It’s a new year with thousands of wonderful possibilities. But if dreading going back to work or the thought of creeping through an eight hour work day makes you feel more than miserable, then this might be a sign that your job is making you depressed.
Depression is costing South Africa more than ZAR232 billion due to lost employee productivity because of depressed individuals according to a 2016 IDEA study from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Your personal behaviour, thoughts, and feelings can be affected by work depression and might include the following signs:
- Your excuses are beginning to dry up on why you are not going to work.
- Performing at work is not on your list of top priorities anymore.
- “Irritability” is your middle name.
- You end up complaining about your job 24/7.
- You avoid any and all social work related functions that would entail interacting with colleagues.
- Physical health-related issues are starting to manifest, i.e. lack of sleep, chronic fatigue, and decreased appetite, etc.
Staying in a “sane” and positive state of mind is very important, especially in the workplace. The truth is the average worker will spend 1/3 of his or her life at work…that is a staggering 90,000 hours over a lifetime! You can then see why it is important to be in a job and work environment that is good for both your physical and psychological health.
The first and hardest thing to do is to admit that you are depressed as a direct result of your job. From there you will have to make some choices in order to change your situation and the way you are feeling. It might be that you will have to find a better work environment, change the type of industry you are in or leave the workforce for a set period of time. After all, your health, and especially your mental health, are very important to your overall well-being and should be looked after.
