When everything would seem a fairytale and you would have got your dream job, your mental health can be at stake. Signs of depression follow you in your professional lives too. In fact, work depression can be due to various factors and never-ending pressure. The workload or juggling between home-office can put you under grinding mental health.

Also, as the other side of the story, depression can obstruct you to work efficiently in your offices. You may be present yet absent or feel the heat of not growing out with good and reliable decisions. Signs of depression can have a very bad impact on your performance as an employee. Also, if you are leading a venture, having the right mindset can be impossible due to symptoms of depression in work life. 

To overcome depression in work life can be a hard task. In this, a depressive person has to analyze the degree or intensity of depression. Generally, work depression includes the feeling of loss, anxiety and a stuffed reputation. Here, the employee might seek to be recognised and heard if they are suffering from depression. Work environment, employee engagement, working patterns, all of these factors are major indicators of work depression. 

Let us understand the concept of work depression in detail. We will further shed light on the 10 signs of depression that are observed in professional lives. 

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Work Depression- What It Is

Work depression is no other kind of depression. It is a part of depression that is usually triggered by factors of the work environment or employee psyche. As the studies suggest, half of every organization or company has employees suffering through some kind of signs of depression [1]. It has impacted their physical, social and cognitive functioning [1]. Some employees report minor suffering through symptoms of depression in work life. While some find it hard to cope with these symptoms. 

Every company considers its employees to be human resources or assets. With this comes the work pressure and swift progressing developments. The employees are asked to put in their strengths and efforts to achieve these supposed ‘milestones’ for the company. However, studies suggest that work depression can brutally hamper the growth and contribution of the employee [2]. If an employee goes through signs of depression, he or she might find it tackling to devote their entire attention to the work. Regular zoning out, agitation and anxiousness regarding one’s potential will continue. 

The above information is just one side of the story. It is for those who have been tackling depression symptoms before entering the working field. An employee is equally at the risk of developing signs of depression while working. This usually concerns the working environment and other factors. If the working environment is toxic, it could lead the employee to suffer through work depression.

For instance, if the employee is continuously bashed at the office, they might slip into self-degradation. Here, the factors are more from the department side. The head or the manager must ensure that the working aura supports rather than imposing the employees. 

Work depression can also be caused due to a lack of balance in personal lives. Factors such as marital relation, being a single parent, or looking after a joint family can make a person depressed while working. For the newcomers in the work field, depression can be more common. This is because they have less or no work experience. The working pattern can be new and unfamiliar to them. Further, building up a rapport in the new company can make the person experience some signs of depression.

All these build up the work depression. While employees might not entirely develop it, they can experience the signs of depression from time to time. There are several indicators of possible symptoms of depression in work life. Let us know, understand and treat them with time. 

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8 Signs Of Depression In Work Life

Depression can slip in at any stage of professional life. If you are working on a new project, anxiousness is normal. However, if the intensity of it increases, it becomes a concern to be addressed. In many cases, it might also be an indicator of work depression. To stay alert and pursue the right treatment, knowing the signs of depression in work life is essential. 

Here are 8 signs of depression in work life that any working person should take care of. 

I Want To Be Out

A person going through depression in work life will often have the feeling of getting out. For instance, the company requires you to finish the work in 10 days. If you are depressed, you would find it hard to fit in the schedule or be anxious about completing the work on time.

In this process, depression might cause you to just drop out of the situation. Here, the anxiousness due to depression will lead you to avoid the situation. Also, adaptability might lead the depressed employee to quit. That is, if the company brings in some new format, it would be hard for employees to adapt to it. In other cases, it might also become a sign of depression for the employees. 

All I Do Is Feel Lazily Monotonous

Another sign of depression in work life is feeling lazy and monotonous at work. A depressive person might find their work life to be static. This means they would find it lacking the motivation to wake up each day and go to work. In such times, the financial need can only let them work, but half-heartedly. This also makes the depressive person contribute efficiently towards work. They would also feel lazy, tired and stagnant to look towards working each day. Here, the prospect of self-satisfaction is completely undermined and this can trigger major symptoms of depression in work life. 

Where Does Sadness Go- Nowhere

Sadness is a major sign of depression in employees and in any individual that suffers through depression. Again, not every sadness can be classified as depression symptoms. If the sadness persists for a longer time, it is indicative of depression. In a working atmosphere, if an employee is having a low mood for a consistent time, it can indicate depression symptoms.

The causes of this sadness can be a lack of performing well or getting less recognized. The sadness can also persist due to a lack of interest in the job or position. In such time, an employee must try navigating the positives of the current work. It can potentially help them to overcome sadness. Family and other personal factors can also contribute to the employee going through persistent sadness. 

