Introduction
Working class individuals usually find themselves struggling through not just work, but the amount of stress that comes with it. Stress doesn’t specifically have to be workplace related, it can be from other aspects of our lives. Prolonged exposure to stressful situations and lack of self-care can cause
Feeling Too Depressed to Work
Individuals in their daily life go through a range of situations, which can either be stressful in nature or not. Certain situations tend to persist longer until its taken into consideration and regulate in a positive manner, Inability to do so can leave a sense of anxiety and uncertainty. Overworking and a prolonged state of burnout whether physiological or psychological can cause fatigue to develop into a behaviour with symptoms of depression.
Work and Depression
Work is one of the essential aspects of basic living with other necessities. In today’s world, finances tend to be the most focused one and the major thing which causes stress to incur in an individual. Working tends to provide us with the ability to manage and micro-manage these financial expenses of ours, but due to the ongoing inflation and recession, the cost of things has gone up and the aspect of overworking has been normalized, leading to a higher increase in depressive symptoms to develop in individuals. Long Work hours and less hours for recuperation, low social interactions can also lead up to an increased stress build-up, which over all leads to outburst in the workplace and affect the overall productivity and the health of the individual to detoriate to a point where they start feeling a sense of hopelessness without any motivation to continue.
Causes of Being Too Depressed to Work
Depression can cause a variety of changes in an individual, prolonged exposure to stress and inability to regulate that positively tend to cause harm to the mental well-being of the individual. Some of the causes of it can be :
- Societal Pressure: Today’s world, a person’s worth in a society is somewhat measured by whether they are employed or not. Which causes a sense of stress to incur in the individual.
- Financial Pressure: The ever-increasing inflation and recession causes individuals to work on lower wages to meet their financial livelihood or work prolonged shifts to maintain their livelihood.
- Prolonged Stress: Work can be stressful no matter what kind of work it is, overworking being normalized or working in ever increasing stressful environment can cause stress to reach a point where you might not be able to take it anymore and it starts affecting your health.
Effects of Being too Depressed to Work
Feeling too depressed to work can have various effects not only on the individual but on others around. Prolonged working hours and lack of rest can cause irritability and mood disruption, where the individual tends to become too emotional towards any change or angry towards a change. These outbursts are usually focused towards someone, whereas all the anger and disappointment comes from an inherent aspect of despair of their inability to cause a change. These outbursts can become a source of distraction to others working in their space and lead to the individual being ostracized at the workplace due to the behaviour. Due to lack of social interaction, the individual would tend to become even more lonely and would close themselves even further, where they would start coming late or stop showing up for work at all, and start having thoughts of self-harm.
How to Deal with Depression at Work
- Inculcate Meditation and Yoga as part of your daily schedule.
- Exercising your body can help get the stress out of your system, and its healthy to be fit.
- Learn to practice deep breathing exercises in your work life whenever you feel overwhelmed by work or stress.
- Don’t shy away from asking assistance from others if something feels overwhelming or too complicated.
- Try to break bigger tasks into smaller ones so when you tick one off the list you feel a sense of accomplishment which can keep you motivated for the next one.
- Self-care is always beneficial whenever you are overburdened, following up on a hobby, or going out with your friends could reduce the levels of stress for you.
Conclusion
With the ongoing changes in the world, individuals have started to feel depressed by working long hours. Inability to regulate emotions better and not having any fillers in their life has caused work-life balance to fall into one another. A few changes in lifestyle and openness to understanding themselves can cause a change for the better.
References
Li Yuxin, Wang Yonchao, Lv Xiaoyan, Li Rong, Guan Xiangyun, Li Li, Li Junli, Cao Yinjuan (2022) Effects of Factors related to Shift work on Depression and Anxiety
Briana Mezuk, Linh Dang, David Jurgens, Jacqui Smith, Work Expectations, Depressive Symptoms (2022) Work Expectations, Depressive Symptoms, and Passive Suicidal Ideation Among Older Adults.
Guillaume Fond, Sara Fernandes, Guillaume Lucas, Neil Greenbreg, Laurent Boyer (2022) Depression in healthcare workers: Results from the nationwide AMADEUS survey
