Talk With Your Manager Or Hr
As difficult as this step is, it can be an important one. If youre noticing that your depression is impacting your work performance, it can help to clue your manager in on whats going on so that they can provide you with accommodations.
Being able to make accommodations or modifications to job tasks or demands can be the biggest support when youre living with depression, Matos says.
Things like flexibility in schedules, deadlines, or even modifications in job duties can help someone continue to perform at their job while coping with depression, she continues.
Plus, over time, those accommodations can help you build up your self-esteem and confidence again.
For example, if you have more time to take breaks or even time to go to a therapy session before work you might be able to slowly reduce the impact of your depression on your work and start to succeed again.
Worsening Mental Health Symptoms
Whether you already deal with a mental health issue or not, staying in a work scenario you hate has mental health consequences, especially when you feel obligated to stay.
Research from the Human Relations journal, as Business News Daily reports, found that those who stayed at companies because they felt obligated or couldnt find other job opportunities were more likely to experience exhaustion, stress, and burnout. In addition, this feeling of indebtedness and a loss of autonomy are emotionally draining over time, per one of the studys researchers. All of these factors lead directly to mental health symptoms such as anxiety and depression.
With a pre-existing mental health condition, a job you hate can seem even more dire.
If youre constantly miserable at work, of course thats going to affect your mental health, says Sarah Schewitz, a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist. If you already have a more negative outlook on life because youre feeling depressed, or more fearful outlook on life because youre anxious, its completely amplified by being at a place that you despise on a daily basis.
Common Accommodations For Depression And Anxiety
The accommodations you need will depend on your job and how your condition affects you. Here are some problems that might arise at work for employees who suffer from depression and anxiety disorders, along with some accommodations that might be effective:
You can find many more accommodation ideas at the website of the Job Accommodation Network.
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How To Overcome Work Anxiety
Work anxiety is never just work anxiety. It often bleeds into your home and personal life, and if it continues without management for too long, you may also develop anxiety that often lasts long after you leave your job.
While all of these characteristics might not apply to you, the information should still provide you with tips of how to properly manage your anxiety at work. For the purpose of this article, we will make a few assumptions, which include the following:
- You are currently at a job you cannot leave, because you have not obtained a new job or you need to stay for family reasons.
- You are employed for a company that utilizes cubicles or offices. Despite not fitting the mold exactly, retail, restaurant, and work-from-home jobs should still relate and be relevant based on the suggestions below but how you integrate them may change.
- You are good at your career. Having high career aspirations is still a very important aspect of overcoming anxiety. If you fail to even try to succeed at work, it can impact your anxiety negatively.
- You are not anxious about finances this kind of work anxiety is related to a different kind of anxiety in general. Financial anxiety can be overcome by changing priorities and properly budgeting. We understand that some of you are not paid what you are worth, which can incite anxiety. However, for the sake of this article, we will assume your finances are stable or not a cause of anxiousness.
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Work Stress Vs Work Depression
We have all felt stressed at work. There are those awful days when everything seems to go wrong, when miscommunication is rampant, and you just can’t seem to get along with a boss, employee, or colleague. People are always getting their buttons pushed in the workplace because it becomes our second home and we tend to replicate family dynamics and relationships that mirror those with parents and siblings. It can be aggravating and upsetting.
Not everyone has a story as dramatic as Charney, but a recent Gallup Poll showed that although the unemployed reported a higher rate of depression , 5.6 per cent of full time workers also said they were depressed.
Some mental health and human resources professionals think work can cause depression, others say an individual has to be vulnerable to it in some way or that it is related to their personal baggage, not necessarily to work.
Even Charney realized that her unhappiness boiled down to an more basic component. “I just didn’t belong there to begin with,” she said. “I’m over-qualified, too intelligent, and it was just a job to pay the rent.”
Read Also: How To Snap Out Of A Depressive Episode
Dealing With Depression At Work: What You Need To Know
A few months ago, I told you how a quarter-life crisis catapulted me into a severe depression, and my story of recovering. The response I received from that piece since tells me that Im not alone in this plight, and that many of us have experienced a similar personal crisis. And a recent article on Forbes confirmed that more millennials are suffering from depression, anxiety, or some other form of mood disorder than ever before.
One of the hardest parts of my ordeal was that, in the midst of it all, I still had to be a functional adult and stay on top of my job responsibilities. And while there are many great books online about how to deal with depression or anxiety at work, I also want to share some suggestions based on my own experience for making it throughand even thriving.
