Have you ever felt the weight of depression pulling you down at work, clouding your thoughts, and sapping your energy? You're not alone, and this conversation is an essential lifeline for understanding and managing depression in a professional setting. We unpack the subtle signs of workplace depression, from the missed deadlines to that unshakable fatigue that no amount of coffee can cure. But it's more than just spotting the signs; we delve into the real-world impact on job performance and the transformative role that employer support can play. Discover actionable strategies that can make a difference, like tapping into Employee Assistance Programs, the therapeutic power of journaling, and the wisdom in scheduling time away to recharge.
The journey to mental wellness is a marathon, not a sprint, and this episode is your cheering squad reminding you that self-care isn't a luxury—it's a necessity. We touch on the importance of professional help, the value of a strong support network, and the undeniable right each person has to prioritize their healing. Ending on a note of encouragement, the conversation sends you off with well-wishes for the days ahead and a gentle nudge to give yourself the patience and care you deserve as you navigate the path to a healthier mindset. Join us and take a step toward balancing the scales of your mental health and professional life.
Have you ever felt the weight of depression pulling you down at work, clouding your thoughts, and sapping your energy? You're not alone, and this conversation is an essential lifeline for understanding and managing depression in a professional setting. We unpack the subtle signs of workplace depression, from the missed deadlines to that unshakable fatigue that no amount of coffee can cure. But it's more than just spotting the signs; we delve into the real-world impact on job performance and the transformative role that employer support can play. Discover actionable strategies that can make a difference, like tapping into Employee Assistance Programs, the therapeutic power of journaling, and the wisdom in scheduling time away to recharge.
The journey to mental wellness is a marathon, not a sprint, and this episode is your cheering squad reminding you that self-care isn't a luxury—it's a necessity. We touch on the importance of professional help, the value of a strong support network, and the undeniable right each person has to prioritize their healing. Ending on a note of encouragement, the conversation sends you off with well-wishes for the days ahead and a gentle nudge to give yourself the patience and care you deserve as you navigate the path to a healthier mindset. Join us and take a step toward balancing the scales of your mental health and professional life.
Welcome to the Self-Care Society podcast with your hosts Celia Williamson, ashley Kuchar, louie Guardiola and Keri Shaw, a podcast devoted to those whose job it is to help others get or remain mentally, physically and emotionally healthy, but who also need to take care of themselves. And how we're going to do this? By first showing you the filtered, pretty version of success, and then the real struggles, real work and raw grit it took to get there, how they took care of themselves and also achieved their goals while doing it Together. We will work with you to improve and maintain your internal health and growth, while helping you achieve your external goals and your next professional achievement in life.
Speaker 1:And we're excited to show you how to follow your own individual and unique path and achieve the dreams you have, while taking good care of yourself.
Speaker 2:So let's get started. Hello and welcome to the self-care podcast. My name is Isabel Matosian and I will be your host for this episode. We recently had someone ask us about dealing with depression at work, so that's what we're going to address today.
Speaker 2:Dealing with depression would be hard even if you had zero commitments that you had to manage in the meantime. But when working at the same time as struggling with depression, the issues are just compounded. Your job is a huge part of your life, no matter what your career is. Most people cannot take time away from work to deal with mental health challenges. You need to pay your bills, and we don't live in a culture where the support you need will be given freely or easily.
Speaker 2:Depression is complex and there isn't just one reason that you might suffer with it. It could be medical, emotional and genetic factors, as well as environmental, situational or seasonal. The workplace might be one of those factors. So how do you know when you're dealing with depression at work? One sign might be missing work. It may start with calling in sick or making excuses for needing a personal day. Another one is having trouble with concentration, if you're struggling to keep your mind focused at work or it feels like you're in a fog all the time. It may be an indication that you're trying to work while dealing with depression. It may also feel like you're in a hopeless state of mind, like there's no way you'll be able to accomplish what you need to, so why not just give up? Accomplish what you need to, so why not just give up? Another indicator is missing deadlines and goals the inability to get your work done or complete tasks, avoiding phone calls and meetings, or failing to achieve your personal or career goals. You may also be plagued by feelings of depression when you're at work. It could be that your workplace is the cause of your depression. If you're overcome with depression while at work, but not as much elsewhere, then it could be that it's driven by your work or something that's happening at work. Serious issues that can cause this in the workplace may be harassment, discrimination, abuse or bullying. Lastly, you may feel fatigued at work. If you're feeling tired all the time or struggling to find the energy to do your job, it may be another sign of struggling with depression at work.