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Long List Of Errors In Single Task

A depressive employee will potentially make a lot of mistakes in single tasks. Two prominent signs of depression associated here are lack of concentration and making effective choices. Lack of concentration would lead the employees to be careless of the errors in the tasks.

This again can be fueled based on the intensity of their interest in the job and their presence in the working atmosphere. If the employee is new to the field, maintaining good decisions for each task can be challenging. This could lead to errors in the tasks. The decision making could be as simple as selecting the template for the presentation. These two factors contribute to this prominent sign of depression. 

Why Do Tears Never Pause

Crying is associated with being one of the signs of feeling low. And this feeling of low emotion is considered to be one of the signs of depression. An employee who feels frequently tearful at work might indicate depression symptoms. There can be either a triggering cause or just a normal situation.

In an intense situation such as being answerable to the head, the employee may be overwhelmed and express through crying. Similarly, there can be absolutely no intense reason for the employee to cry. Knowing the cause behind the frequent tearing up is required to know whether it is depression or not. 

Insomniac Shadows Drifting Over

Insomnia is one of the major signs of depression in any person who goes through it. The working class is not less affected by this sign. An employee who is possibly suffering from depression may find it hard to get a good sleep. The workload may keep the employee worked up all night. This can immensely affect their sleep pattern. Anxiety about working efficiently, and curating new plans can keep the employee awake for a long time. In a contrary situation, the employee might also sleep more. This can be due to laziness or lack of motivation for the work. 

Alcohol To Forget

Employees might tend to mitigate their depressive thoughts due to work through alcohol or any substances. Generally, the substance used by depressed people is to escape reality. Employees who do so, try to escape themselves from their working lives.

In this process, they lose focus on their work and become hazy about their future goals. Work becomes a burden for them and all that they earn is spent to avoid further anxiety at work. Another aspect of this use is the aggravation of depression. Relying on alcohol or using substances can aggravate the chances of suffering through multiple signs of depression. 

Frustration Seems A Growing Balloon

One of the major signs of depression in work life is frustration build up. On the outside, the working entity would look all smiling and cool. However, the frustration towards the work might keep increasing. This is basically due to the work pressure or the expectations from the head.

If you are performing well, the company would expect you to do better. Similarly, the workload such as overtime may agitate and grow the frustration levels in the person. Also, if the working entity finds no proper way to dispose of frustration, it can only heighten the other underlying symptoms of depression in work life. 

These are the 8 signs of depression in work life. Identifying them is essential to make sure that the right treatment is chosen. In the minor experience of these symptoms of depression in work life, the initiatives of getting better can be done by self. 

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Parting Note

Depression has overshadowed every field. Right from your private lives to professional lives, signs of depression exist. This is because we find it hard to cope with situations and the affecting factors in our professional lives. s. You may be present yet absent or feel the heat of not growing out with good and reliable decisions. Signs of depression can have a very bad impact on your performance as an employee. Also, if you are leading a venture, having the right mindset can be impossible due to symptoms of depression in work life. 

In a simple sense, work depression is used as a term to define the depression symptoms experienced in the workspace. As the studies suggest, half of every organization or company has employees suffering through some kind of signs of depression [1].

It has impacted their physical, social and cognitive functioning [1]. An employee is equally at the risk of developing signs of depression while working. This usually concerns the working environment and other factors. If the working environment is toxic, it could lead the employee to suffer through work depression. For instance, if the employee is continuously bashed at the office, they might slip into self-degradation. Here, the factors are more from the department side.

There are 8 signs of depression experienced in the work lives. These are:

• I Want To Be Out
• All I Do Is Feel Lazily Monotonous
• Where Does Sadness Go- Nowhere
• Long List Of Errors In Single Task
• Why Do Tears Never Pause
• Insomniac Shadows Drifting Over
• Alcohol To Forget
• Frustration Seems A Growing Balloon

Commonly Asked FAQs

1. What are the 5 warning signs of depression?

The 5 warning signs of depression are:

• Thought of unexplained pain
• Insomnia
• Changes in food habits
• Irritability and mood swings
• Lack of focus or concentration

2. Can work make you depressed?

Yes, work can tend to make you depressed at different intensities. It can be caused due to workload, lack of recognition or due to other personal factors. 

3. How long should you stay away from work due to depression?

As long as you are on treatment and have fully recovered, you must avoid being at work. If you stay at work parallel to the treatments, your depression symptoms can increase more.

References

[1] Elinson, L., Houck, P., Marcus, S. C., & Pincus, H. A. (2004). Depression and the ability to work. Psychiatric Services, 55(1), 29-34.

[2] Bakhshi, E., Moradi, A., Naderi, M., & Kalantari, R. (2018). Associations of the quality of work life and depression, anxiety, and stress in the employees of healthcare systems. Journal of Patient Safety & Quality Improvement, 6(1), 662-667.