more flexible. There are a variety of industries with small businesses, and this can be an excellent way to get back on one’s feet if they want to explore a new career.

Dog-Walker or Babysitter

These jobs are highly rewarding and not stressful, especially for people who enjoy being around dogs or babies. They can make their own schedule. Dog-walking, specifically, comes with the added benefit of exercising, which is proven to be tremendously helpful for people with depression.  

Conclusion

In this blog post, we found out what the worst jobs for people with depression are. Besides that, we learnt how people with depression can go about employment and tips for managing their work better. Finally, we saw what alternative jobs may be a good fit for people with depression

.If you’ve enjoyed the ”Worst jobs for people with depression” mentioned above, I would recommend you to take a look at ”Depression among dentists” too.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Worst Jobs for People with Depression

References

https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health-pictures/jobs-that-can-lead-to-depression.aspx

https://www.businessinsider.in/strategy/news/some-of-the-jobs-most-at-risk-for-suicide-and-depression-are-the-most-important-to-society-heres-a-rundown-of160mental-health160risks-for-doctors-childcare-workers-first-responders-and-more-/articleshow/72063064.cms

https://fherehab.com/learning/5-worst-jobs-mental-health