Speaker 2:So now that we've talked about the signs, let's talk a bit about how it will affect your work. Your workplace productivity can be significantly counteracted by depression. It's a super common challenge. It can also be challenging for employers to be losing productivity. This is one reason why it's so important for employers to be supportive of their employees as they face mental health challenges. We'll talk about that later in the episode, if you're an employer listening in.
Speaker 2:So why is it so hard to keep up your performance at work when you're depressed? There are a plethora of reasons, including the lack of concentration, procrastination, absence, a lack of initiative, low energy, poor communication or decline in problem solving and decision making skills, and there's more than that. If you're dealing with these issues at work, just know that you're not alone in it. There are so many people suffering from depression, just like you. Hopefully, some of what we are going to talk about will help alleviate it. So here are some tips that will hopefully help you as you deal with depression at work. These are not going to cure your depression, but hopefully will help provide ways to cope better if you're dealing with depression at work.
Speaker 2:Start by acknowledging the depression and trying to come to terms with how you're feeling. What might be driving the depression for you? Is it a major depressive order? Is it work-related or is there another cause it's not easy to think about or to come to terms with, but once you acknowledge that your struggle isn't just the usual day-to-day blues or normal workplace complacency, you can start to manage it. Seek assistance if you need to.
Speaker 2:Depression will not go away by itself. It's important to find a professional that you are able to connect with and who you feel comfortable talking to. This may be a psychiatrist, a therapist or a psychologist. If you have a health plan through your employer, then they may have an Employee Assistance Program or EAP, as a part of your benefits. This could help by providing no-cost confidential counselors and therapists. However, if you aren't comfortable using services that are offered by your employer, then you can try to find an outside therapist or potentially, group therapy. Connecting with others can help. If you do find a suitable provider, then follow their course of treatment or therapy. At least try it, even if it seems silly at first. I know for some people journaling seems silly, but then they try it for themselves and find it very effective.
Speaker 2:If you're prescribed a medication, take it in accordance with the direction from your provider. Do not stop a medication without first consulting your doctor or your therapist. This is because coming off of a medication without weaning off of it appropriately can cause more harm than help, and communicate with your provider honestly about the medication that you're taking and how it's affecting you. Keeping a journal can actually help you track how the medication is impacting your recovery, for better or for worse. Another thing you can do is plan your time off and vacations so that you have something to look forward to. You can be strategic to use these days off as boundaries between work and your personal time.
Speaker 2:If workplace stress is to blame for your depression, then planning time away from work to do something you enjoy or even just to sit at home and practice self-care may help with your productivity when you are at work. In line with that is taking short breaks in your workday. Get up to walk, stretch or plan a lunch break outside. This could help improve your mood and give you renewed focus. Take the time to walk away when you need to. Another crucial thing is to practice self-care. When you're dealing with depression, it can take a lot of energy to think about being kind to yourself.
Speaker 2:Self-care includes a lot of what we've talked about already today, including therapy or counseling. You can also add in things that you enjoy, such as meditation, yoga, exercise, gardening, music or a hobby Exercise in particular can boost your endorphins, which, in turn, will lift your mood. This is the same brain chemical that a lot of antidepressants help stimulate. Again, this is not a cure and not intended to trivialize what you're enduring, but it is true that exercise and sunshine are proven to improve your mood. When dealing with something as painful as depression, use all of the tools in your arsenal. You have options and you're not alone. 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 the most important thing for a long-term management of depression. So at this point, I'd like to circle back to supporting employees if you're an employer. Back to supporting employees if you're an employer.
Speaker 2:According to Harvard Business Review, one in five Americans are affected by mental health issues, with depression being the most common problem. A recent report by the Blue Cross Blue Shield found that depression diagnoses are rising at a faster rate for millennials and teens than any other generation. The disorder is estimated to cost $44 billion a year in lost productivity in the United States alone. Many managers become aware of mental health issues only when they investigate why a teammate or why a team member is performing poorly. A better scenario would be if employees feel 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. Hopefully, these tips from the same article will help.
Speaker 2:Start by learning about the disorder. You may suspect that an employee struggling with depression will speak to HR staff about accommodations, but rather they'll likely talk to you. Prepare ahead of time to learn about depression and to know that its symptoms include things like loss of interest, decreased energy, low self-esteem, poor concentration or disturbed sleep, just as a few examples. Understanding these symptoms can help you anticipate performance issues or the accommodations that may be requested by an employee. You can also allow a flexible schedule, so let an employee suffering from depression come in later if they're struggling with oversleeping or falling asleep. Research from as far back as the 1980s suggests that flexible work hours actually increase productivity. They also increase commitment to the organization and employee retention. If needed, set a window of core hours or core days in which you want all of your team members to be at the office.
