Low for Work Depression: symptoms, causes and treatment

April 3, 2024

It is one of the psychological disorders that most affect workers and, therefore, companies. Work depression is a feeling of sadness, demotivation and continuous discouragement related to the job.

In some serious cases, the worker may request a leave of absence due to depression . This situation can be due both to personal issues (in the case of mourning due to the death of a family member or any other circumstance of special gravity) or to issues related to the work environment (a situation of mobbing, delayed payment of payroll, etc).

This feeling of sadness is not punctual but remains for a long period of time and causes the worker to perform less and have serious problems to make a normal life.

What is depression?

Depression is a mood disorder that many people suffer at some point in their lives . It is essential to be able to detect the circumstances that are causing this depressed mood. Knowing the causes it is possible to start a therapy or follow a series of psychological guidelines to get out of this bad situation.

Work depression: what is it?

We spend many hours in the work environment, so anything that happens in that context can affect the way we value ourselves, and this can cause depression in serious cases.

In some organizations, they take special care to meet the level of well-being of their employees. In this way, if there is any type of relevant situation, they can take concrete measures so that the affected person or persons can seek support in a figure of confidence of the human resources team. In addition, this type of psychological problems arising from a bad work environment have important effects on the balance of the company's accounting.

Next we will know what are the most frequent symptoms in occupational depression, and how to detect and help a person suffering from this mood disorder.

symptom

Occupational depression is a disorder that originates in the workplace but can show its effects beyond that context:

Sadness and apathy
Anxiety without a specific cause
Job demotivation
Constant fatigue; feeling of being "burned"
Changes in weight
Irritability and outbursts in the workplace
Low concentration and poor performance
Increase in the time required to perform daily functions
Increase of errors and confusions in your work
Punctual losses In the case of this disease, co-workers and direct superiors of the affected individual can be of great help when diagnosing the problem.

Causes

But, What are the most frequent causes of occupational depression? We analyze them below:

Have experienced a traumatic or especially stressful experience
A work environment in which the employee does not have control of the situation
Continuous frustration when not achieving the desired results
Particularly stressful and demanding work conditions
Communication problems and conflicts with colleagues or superiors
Excessive responsibilities and not according to the salary
Lack of appreciation and recognition of the work performed by the employee If you detect that you or any of your colleagues present this symptomatology, it is time to take action and start a psychological therapy that will be based on different points.

Treatment

Mental health professionals use different techniques, strategies and activities that, implemented in the right way, can reduce the symptoms generated by a work depression.

The treatment to be followed must be adapted to each person and their problems . Each work context is unique and the causes and symptoms will determine how the situation should be addressed and what therapeutic tools will be more accurate.

We are going to know some general advice and solutions that can help us in case we suffer a work depression.

1. Sensitize employees

Raising awareness among workers about work-related disorders and how to prevent them is a great idea and serves to prevent cases of helplessness from occurring . The less, employees learn to detect dangerous situations and to share when something is not right. Information is power, and being able to identify risk situations among the work team is one of the most obvious ways to minimize the impact that this problem can have on certain members.

2. Talk about it

It is not an uncommon disorder: many people suffer from workplace depression at some point in their careers. Talking about it and sharing your feelings with your peers will make the psychological burden less.

The mere act of introspection and talking to someone about how you feel and what is happening in your office it's going to make you feel better and that you make sense of what happens. Your support people can give you their opinion about the situation and advise you so that you can remedy the conflict that worries you. Also, if your colleagues are aware of your situation, they are likely to empathize with you and try to find solutions.

3. Move your concern to your superiors

First of all, if you decide to take this step it is important that you treat it with appropriate discretion and confidentiality.

In most cases, the company can understand the claims of the affected person and take the appropriate measures to alleviate the situation (especially if there is an excess of workload or communication problems). In any case, if you are the person who is suffering from occupational depression remember to communicate properly and with all possible precautions, in a tone of maximum cordiality, this circumstance. That the superiors see that you have a constructive spirit is much better than being perceived as a person who destabilizes the group or who does not fulfill their obligations.

It is possible that they can give you a few days of celebration so that you can take a little distance and charge batteries.

4. Go to psychological therapy

If you are suffering from occupational depression or you detect that there is a partner who may be at risk, it is very useful to go to a mental health professional who can treat the causes and symptoms of this disorder . Each professional will study the case in depth and make decisions about the best therapy and tools that can be used. Correctly detecting the causes of occupational depression will make the therapist understand the situation much better.

Bibliographic references:

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. DSM-IV-TR. Washington, DC: Author (2000). (Trad. Castellano, Barcelona: Masson, 2002).
Dr. Alfredo Horacio Cìa (2002). Anxiety and its disorders. Buenos Aires: By Products Roche S. A. Q. and I.
Drake RE, Cimpean D, Torrey WC (2009). Shared decision making in mental health: prospects for personalized medicine. Dialogues Clin Neurosci 2009; 11: 455-63.
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