Work can be a good thing for people with depression. This can depend on the severity of your depression and your working environment. Work can also be a source of stress for people and bad working environments can be a cause of depression.
While most people work because they need the money, there are other benefits to working when you have depression:
- It gives your day structure and something to focus on. Basically, it gets you out of bed in the morning.
- It is social and creates opportunities for talking with other people.
- It gives you a sense of achievement.
But full-time paid work might not be the best option for you, especially if you’re going back to work. Think about different ways of working – part-time, job-sharing, voluntary work, temping, working from home for some of the time or being self-employed.
Your depression might not be caused by your job. There is usually more than one thing that causes depression. But work can be a contributing factor for some people.
- Excessive workload and too much pressure with deadlines and overtime
- Unsociable hours
- Unsupportive working environment
- Bullying and harassment
- Problems with colleagues
- Having too much responsibility beyond your job level. Or not having enough responsibility!
- Lack of job security
- Lack of job satisfaction, either from repetitive work or not get positive feedback
- Personal crisis or problems, such as bereavement, financial problems, relationship difficulties, health concerns or illness, or problems with housing
Keeping up at work when you are coping with depression can be difficult.
- Try and be open with your manager or employer if you are not coping with your workload. They may be able to help you manage better.
- Take sick leave if you need it. You’re not doing yourself or your employer any favours if you struggle on. Taking time to get better will most probably make you a better employee in the long run.
- You might be unsure about telling your manager or employer about how you are feeling. There’s no easy answer to that one, and there is still a lot of stigma about depression in the workplace which can result in employees being treated badly because of their illness.
- If you can’t talk to your manager contact your HR department or person in charge of recruitment and staff issues. A lot of companies and organisations also have staff support services in place to offer support to staff who are feeling distressed. Again, your manager or HR staff will have the details for this.
The good news is employers are getting better at understanding about mental health and there are more employers around now who are willing to make adjustments and be supportive.
- Do you know what particular task, event or person is contributing to your stress or upset? Is this something that can be changed? Have a think of possible solutions and take these to your manager and see if something can be sorted. They might have noticed the stress in the workplace as well and welcome potential solutions.
- Learn some assertiveness techniques to help deal with any difficult situations with colleagues. There is a module on assertiveness on the Living Life to the Full website.
- We don’t all love our job, so it’s important to keep up with the stuff that makes you happy. Even if you feel really down, try and take some time when you aren’t working to do something you enjoy or find relaxing. Some quality ‘me time’. You might not have heaps of spare time, so maybe it is just 30 minutes reading before you go to bed, or a nice soak in a bath once a week, or checking out latest uploads on You Tube – something that takes your mind off work stress for a while.
- Talk things over with a good friend, relative or someone you trust. This can help sort things out in your mind, and you might be able to come up with a solution together.
- Look after your physical health as well as your mental health: make sure you get enough sleep; eat well; and get plenty of exercise.
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