Speaker 2:People dealing with depression benefit from structure, but often find it difficult to create structure for themselves. You can help by facilitating this in a sensitive and responsive manner. Secondly, don't let employees with depression stop interacting with you or other team members. Be on the lookout for avoidance on the part of your employee. Be on the lookout for avoidance on the part of your employee. Withdrawal only exacerbates the sense of isolation that depressed employees already feel. What is key here is that you reach out in a supportive and non-judgmental manner. Research suggests that social relationships at work can act as buffers against depression and that stronger relationships with managers and peers can lower depression, simplify the scope of their work. Depressed employees may tell you their workload feels too overwhelming or complicated. Depression can affect cognitive function, and cognitive function can also be affected by a lack of sleep.
Speaker 2:As a manager, you can help by breaking up large projects into smaller tasks. The benefit of giving smaller, more manageable tasks is that it empowers employees to achieve more frequent experiences of success. Depression is associated with diminished processing of rewards. The more that you, as a manager, can do to reinforce success, the better. Repeated victories over time create new and more frequent positive work experiences. This influences the way that employees perceive their environment and increases positive expectancies. You can also help by sharing deadlines as needed. Too many deadlines can be overwhelming to anyone and those suffering with depression often have low expectations about their ability to deal with future stressful events. So when sharing deadlines, communicate only as needed. Yes, a project manager needs to see the timeline for the entire project, but for a specialist on your team, especially one with depression, a full timeline may increase stressors and negative emotions. As a manager, you can help an employee with depression by breaking down large projects into their component parts. So by sharing fewer shorter-term deadlines, you reduce negative emotions by reducing the input of stressors. Short-term deadlines allow employees to see large projects as smaller, more manageable tasks, which research shows creates higher levels of work, adherence and productivity.
Speaker 2:Focus on positive outcomes and try to criticize less. People who are depressed can be highly self-critical, so rather than highlighting failures, focus on supporting and celebrating moments of achievement. Motivation in depressed employees can plummet in the face of threats and punishment. Depressed employees can plummet in the face of threats and punishment. Explaining the positive necessity of assignments as a motivation tool is far more effective than sharing the detrimental costs of an unfinished project. Framing assignments in terms of benefits and importance increases their perceived appeal and strengthens intrinsic motivation in employees. So if your employee drops the ball, you might be tempted either to assign the employee menial tasks or to penalize the employee with difficult tasks that force the employee to work harder. In reality, it's possible that your employee feels as though either one of those scenarios has already occurred.
Speaker 2:Check in with your employees regularly and make sure that the work assignments match the current abilities and talents of your staff. Additionally, know the strengths of your employees and play to those strengths. If your employees feel like the tasks are designed for them, they'll be more likely to view them as important and complete them more quickly, and then they'll also experience a sense of validation. This method could be both immediately and ultimately beneficial. People who feel as though assignments are useful and catered specifically to their abilities are more interested in the assignments and experience diminished levels of depression in the long term. Lastly, be a leader.
Speaker 2:Coping with depression is difficult not only for the person with depression, but also for those with whom the depressed person interacts. So you should be attentive to how interacting with a depressed employee might make you feel. Remind yourself that the person with depression is dealing with symptoms that make every day a struggle. This is about how you, as a manager manager can step up and help your employee. Keep in mind that depression is an illness. By helping your employee with depression, you help your team, your company and you demonstrate strong leadership. Be proactive. Make sure that your employees have the resources they need to be productive. Many companies nowadays have employee assistance programs, or EAPs, like we mentioned before, or they have other resources that are available to their employees free of charge. By sharing these resources from time to time, your team members will see you as an enlightened manager. This increases the likelihood that they may approach you when they experience problems and before these problems seriously compromise their work performance. Additionally, if one in five Americans suffers from mental illness, consider the email communications that go out from your HR or corporate. How much of the communication contains information about mental health support and resources. Without proper planning and adjustments, depression is more likely to negatively affect work performance. As a leader, your job is to create a personal work environment that results in better outcomes for all of your employees, including those battling depression.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for listening today. If you're struggling with depression, remember that you deserve to take the time that you need to heal. Depression is a time-consuming that you need to heal. Depression is a time-consuming, exhausting beast, but you are worth every ounce of healing that you pursue and the support that you receive. Have a great rest of your week, everyone, take care. That concludes this week's episode. And remember it's not selfish, it's self-care.