fbpx

Visit our four fully staffed offices in Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx and Long Island

Our Brooklyn and Queens offices have moved to a bigger and better location

Depression at Work

Being at work, it always involves a little risk. For the more physical labor, this is very apparent. Construction work always involves hazards and injuries. Medical staff faces a lot of bacteria and viruses every day, aside from all the physical stress. For the police force and army forces, the risk is a little bit upfront with all the bullets and bombs that they face when they are out on the field.  Even in the food industry, anyone is subject to machine malfunction which can lead to wounds. Most of the jobs that lie in this spectrum are very taxing to the body and result to incapacitation. In the line of office work, this is much less apparent but it still always there. We face a lot of things every single day, and a lot of these can potentially harm us. However, there are some injuries which cannot be seen by the naked eye. Some of these traumas lie in our brain.

Depression has been one of the more prevailing problems of the modern society when it comes to mental health. One might think that depression is just a state of melancholia or sadness. However, this is a different form of just sadness. It is more chronic and severe. When you are sad, you can still function in the society. You can go to school or work, you can still eat and go on with your life. However, depression can be akin to a withering plant; one just loses all hope to live and just waits for the inevitable doom. In this depressive state, one cannot even function normally and does not even think to try and eat or drink. It will continue on until the person forgets to even live. Please do note however, that depression is different from grief. Grieving is a normal experience wherein we feel hopelessness and sadness after losing a loved one. This is not necessarily depression, but it can be if the grieving period makes up the rest of the person’s life.

The source of depression is currently still unclear. There are many theories which can explain how depression develops. One of which is the diathesis-stress model. It explains that genetics has a role on depression. If you have parents or ancestors that have the depression gene, then you will also have it through inheritance. However, this does mean you will have depression immediately. It needs to have a trigger before it can develop into the disorder. There might be a traumatic event like a calamity, war or abuse. It can also be a loss of loved one, property or even a pet. Medical problems also lead to people to depression and can worsen their symptoms. Some also develop sleep disorders and can lead to other mental disorders like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Depression can also stem from work, like losing it or being transferred from one work to another. It can also stem from poor work environment and abuse in the office. Many people just ignore this due to the fact that they need the job. It is also a wya of thinking, that you need to just suck it up because you need the money and experience. That is a sad reality that many of us face.

This is not always talked about in the field or industry. Workplace depression leads to a lot things and usually people do not even notice it. Many people just try to ignore it or let things be and it will just repair itself. Sadly, depression is not that easy to solve. It can deter the quality of your work and you can lose your focus. Some do not even go to work anymore and they cannot explain the reason why. It can also lead to feelings of inadequacy and inferiority or feeling of uselessness. This can contribute to ideas of taking one’s life and ending things right here and now. However, it is said that in the stages of depression one does not even think of anything else let alone thinking about suicide. The most dangerous time for a person with depression is before they fully recover. They will have the energy to do the things they want, including suicide.

This is far more risky in the workplace, especially since many people cannot recognize the signs. We are too busy with our own life that we rarely care about other people. It is such a sensitive case that we rarely talk about it. Mental health has always been a complicated issue, especially since it can be hard to prove. It is even more complicated in the workplace, wherein people tend to disregard the importance of mental health. It is not more important than the physical well-being but should be of equal importance. Mental health is tied with our physical one, and if the other is compromised then everything is affected. We should not take this lightly as it can lead to consequences far worse than we can imagine.

Depression is a very serious issue but is always taken lightly. Some even say that depression is for the weak-minded and frail of heart. However, all of us can be prone to depression. Even the strongest of people can experience grief and sadness. In the workplace, it is also important to take care of our mental health. A lot of people experience abuse in the workplace just because they need the job and stability. We must protect ourselves in any way that we can so that we can have a healthy life.

As clinical depression can lead to work impairment, it is possible for you to have disability benefits from it. However, you might need to have a little help to prove this in court as there is still a stigma against mental disorders. Some even say that it can be easily faked, but with the development of psychology, it is proven that depression exists and can affect our daily life. If you are living in New York area, www.hurtatworknyc.com can help you in learning about your benefits.

Hablamos Espanol