How Can You Get Yourself Out Of A Funk
Although depression can become a very clinical subject, many of the ways to help yourself through this mood disorder are very simple and practical. Self-care is a key component to living a happy, healthy life and between your diet, exercise, daily routines, and social interactions there are plenty of steps you can take to influence your mood. As you move through your depression, be open to trying new approaches and understand that it might take a combination of these self-care practices before you notice a change in your mood.
When Is It Best To Seek Therapy For Depression
After two weeks of persistent sadness or loss of capacity for pleasure, along with a sense of hopelessness or guilt and such physical changes as appetite shifts and early-morning awakening, it is wise to consider the possibility of major depression. Depression is diagnosed after a thorough health examination rules out treatable physical conditions, such as thyroid disorder, that can create many of the same symptoms. Therapy should be started as soon as a diagnosis of depression is rendered. The longer an episode of depression goes untreated, the more difficult it becomes to treat, the greater the possibility of future episodes, and the greater the possibility of inflammatory changes to the brain itself. Further, depression undermines functioning in every domain of life, including work and family starting therapy soon minimizes the disruptive impact of the disorder.
Are Some Types Of Therapy Especially Effective Against Depression
Depression is a multifaceted disorder, and it responds to therapies that specifically target one or another area of dysfunction. Four types of therapy have proved effective in patients with depression extensively studied during treatment and followed up for significant periods of time afterwards. They are: Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy , Interpersonal Therapy , Psychodynamic Therapy, and Behavioral Activation .
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Meet Yourself Where You Are
Depression is common. It affects millions of people, including some in your life. You may not realize they face similar challenges, emotions, and obstacles.
The key to navigating depression is to be open, accepting, and loving toward yourself and what youre going through.
Every day with this disorder is different. Its important to take your mental health seriously and accept that where you are right now isnt where youll always be.
Encourage Male Leaders To Be Role Models
The men in leadership roles at your organization have the power to normalize conversations about mental health and show that vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. In general, they can do a lot to help male employees know they dont need to be ashamed when theyre feeling stressed or anxious.
Male leaders can start talking about what theyre doing for their stress management, and model taking a mental health day or ending the work day early when needed. Framing these as normal behaviors will open the door to male employees following suit.
As weve already discussed, words matter, and when leaders name emotions like anxiety and depression, it can help reduce the stigma and encourage talking about them in the workplacewhile also helping your male employees realize theyre not alone.
Creating a dedicated Slack channel for men is one way to give male employees a safe space to talk about their feelings.
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Does Depression Ever Go Away On Its Own
Depressive episodes may lift on their own, but even in the best-case scenario that can take many months and in the interim do significant damage to both your brain and your life. Experts believe that the inflammation involved in depression can, over time, contribute to neurodegeneration and, in a vicious cycle, accelerate pathologic changes in the brain that make future recovery more elusive. In one study of patients with major depression, 23 percent of untreated cases remitted within three months 32 percent were in remission by six months, and 53 percent within a year. Remission is most likely among children and adolescents.
Don’t Let Depression Disrupt Your Life And Work Take These Steps To Get Help
Don’t let depression at work derail your life and career.
Depression at work can manifest itself in many ways. Maybe you have difficulty concentrating on the tasks at hand, are exhausted because you cant sleep, feel on the verge of tears all the time, are nervous and overwhelmed, or some combination of the above.
But experiencing depression at work isnt exactly remarkable, right? Better learn to suck it up and deal, right? Not exactly. Theres a definite difference between regular olworkplace stressa big presentation, a clients disapproval, a heavy workloadand actual depression.
When you experience persistent, troubling feelings that wont go away no matter what you do, and those feelings interfere with all areas of your life, it’s important to get support. You’d hardly be alone. According to a Monster survey of 1,000 full-time and part-time employees in the United States, many employees have experienced depression and physical illness as a result of their job 34% said their job negatively affects their mental health.
