Status: 09.11.2021 01:02 p.m.
Increasing pressure in the work environment can lead to depression. According to the German Depression Aid Foundation, one in five employees in Germany is now affected.
It has long been considered a widespread disease, and yet it is difficult to speak openly about it: depression. It is particularly widespread in the world of work. According to the German Depression Aid Foundation, one in five employees has already suffered from depression, and 15 percent of all employees have already experienced a suicide or attempted suicide by a colleague.
Quick help, also in the interests of employers
If there were more knowledge and skills in dealing with depression in a professional environment, those affected could be helped more quickly, for example through professional treatment. “In this way, in addition to great suffering, costs can also be avoided,” says Ulrich Hegerl from the German Depression Aid Foundation. “Companies should therefore urgently develop basic knowledge and also the ability to act on depression and suicide prevention.”
That would also be in the company’s interests. If someone sits in front of the PC with no drive, withdraws noticeably, no longer goes to the canteen, avoids the conversation, perhaps also drops out more often or is full of self-reproach, then there could be a depression – and then the entire environment may be slowed down. But there is still a stigma attached to the disease; as a rule, those affected have to overcome themselves until they tell the boss about it.
In the current Germany Depression Barometer, around 5,000 people were asked how the situation in the world of work was. This shows that the majority does not speak about it – only a third dared to reveal themselves. The subsequent reactions were then perceived as positive.
From affected person to depression companion
So-called peer counseling is a new way of getting more support in professional life. This is where colleagues who have already experienced depression offer their support: confidentially, on the phone or outside. Today’s IT project manager Frank Rennemann also had to struggle with a severe depression ten years ago. It started with the symptoms of a heart attack. After six weeks of sick leave, he came back to work, but it quickly became clear that he was by no means healthy. He saw everything negatively and got into conflict; but it never occurred to him that he might be depressed. There were two colleagues who independently told him how things were going.
A hospital stay and therapy followed – after six months he came back to work and decided to deal openly with his illness. The result: other colleagues also got over it and told Rennemann that they had already been on sick leave due to depression. It was only when he had admitted to it that they dared to do it.
In addition to his main job as an IT expert, Rennemann is now a so-called depression companion. He offers initial discussions or simple consultations and has the numbers and names of psychotherapists ready. Rennemann knows that it is precisely that, contacting therapists, that is extremely difficult for those who are ill. He is convinced that he can make this step easier, because for many of those affected it is easier to turn to him because of his experience. Rennemann believes that the intensification of work that can be observed in many places is more likely to promote depressive illnesses.
Work is by no means always the cause
In fact, work is often identified as the cause of depression – keyword “burnout” syndrome. According to the Depression Barometer, stress at work and conflicts at work or with colleagues are by far the main reasons. This is why a large majority believe that vacation or lots of sleep can help. But the opposite is often the case. Those who are on vacation may suffer even more, because the illness travels with them and the structure of the work is also missing. Long sleep also usually worsens the condition of those affected. Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, has a healing effect in the treatment of depression.
Much more often than assumed, depression has biological causes and in some cases is also genetic. So it is by no means always the work; that is where the disease is most pronounced. “During depression, those affected perceive everything as if through dark glasses and feel completely exhausted and overwhelmed by work. Often the excessive demands are then wrongly viewed as a cause and not a consequence of the depression,” says expert Hegerl from the German Depression Aid Foundation. The fact is: No matter what the causes of the illness are – the more open, the more professional you are in dealing with depression in everyday work, the faster everyone can be helped.