1 out of 6.8 people in the middle Workplace Suffering from mental health problems. Working while living with depression can be stressful. There is a lot that people don’t see. Sometimes it can feel as if we are living almost two different lives. When others understand our experiences, it can help us reduce loneliness.
separate work life
While some are very open about their mental health and happy to share their experiences with colleagues, others prefer to keep home life separate from work life.
Sometimes, it is important for us to have a fixed place. consistent in terms of pattern and expectations, and in terms of consistent relationships. Work can provide this consistency, and help us retain feeling identification and purpose. Talking about our condition all the time is often draining, and it can become all-consuming. It might be nice to have an escape from it.
Show “okay” when working
When working, we often put a “facade”. In some jobs, we are asked to look smart, smile, and talk to people.
Even if smiling isn’t part of our job description, we will often try to appear “okay”. We may worry that people will judge us if they know we live with depression. Some workplaces can have a culture of keeping feelings trapped. Being outwardly “okay” avoids embarrassing questions. But we may feel like we’re on stage for eight or nine hours a day.
All this representation has a price. it’s a exhausted. Some of us feel dazed as we leave work to go home. Peeling ourselves off our office chair and dragging our bodies to the car can take a tremendous amount of effort. Our extremities can feel heavy. We may need to lie down for some time (or even all evening) once we get home. May feel light very bright And the sound is too loud. Cruelly, as soon as we go to bed, we You may not be able to sleep. Instead, we stay up for hours, thinking about every interaction we had that day. We are very tired.
Systems and tools
Depression affects memory and focus. brain fog It can stain our thinking. We can be vulnerable to make mistake. To combat this, many of us use systems, tools, and routines to try to keep errors to a minimum.
these Tools They might look like sticky notes, notes on our phone, writing on the back of our hands, lists stuck to the kettle and back door, Excel documents, applications, and routines. Sometimes we use all of the above at once. We may have leftover notes all over our house.
If others see these various tools and systems, they may comment that we are organised, diligent, and inclusive. Some may wonder why there are so many lists, even for “simple” tasks. They might even go so far as to tell us we’re wasting time and creating extra work. But for us, they can be lifelines. Sometimes, they are the only hope we have to complete our work to an acceptable standard, avoiding small mistakes.
Crying occasionally while working
Sometimes we are unable to cry completely. Sometimes we feel like we can cry at any moment throughout the day, every day.
when work or life is too much; maybe we Frustrating With ourselves or struggling with a colleague, we may start to cry. If we work from home, some of us may stay at our desks while the crying subsides, and none of our colleagues are wiser. In the workplace, we may take ourselves to the bathroom or our car for some privacy.
Whatever our situation, we will often try to hide our tears from those we work with. We may worry about appearing unprofessional, or fear that people will think we can’t handle it.
Self-harming behaviors
To beat depression, some of us engage Self-harming behaviors.
Self-injurious behaviors can be different for different people. Some of us may use it to deal with the beginning or end of the work day. Others find that the only way we can get through the day is to engage in these behaviors while at work.
Many of us hide our self-injurious behaviors because they can feel shameful. Although the truth is that self-injurious behaviors are just another coping mechanism, media discourse, stigma and discrimination, and perhaps our past experiences, can tell us to hide them.
Medications and appointments
There are many treatment options for depression. This can include DrugsAnd the Psychiatric treatmentand others assignments.
some workplace He will give us time off from work to attend appointments. Others ask us to use annual leave to cover appointment times, rearrange office hours, or try to get off-hours appointments.
We are all different, so our treatment is different. Some take medication and some don’t. Some have some form of treatment, some don’t. While some of us are happy to know that we are arriving the supportOthers may choose to keep any appointments and/or medications private.
time suits
Depression can make you feel as if we are trying to swim uphill, in the sludge, with our lead suit on. It can take us a lot longer to do things than it does when we feel “okay”.
Some of us will have to wake up earlier than usual because our morning routines take so long, and our brains take so long to wake up. We may feel that we have to work longer hours to meet deadlines. Instead, we may have to push deadlines back. It may take longer to go to bed, which leads to this less sleepand increased fatigue.
Everything can take longer – walking, talking, thinking, everything. So we have to adjust our time forecasts to take that into account.
justification
Our brains can get very busy. Even when our thinking is sluggish and memory and focus are nearly gone, it can still fade.
Depression can createautomatic thoughtsThis means that, for example, if we receive a small portion of useful constructive criticism, we may automatically think “I’m bullshit,” “I can’t do my job,” “I should just quit,” “If I quit I won’t have any money,” “I might give up on life too.” This chain of thoughts can automatically penetrate our mind in about 0.3 seconds. Then we have to spend time and energy rationalizing it mentally.