Depression can be debilitating, so its not surprising that it can impact your experiences at work. A survey by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America asked people which aspects of their job were affected by anxiety and depression. The results:
- workplace performance
- relationship with co-workers and peers
- quality of work
- relationships with superiors
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Learn About The Disorder
It would be easy to think that an employee with depression will first speak with HR staff about work accommodations, but it is likely that your team member will speak with you first.
Because an employee may come to you without warning, you need to prepare ahead of time and learn about depression and its symptoms. These include loss of interest, decreased energy, feelings of low self-esteem or control, disturbed sleep, and poor concentration.
If you understand the symptoms of depression, then you will be able to anticipate work performance issues and the types of accommodations an employee might request.
Dealing With Depression In The Workplace
If youre dealing with depression at work, try these tips. They are not intended as a cure, but could help provide ways to better cope if youre dealing with depression at work.
Self-care alone cannot cure depression. Small positive changes in your daily routine may help you feel better, but working with a behavioral professional is most important for long-term management of depression.
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What Does Interpersonal Therapy Do
Like CBT, IPT is a short-term, present-oriented therapy. Its primary target, however, is the difficultiy in interpersonal functioning that both gives rise to and results from depression. Many studies support the value of ameliorating interpersonal distress as a route to relieving depression. IPT focuses on four major interpersonal problem areasunresolved or complicated grief, struggles with a significant other , role transitions such as the end of a marriage or becoming physically ill, and frank deficits in interpersonal skills. Patients learn to understand which problem area is linked to onset of their episode of depression and to directly redress those difficulties, often by learning how to better express their emotions. With supportive guidance from the therapist, they learn new communication strategies and may even rehearse through role play new solutions to longstanding social difficulties.
What Does Cognitive Behavoral Therapy Do
CBT takes straight aim at the distorted ways of thinkingoften acquired early in lifethat are typical of depressed people, and study upon study has proved its effectiveness. It is based on the evidence that negatively-biased thinking and beliefs give rise to the feelings of hopelessness and despair that are typical of depression, and changing thoughts changes emotions. Studies show that in depression, dysfunction in neural circuitry inclines patients to a negative view of themselves, the world, and their future, and therapy effectively alters patterns of neural transmission. CBT involves an active collaboration between patient and therapist that guides patients to challenge and test their own thoughts and beliefs, try out new behavioral strategies, and to curb reactivity to distressing situations.
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Select Some Focus Exercises
Do tiny exercises to stay focused. Dont let your thoughts wander, suggests Alvin.
Focus exercises can include breathing techniques, the repeating of mantras, or taking a brief walk around your workspace.
The body scan is a popular focus technique that can be done anywhere. It involves focusing your attention on your toes and moving your awareness up to your ankles, knees, and stomach until you reach the top of your head.
Grounding techniques can also help you feel more relaxed and calm, which can help you manage depression symptoms at work.
How Effectve Is Therapy
Therapy is highly effective provided patients complete a prescribed course of therapy. Recent data show that only 10.6 percent of depressed patients haver ever received weekly therapy during their treatment period, which is typically 12 to 16 weeks. But when they do, therapy is more effective than medication over the long term and the effects are more enduring. Patients are less likely to need a second course of treatment and less likely to relapse. In fact, studies show that a single course of psychotherapy works at least as well as keeping patients on medication.
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Changes In Appetite And Weight
Weight and appetite can fluctuate for people with depression. This experience may be different for each person. Some people will have an increased appetite and gain weight, while others wont be hungry and will lose weight.
One indication of whether dietary changes are related to depression is if theyre intentional or not. If theyre not, it may mean that theyre caused by depression.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
People who die by suicide usually show symptoms first. Often people will talk about it or make a first attempt before succeeding in ending their life. If you think someone is at immediate risk of self-harm or hurting another person:
- Stay with the person until help arrives.
- Remove any guns, knives, medications, or other things that may cause harm.
- Listen, but dont judge, argue, threaten, or yell.
If you think someone is considering suicide, get help from a crisis or suicide prevention hotline. Try the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
Walk Regularly To Help Ease The Blues
Simply putting one foot in front of the other may be the trick to feeling better thats because walking is an aerobic exercise thats suited for almost everyone. All it takes is a pair of comfortable, supportive shoes, and youre ready to go.
