Leave due to Work Depression: symptoms, causes and treatment

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

In some serious cases, the worker can ask for a leave of absence due to depression. This situation can be due to both personal issues (in the case of mourning the death of a relative or any other circumstance of special seriousness) or for issues related to the work environment (a situation of mobbing, late 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 leading a normal life.

What is depression?

Depression is a mood disorder that many people experience 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.

Occupational 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 severe cases.

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

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

Symptoms

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
• labor demotivation
• constant fatigue; feeling of being "burned out"
• Weight changes
• Irritability and outbursts in the work environment
• Low concentration and poor performance
• Increased time required to perform daily functions
• Increase in errors and oversights in your work
• Punctual drops. In the case of this disease, co-workers and direct superiors of the affected individual can be of great help in diagnosing the problem.

Causes

But, What are the most common causes of depression at work? We analyze them below:

• Having lived through a traumatic or especially stressful experience
• A work environment in which the employee is not in control of the situation
• Continuous frustration at not achieving the desired results
• Particularly stressful and demanding working conditions
• Communication problems and conflicts with colleagues or superiors
• Excessive responsibilities and not commensurate with salary
• Lack of appreciation and recognition of the work performed by the employee. If you detect that you yourself or one of your office colleagues presents 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 correct way, can reduce the symptoms that work depression generates.

The treatment to be followed must be adapted to each person and their problem.. Each work context is unique and the causes and symptoms will determine how the situation should be dealt with and which therapeutic tools will be most appropriate.

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

1. Sensitize employees

Making workers aware of work disorders and how to prevent them is a great idea and helps prevent cases of helplessness from occurring. At the very least, employees learn to detect dangerous situations and report when something is wrong. Information is power, and being able to identify risk situations among the work team is one of the the most obvious ways to minimize the impact that this problem can cause in certain members.

2. talk about it

It's not an uncommon disorder: many people suffer from occupational depression at some point in their career. Talking about it and sharing your feelings with your colleagues will reduce the psychological burden.

The mere act of introspecting and talking to someone about how you feel and what is going on in your office it will make you feel better and make sense of what is happening. Your support people can give you their opinion on 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. Transfer 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 action opportune so that the situation is alleviated (especially, if there is an excess of workload or some problem of communication). In any case, if you are the person who is suffering from occupational depression, remember to communicate this circumstance properly and with all possible precautions, in a tone of maximum cordiality. It is much better for superiors to see that you have a constructive spirit than for them to perceive you as a person who destabilizes the group or who does not fulfill his obligations.

They might be able to give you a few holidays so you can take some distance and charge batteries.

4. Go to psychological therapy

If you are suffering from work depression or you detect that there is a colleague who may be in a situation of risk, it is very helpful to see 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 work depression will allow the therapist to understand the situation much better.

Bibliographic references:

• American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. DSM-IV-TR. Washington, DC: Author (2000). (Trans. Spanish, Barcelona: Masson, 2002).
• Dr. Alfredo Horacio Cìa (2002). Anxiety and its disorders. Buenos Aires: By Productos Roche S. TO. 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.
• Kesselheim AS, Misono AS, Lee JL, Stedman MR, Brookhart MA, Choudhry NK, Shrank WH (2008). Clinical equivalence of generic and brand-name drugs used in cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. NEVER. 2008 Dec 3; 300(21):2514-26.