From the outside, it’s not likely to be obvious that we spend a lot of time brushing off unhelpful brain vortices, talking about ourselves, and justifying automatic thoughts. Indoors, all of this can happen while we try to keep going.
Back and forth
Confidence It’s another thing that depression can hit severely with. We can lose almost all of our self-confidence, which leads to a lot of mental delay.
We may have thoughts, or a voice in our heads, constantly stressing us out. Telling us we look a mess, we fail, and we can’t do anything, is critical, let down people, and much more. Sometimes, we have the energy to face this. Sometimes, we let it continue in the background while we try to focus on our work.
catch up with work
Depression can clog our minds, activating the “slow go” mode. Moreover, the tools and systems we apply to counteract our poor memory and concentration take time. This mix with some others Symptoms associated with depressionIt could mean that we find ourselves falling behind. To try to work around this, we may work late in the evening and/or early in the morning and/or take work home.
All this time will likely be unpaid. Even if we can claim some wages, we may feel we shouldn’t because blame ourselves Struggling to focus. guilt can overwhelm us. Feeling guilty about not measuring our full potential, and being unfair to our employer.
This catch-up work can be stressful because we work at the times when we rest perfectly. can lead to Burnt. But we continue to work anyway because this catch-up action can prevent our colleagues from seeing how “we’re not doing well”.
Intrusive thoughts while working
Some of us have Intrusive thoughts. Sometimes these are words, sometimes they may be mental images or movies.
These thoughts are usually automatic and can be very distressing. Some of us get used to playing in the background of our mind while we’re trying to work. If we can make it fade into the background a little bit, we can sometimes keep working while it clicks.
Those we talk to may have no idea that at the same time we are discussing something work related, we are also watching mental movies or getting rid of intrusive thoughts.
religion
depression It can be expensive.
If we struggle to feed ourselves because We simply don’t have the energy After work, we can start relying on ready-made food. This costs more than cooking from scratch. We may have to reduce our working hours. Maybe “ridiculous” mistakes can cost us a fortune. Our poor memory and focus may mean that we do things like forget to pay for parking tickets or renew our insurance, which increases the cost when we finally remember. Sometimes we buy things in the hope that they will help us feel better. We may have to pay for medication or treatment.
Financial concerns hit vulnerable populations hard. We could end up in religion We struggle to stay on top of everything. Religion can be shameful, and we may not want our colleagues to know how much we suffer. Stress can cause stress, stress can worsen our depression, depression can affect our finances – it can go in episodes. But until it starts to affect our outward appearance, our colleagues may never know.
Hacks for hard times
Washing our hair takes a lot of energy. We could get into the bath or shower too. The worse our mood, the more difficult it is self care Maybe. We might be late for the laundry because we collapse on our bed the minute we get in from work and stay there all evening.
Dry shampoo, baby wipes, body spray, and an increase in the amount of underwear we have so we don’t often run out, it’s all just Some hacks We use it to try to keep everything right.
Isolation
Some relationships are incredibly supportive when we’re just fine. Unfortunately, Some of us lose friends When we go through a bad spot. There are people, whom we once called friends, who struggle to support us when we are unwell.
It can be incredibly depressing isolation And sometimes our work and the occasional supermarket trip are the only human interaction we get.
We may leave work on Friday evening and not see or talk to someone else until Monday morning. out of the house It can be difficult, especially if we have nowhere to go.
Rumination while working
Rumination is a big thing when we live with depression and/or anxiety. We can worry about just about anything. Flip thoughts over and over, and over and over. Sometimes, we may seem “closed in” because we lose focus and end up in the land of ideas.
Constant rumination is tiring whether we are dealing with it mentally or not. It requires a tremendous amount of energy, which is something Really reduces depression. Sometimes it helps to talk about ruminating with someone who can offer a new perspective.
calm panic attacks
Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand. panic attacks It can come almost out of nowhere and completely turn us around.
Working from home, behind a screen, it can be relatively easy to hide this from our colleagues, while we process it and let it pass. In a physical workplace, a panic attack is even harder to hide. We might excuse ourselves and go to the nearest bathroom So we can breathe normally again.
What do we need from you
mostly It’s hard to ask for what we needespecially if we are not sure how others will react.
We are all different, so our needs will vary. but, Getting to know depressionAnd the How to support someone with depressionand how Supporting people in the workplaceIt can help improve awareness. Something really important is that those around us don’t make judgments. We want people to be kind, and to remember that we are human.
It is also helpful to be familiar with Available support For those suffering from depression and other mental health problems. Different organizations support people with a variety of needs. This means that if a colleague talks to us about cheating feelings, we can point them to some support. Not only will this help the concerned person, but it can also relax our mind a bit.
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