MANAGEMENT

Depression and work place

Nishan Wimalachandra - Corporate Consultant, Trainer and Lecturer

Most of us will agree that at least once in our life we have been depressed; sometimes for a prolonged period of time, probably brought about by the loss of a loved one, break up in a relationship or even over being fired from employment.

Being depressed is being human. There is no one in the history of mankind who had never been depressed. Great religious leaders as well as spiritual healers who had walked over the earth have faced it regardless of the label of their denomination.

Technically, being ‘Depressed’ is quite normal as our lives get complicated all the time with new problems, difficult people, demanding jobs, complex technologies and new inventions.

But Depression is different. It’s a prolonged continuation of being depressed. When one is depressed over a long period of time, then the depression occurs.

Depression could originate from various sources, but the foundation of depression is suppression of emotions. Suppression or bottling up of one’s feelings and emotions could result in a dangerous release which may come out at an unexpected moment.

Psychiatrists believe that depression is a genetic phenomenon and tries to find links with hereditary patterns. Whatever its prime source, it indeed requires some attention especially in the work place. I have heard true stories of numerous people who get fired or resign from employment due to difficulty in managing self when they experience depression.

Unfortunately most organizations don’t have qualified personnel in the human resources department or any other welfare department to identify employees who constantly face difficulty due to depression.

The lack of awareness and attention given to the situation, sometimes result personnel with great talent to leave the organization. Depression makes people feel worthless, abandoned, miserable and sometimes to the point of suicide.

And as this could occur to anyone regardless of their position, these symptoms must be well understood as people who experience depression actually cannot help themselves to a greater extent. And mostly people who experience depression are not aware that their condition is clinical and needs immediate attention.

A considerable amount of people who become suicidal due to depression eventually succeed.

There have been major instances where medicine used for pregnancy prevention had caused depression in women due to the hormonal imbalances caused, these medicines may affect people at different levels, and for some they could be disastrous to their mental health.

Unfortunately details as such may never come on the labels of such medicines. Not only these, alcoholic beverages may pose a threat to the mental stability of those who constantly abuse it.

Today depression has overcome the stigma it once had as a demonic or some sort of supernatural possession by beings. A little more awareness may actually make it accepted as an ordinary headache which everyone of us may have many times during our lifetime.

Regardless of the popularity of depression among many people today, organizations have failed to establish a system of prevention of disastrous results such as suicide attempts and even death, emanating from depression. Being interested in the performance of daily tasks and duties are not just enough, but the top management must take precautionary actions for the mental hygiene of the employees concerned.

Depression: whatever the face it may have, will bring forth uncanny experiences to those who get affected by it as well as to those around.

Depression must be treated and laws must be in place to make organizations responsible for mental hygiene of the employees.

The biggest problem relating to the mentally challenged employees is whether to disclose their condition to the employer. But one must make note what purpose it will serve in the disclosure itself.

Many employees are either afraid or reluctant to disclose their condition due to the fear of being marginalized or discriminated by the employer and indeed a disclosure may harm the job security of the person with depression. Many organizations discriminate individuals with depression up to the extent of suggesting them to resign without a proper solution.

The main issue facing the depressed employees is that, due to such episodes they may become unproductive, extremely irritable and angry which will make it very difficult to cooperate with their colleagues and bosses, and of course such observed behaviour is an indication that the individual in question needs serious intervention at professional level.

Unfortunately most people including the top guns and top shots do not like to accept that depression is a human phenomenon, and their best solution is offering a voluntary retirement scheme or a payment which will be enough to get rid of such employees. Organisations must try their utmost to locate individuals from among the employees who are depressed and mentally challenged only in order to help them professionally, and employees who suffer from depression, it could be better not to disclose such condition to their employers, as the firm they work may not be ready to accept such details in a positive manner, and may in turn look for avenues to demote or to get rid of such personnel based on lack of performance.

The best solution for organizations is to have a system where a qualified psychiatrist would be available at least once a week so that employees could be benefited rather than marginalized. People suffering from depression may not be faking their behaviour of laziness and lack of interest; it could be purely the result of chemical imbalances caused by depression.

It is the responsibility of the organization to address the issue on a newer level. A paradigm shift of awareness is the only necessary step to battle incidences of having hired talented individuals who may be mentally challenged.

And the organizations must not discriminate such individuals and must introduce policies and procedures on how to handle such situations without harming the very people who needs comfort. Individuals with depression must always try to share their feelings of ups and downs with close friends and family while professional help such as medication or therapy could actually be helpful in overcoming symptoms of depression which could interfere with job performance, and personal life. Depression will eventually be recognized as a common cold in the near future, but for the time being it’s better kept in the ears of partners, spouses, friends, family and psychiatrists.

A voluntary disclosure regarding the situation to the employer could be disastrous to save a well accomplished career. And finally for those who get unnecessarily angry, irritated, or feeling sad and even start crying out of nowhere, its advisable to be watchful of how these symptoms affect their performance in the job as well as relationships with others.

People who are suffering from clinical depression could be easily identified as their relationships with their colleagues, friends and family are always turbulent. Those who fall into this category must seriously consider therapy or medication or both. And the ignorance of such level of depression could be life threatening.

(The author could be reached via [email protected])