Practical wisdom suggests that doing something is better than doing nothing in terms of physical activity, says Muzina. If depression has made you sedentary, start off slowly and gradually increase time and distance, he advises.
Hafeez agrees. If you set too high of expectations, you may self-blame and feel guilty if you dont meet those expectations. Set expectations that are realistic, such as going on a five-minute walk, she explains.
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Dealing With The Winter Blues
For some people, the reduced daylight hours of winter lead to a form of depression known as seasonal affective disorder . SAD can make you feel like a completely different person to who you are in the summer: hopeless, sad, tense, or stressed, with no interest in friends or activities you normally love. No matter how hopeless you feel, though, there are plenty of things you can do to keep your mood stable throughout the year.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
Also known as SSRIs, these typically have fewer side effects than other types of antidepressants. Fluoxetine , sertraline , and escitalopram all fit into this category.
Depression is linked to low levels of serotonin . SSRIs work by preventing your blood from absorbing some of the serotonin from your brain. This leaves a higher level of serotonin in the brain, and increased serotonin can help relieve depression.
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Overcoming Depression: How Psychologists Help With Depressive Disorders
Depression is extreme sadness or despair that lasts more than days and affects people in different ways. Fortunately, depression is highly treatable.
Overcoming depression: How psychologists help with depressive disorders.
Everyone experiences sadness at times. But depression is something more. Depression is extreme sadness or despair that lasts more than days. It interferes with the activities of daily life and can even cause physical pain. Fortunately, depression is highly treatable.
Depression, also known as major depressive disorder or clinical depression, is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. In 2014, an estimated 15.7 million adults in the U.S. about 6.7 percent of all U.S. adults had at least one major depressive episode, according to the National Institute of Mental Health .
Socialize With Friends And Family
Even if you are experiencing mild depression or a funk, you might find yourself drawing away from others, avoiding social situations, or not wanting to burden people with your feelings. One of the hardest but most helpful things you can do to see yourself through depression is to find that strong support circle and spend time with the people you love.
Schedule times to visit with family and friends or plan to grab lunch with a coworker so you have a specific time and place where you can lean on others when youre feeling blue. You might also find that some of these people have experienced depression themselves and they might be able to relate with you on the subject and share ideas of what has helped them in the past or just lend an open ear.
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Is It Stress Or Depression
Its important to note that normal job stress doesnt necessarily decrease performance or cause depression in a worker. While job stress might cause you to be a little more irritable, most often, youll be able to quickly bounce back and perform with renewed vigor.
Work depression, on the other hand, might make you feel sad beyond 1 or 2 days. You may be feeling symptoms for weeks or even months. You might begin crying or have feelings of anxiety that just wont go away. You also can find yourself unable to concentrate on your job or starting to feel so bored and unfulfilled that you just want to quit.
Persistent stress at work can certainly feel depressing, especially when it begins to impact self-worth, dignity, and value. Toxic colleagues and staff can leave us questioning career paths in an otherwise normalized environment. When we change our lens and identify with lack of purpose, it might be the right time to tap into our reserves of courage in order to make a necessary change.
Research Evidence For Collaborative Care
Studies of collaborative care programs have been conducted in small and large primary care practices, in diverse health care settings under fee-for-service or capitated payment arrangements, with different patient populations including both insured and uninsured / safety net populations, and with different mental health conditions including depression83, 85 and anxiety disorders.95 The literature has consistently demonstrated that collaborative management of depression in primary care is more effective than usual primary care.83, 96
Collaborative care programs such as the approach tested in IMPACT have been recommended as an evidence-based practice by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration and recommended as a best practice by the Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health110, the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health111, and a number national organizations including the National Business Group on Health112. In a recent evidence-based practice report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality AHRQ that reviewed the existing literature on approaches to Integration of Mental Health/Substance Abuse and Primary Care, the IMPACT program was profiled as one of the most successful models of integrated mental health care to date.113
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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
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.
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