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Depression: A Costly Condition For Businesses
Why are more employers focusing on workplace mental health? Because they recognize it is costly to ignore. Depression costs employers an estimated $44 billion each year in lost productivity. About half of employees with depression are untreated. Yet with proper treatment, people with depression can get better. The key is to help employees access effective care.
How Does Depression Impact The Workplace
Depression, left untreated, may have a significant impact on work performance . It contributes to presenteeism, or employees at work but not engaged, and absenteeism, or employees missing days of work. It may also adversely impact multiple areas of employee performance, including focus and decision making, time management, completing physical tasks, social interactions, and communication . Like most other health conditions, early detection and effective treatment lessen the severity and impact of the condition.
Employers can play a key role in supporting the early identification of depression and other mental health conditions and improving access to care. Its an investment well worth making.
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Work Stress Precipitates Depression And Anxiety In Young Working Women And Men
1MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry CentreKing’s College, University of London, Institute of psychiatry, London,GB
2Department of PsychologyUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, WI,US
3Santé publique et épidémiologie des déterminants professionnels et sociaux de la santéINSERM : U687, IFR69, Université Paris Sud – Paris XI, Université de Versailles-Saint Quentin en Yvelines, Hopital National de Saint-Maurice 14, Rue du Val D’Osne94415 ST MAURICE CEDEX,FR
What To Do When Youre Too Depressed To Work
Are you too depressed to work?
Everyone gets sad from time to time, but the major depressive disorder is a serious mental illness
If you have DMM, there are massive consequences.
Your symptoms of depression can be crippling, and the statistics back it up!
The World Health Organization lists depression as the leading cause of disability worldwide.
If youre having trouble working during a depressive episode, dont beat yourself up over it. This is not something you can snap out of with willpower.
Mental health issues can be just as detrimental to your ability to work as physical health conditions.
Thankfully, there are options available for what to do, to get you back on your feet and confident at work.
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When Employees Feel Trapped
Feeling like you have hit a dead end can add to depression, said Lisa Bahar, LMFT, LPCC, a family therapist and clinical counselor, in Dana Point, Calif.
“When an individual is in a job that lacks growth and is fostering complacency, there is a a lack of worth,” she said. “They feel innately that their value is not as high as they would like. Yet there may be a fear to ask for more support since there is a sense that they are not valued by the organization. This can make individuals feel trapped.”
Because they need money , they stay in jobs that are crushing their spirits. “This creates a resentment which is the beginning of depressive symptoms that can actually mutate into aggressive and maladaptive behaviors at work,” said Bahar. “It creates a cycle in an individual of feeling guilty, angry, resentful and trapped.”
Potential Triggers Of Work Depression
The relationship between work and depression is one that can work both ways. Depression can impact your ability to perform your job well, and stress at work can also contribute to a person becoming depressed. Some work-related triggers that can cause major depression or stress include:
- A high workload
- Being asked to do things outside your competency level
- Sudden changes or difficulties with colleagues
- Inflexible working hours
- Poor management processes and/or communication
- Unclear objectives and a lack of support for your work
Also Check: Questions To Ask To A Depressed Person
Use Quick Coping Strategies
In addition to tackling larger issues that are contributing to your work-related anxiety, it may also be helpful to practice quick-working coping strategies that you can use in moments when you begin to feel especially anxious. These in-the-moment strategies could include:
- Going outside for a few minutes
- Listening to a calming song
- Try visualization
- Watching a funny video
Grounding is another technique that can help positively shift your attention in the moment. Grounding involves using your senses to connect to your physical surroundings. This might involve:
- Holding on to a hot cup of tea or a cold glass of water
- Listening to sounds that you find calming
- Noticing specific things you can see in your environment
- Smelling a candle, perfume, or essential oil
- Tasting food with a strong flavor, like a lemon or lime
Mental Ill Health Stress And The Management Standards
Although stress can lead to physical and mental health conditions and can aggravate existing conditions, the good news is that it can be tackled. By taking action to remove or reduce stressors, you can prevent people becoming ill and avoid those with an existing condition becoming less able to control their illness.
HSEâs Management Standards approach to tackling work-related stress establishes a framework to help employers tackle work-related stress and, as a result, also reduce the incidence and negative impact of mental ill health.
