Depression and workplace counselling
View(s):Depression is not something to be ashamed of. The more we deny it the more we stereotype is as a ‘nervous breakdown’ that is unacceptable. The stigma has cost the peace of mind and the future of many functional individuals and their families. This almost dehumanises these same persons whose depression is exacerbated by the lack of empathy from the outside world.
If you have broken your leg and is on a wheel chair people would see it and recognise it to be a real challenge. But what about the brokenness some people may feel inside originating from a place that they themselves cannot understand? Do we still recognise it to be a real challenge and extend our support to them?
There had been times when organisations have called me or other fellow psychologists to address the staff or to do an awareness programme on depression and suicide. In some cases, these initiatives have been triggered by someone within the organisation committing suicide or attempting suicide.
We are all multi-faceted and it is important to remember that many variables interact as we are kept in place. From external factors such as the work setting to family and social life, and internal factors such as our own traits, personalities, motivations and coping mechanisms to our biology such as general physical health, disabilities or energy levels. Depression is more prevalent in the workplace now than ever before due to high expectations from the employers, focus on unrealistic targets and cost, ever changing technology and the stress that comes with it, high competition, lack of security, more heterogeneous teams where diversity has to be managed, short term contracts or out-sourcing, and downsizing and restructuring. All this can create an ideal environment for the ‘depression genes’ in some of us, to express themselves because they are often triggered by environmental factors.
Hence workplace counselling has never been more important than now. A counsellor can assist the person under stress to better understand themselves by explaining options, setting goals and helping them to take action. In the workplace, counselling should take place when a pattern is developing (always coming late to work half drunk), when the problem or situation is significant (when clients express their dissatisfaction repeatedly with the employee), when the job is not getting done and when the behaviour affects the performance of other co-workers and supervisors.
From the outset, there are many people who are vulnerable to stress, thereby bringing about emotional instability, anxiety and a gamut of negative mood states. When we recruit people, they will not mention this as one of their weaknesses or may not even divulge this information to anyone at work, not even to their closest colleague. Why? Because emotional volatility or mental illness carries a stigma.
Some of us still think we have to be super-strong and emotionally hardy regardless of the intensity of the crisis. But what some of us don’t understand is that all of us go through some form of depression during our life time due to unforeseeable changes and challenges (state depression).
Even though, there is an expectation from the society for us to be unbreakable, sometimes the resolve and firmness of character is built through a series of failure and disappointment that inevitably forces us to a period of sadness in our life. But this is more transient and temporary than another form of serious sadness called trait depression. Some of us may be predisposed to emotional instability due to this trait depression which is a real illness and which does not always have a reason behind it.
However, the good news is that it is treatable.
If you have a colleague who is depressed (state depression or trait depression which continues over a period of time), encourage them to seek help, direct them to a counsellor, encourage them to join a support group, help them to manage their stress in their work life by managing the work load, advise them to improve their sleep and eating patterns, support them to beat their procrastination and to get a grip of everything that is happening around them. Be a trustworthy friend whom they can talk to, encourage them to learn to forgive and to find an outlet in their faith.
There have been times when people who had committed suicide had left both subtle and obvious clues about their intentions to end their lives. When the colleagues are asked about a peer who has attempted suicide or committed suicide, some have confessed to being too absorbed in work that they had not had the time to inquire or get to know the person closely. Point to remember; we have to be vigilant of our environments, and understand people and where they come from.
If you are an employer or working in the capacity of decision making, some of the organisational interventions are one to one counselling and telephone counselling, employee assistance programmes where employees are referred to outside counsellors, having ‘healthy culture’ ambassadors who make sure that people are balanced and happy, creating supportive teams who share their work load, mental health awareness programmes and stress management interventions (physical exercise) creating a culture of support, empowerment, trustworthiness and care, promoting healthy eating, work-life balance and holistic life.
Counselling is essential in fast-paced work environments where people are given the confidence that their problems and issues are dealt with sensitively and confidentially. Counselling needs to be timely and consistent and the counsellor should be able to address the issue from an unbiased standpoint to help the person depressed to find the most practical solution. In the case of trait depression and other mental illness, employees need to be supported in the long term.
The crisis that disturbed the old status quo can be dealt with awareness, perseverance and determination. This striving to fight the inner sadness; for some this period is temporary while for others, it might seem to take forever. Focus not on what the crisis has stolen from you but on what this fight can win you; be it resilience, character or growth, one has to continue to aspire (and act accordingly) for a better state of mind. It is always that state of mind that would push you towards a new perspective of hope.
(The writer is a Business Psychologist, consultant, author and a university lecturer based in Colombo. She can be
contacted via email on
rozaine@forte.lk)
| Depression is not something to be ashamed of. The more we deny it the more we stereotype is as a ‘nervous breakdown’. This is unacceptable. The stigma has cost the peace of mind and the future of many functional individuals and their families. This almos dehumanizes these same persons whose depression is exacerbated by the lack of empathy from the outside world.
If you have broken your leg and are on a wheel chair people would see it and recognise it to be a real challenge. But what about the broken-ness some people may feel inside originating from a place that they themselves cannot understand? Do we still recognise it to be a real challenge and extend our support to them? |