The Management Standards approach can help employers put processes in place for properly managing work-related stress. By covering six key areas of work design you will be taking steps that will minimise pressure, manage potential stressors and limit the negative impact that the work could have on your employees.
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How To Manage An Employee With Depression
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Yet despite its enormous and growing toll, many employers take an ad hoc approach to handling depression among employees. Many managers become aware of mental health issues only when they investigate why a team member is performing poorly. A better scenario would be if employees felt empowered to report a mental health problem and ask for a reasonable accommodation so that their manager can intervene to minimize the damage to the organization and help the employees return as quickly as possible to full health. A first step for managers is to educate themselves about the disorder. Other interventions, such as allowing a flexible work schedule, simplifying work demands, and minimizing negative criticism can help depressed employees manager the disorder and return to full mental health more quickly.
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. One in five Americans are affected by mental health issues, with depression being the most common problem. A recent report by Blue Cross Blue Shield found that depression diagnoses are rising at a faster rate for millennials and teens than for any other generation. All told, the disorder is estimated to cost $44 billion a year in lost productivity in the U.S. alone
Here is a guide for managers on how to negotiate work arrangements for individuals with depression.
Depression And Anxiety As Disabilities
You are protected by the ADA if you have a disability: a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of your major life activities. Major depression and anxiety disorders almost certainly qualify as disabilities because of their effect on daily life. If your depression or anxiety makes it hard for you to sleep, work, concentrate, think, regulate your emotions, or care for yourself, for example, then it is a disability under the ADA.
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Has The Pandemic Affected Depression In The Workplace
According to the State of Mental health in America 2021 survey, the number of people seeking help for depression has increased significantly from 2019 to 2020.
The pandemic has led to many people working from home or seeing colleagues and clients less often, if at all. For many people, Zoom meetings are the new normal along with Zoom fatigue.
Not only are people feeling more anxious about their health, job security, and financial stability, says Matos, but many people are now more isolated and disconnected, which can trigger or worsen existing depression.
Indeed, the social element of work has disappeared for many people, making you feel lonely and even more low.
While working remotely can be convenient in some ways, it can also blur the boundary between personal and professional life even further.
can be really difficult to maintain focus and attention on a Zoom call when youre feeling depressed, says Matos.
You might also feel as if you have to work longer at home, especially if you havent accomplished enough, which creates a self-perpetuating problem: Your depression makes it hard to focus on work, so you work slower and less efficiently.
But then you force yourself to work longer, which worsens your mood and the cycle continues over and over.
If youre finding that depression is affecting your work life, there are many things you can do to gain a bit of motivation, rest, or relief throughout the day.
How Staying In A Job You Hate Affects Your Mental Health
- 4 minute read
When it comes to your career, there is nothing worse than a job you hate, literally.
According to a University of Manchester study, having a poor quality job a job you hate is actually worse for your mental health than having no job at all. It may sound hard to believe until youve been there hostile co-workers, a passive-aggressive boss, or mind-numbing assignments. Not to mention we often spend 40 or more hours a week invested in our job, and thats a lot of time to spend in a bad situation.
For the 51% of Americans employed full-time who reported to Gallup in 2017 that theyre uninterested in their jobs and the 16% who dislike their workplace, staying at a job you hate is bad news for your mental health. Heres why.
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Make Stress Your Friend
Along similar lines, health psychologist and world-renowned speaker Kelly McGonigal makes the case for a positive rethinking of stress. In this talk, she explains, its not so much the stress itself that is harmful, as the way in which we think about it.
Instead of seeing stress as your enemy, you can make it work for you. Stress and anxiety are nothing but a sign that you care about something, and this care can be molded into something that wildly improves your performance instead of inhibiting it.
But isnt this just wishy-washy, think positive, smile-at-yourself-in-the-mirror-and-your-depression-will-go-away kind of pseudo-science?
Not really. McGonigal grounds her beliefs in pretty solid scientific evidence, ranging from observational studies to randomized trials, and her book The Upside of Stress, is studded with references to numerous studies which showed actual results.
One such study tested out a simple three-step process for dealing with stress and anxiety in the workplace, and yielded positive results. Here it is, as laid out by McGonigal:
The first step is to acknowledge stress when you experience it. Simply allow yourself to notice the stress, including how it affects your body.
The second step is to welcome the stress by recognizing that its a response to something you care about. Can you connect to the positive motivation behind the stress? What is at stake here, and why does it matter to you?