Really various types of problems can contribute to depression - people who have experienced the loss of a very close person to them, as well as people who were forced to change their place of residence or those who lost their job have an increased risk of developing this mental disorder. Professional activity - and not only job loss - may have an impact on the occurrence of depressive disorders in humans. Read which professions are considered to be most conducive to depression, and see why some of them would increase the risk of mood disorders.

Depression is currently one of the most common mental disorders in people - the World He alth Organization (WHO) reports that worldwide it may affect more than 260 million people. Due to the high frequency of their occurrence, depressive disorders are under the scrutiny of many different scientists - they are looking for more effective treatment methods for this problem than currently available, as well as analyzing exactly what factors may contribute to the occurrence of depression.

The causes of depression include a variety of phenomena - great emphasis is placed on the biological determinants of this ailment (in this case, theories about the importance of disturbances in the levels of various neurotransmitters in the etiology of depressive disorders prevail).

However, attention is also paid to various environmental aspects that may also contribute to the development of depressive disorders. They include, among others difficulties in interpersonal relationships (e.g. feeling of loneliness or harassment by other people), significant life changes (such as e.g. change of residence, divorce or death of a loved one), but also issues related to professional life.

Depression - which is rather commonly known - may be fostered by losing a job, but it turns out that it can also be caused by work under certain conditions. For some time now, more and more professions have been mentioned that may be particularly conducive to depression.

Contents:

  1. 9 professions most conducive to depression
    • Carers of the elderly
    • He althcare workers
    • Sellers
    • Restaurant employees
    • Social workers
    • Accountants
    • Artists
    • Professionals
    • Teachers

9 professions most conducive to depression

Carers of the elderly

Taking care of bedridden seniors is definitely not easy - after all, it is a job that is both physically and mentally burdened. Often, care is provided to patients whose condition will never fully improve - we are talking here, for example, about seniors suffering from cancer in the terminal stage or about elderly patients suffering from advanced Alzheimer's disease.

Caregivers for the elderly are at an increased risk of depression because their work is simply hard, but also because it can be difficult for them to enjoy their work due to the lack of clearly visible effects.

He althcare workers

Nurse, doctor, paramedic - these are other examples of professions that may also contribute to depressive disorders. Working in he alth care is associated with a lot of tension - after all, human life depends on the decisions of medical personnel - but also, unfortunately, more and more often, with numerous claims directed against doctors or nurses.

In addition to all this, there is a shortage of equipment necessary to help the sick, but also staff shortages, leading to the fact that the medical staff has to work in an over-dimensioned time. The above-mentioned aspects are responsible for the fact that he alth care workers are at an increased risk of mood disorders.

Sellers

It's not hard to find out about how difficult a salesperson's job is. It is enough to go to the nearest supermarket and see how cashiers are treated there. Living in constant tension, which is common in our times, makes many people unjustly nervous in not necessarily justified cases - this is the case, for example, at cash desks, where cashiers are blamed for long queues or lack of goods on the shelves.

Snatch comments, and sometimes even screams from customers, may make salespeople feel that they are not respected at all, plus their usually small earnings. All this makes this particular professional group one of those in which the risk of depression is increased.

Restaurant employees

Working in a restaurant is definitely not easy. Many challenges await kitchen assistants or chefs, but the most tensions are usually experienced by those who have direct contact with customers - bartenders and waiters.

They are finally expected to know the entire carddishes by heart if they could answer every customer's question, they should be nice, smiling and follow all the rules of savoir-vivre.

The waiter knows that his attitude depends on whether he will receive a tip (which is a significant part of staff salary in many restaurants), and that he hears comments about food quality and accepts comments about too long a meal preparation time.

Ultimately, this profession has so many different tensions that it can contribute to both burnout and depressive disorders.

Social workers

Social workers are another professional group whose representatives have an increased risk of depression. The wages in this profession are usually not too high, the workload - by all means.

Finally, a social worker encounters very different events, some of which seem to be extremely pathological. In this job, it is difficult to stop thinking about it after it is finished - also at home there are thoughts about disadvantaged children or other difficulties of the families that the social worker deals with.

This profession is associated with a very high burden on the psyche, which - especially when it is not discharged in some way - may contribute to depression.

Accountants

Accounting is a difficult art - to do the job of an accountant well, you need to know the relevant regulations, but also be very scrupulous. The fate of all enterprises ultimately depends on whether the accounting is kept diligently.

It happens that accountants deal with transactions for a dozen, and sometimes even hundreds of thousands of zlotys. This work is associated with a great sense of responsibility and tension, which - especially with a large number of orders - may increase the risk of depression in the person dealing with it.

Artists

It would seem that various artists - painters, singers - have so much freedom in their professions that depression should not threaten them. Ultimately, however, it turns out to be completely different. The work of an artist is sometimes associated with irregular income, in addition, a person whose works were previously even praised, can later make other works that will not meet any interest of the recipients.

Financial instability and various effects of undertaken actions - these are the factors that are responsible for the increased incidence of depressive disorders among artists.

Professionals

Anyone who needed a professional to paint a flat, repair a washing machine or replace an electrical installation probably knows how hard it is to find someone who would have a free time to do the work.

These people also know that technical specialists usually value themselves well. So it could be concluded that who, how, and professionals are doing well and they should not be at increased risk of depression.

Nothing could be further from the truth - the work of a specialist is not only hard, but also associated with a fairly large irregularity (after all, a washing machine can break down both at seven in the morning and at ten in the evening).

Moreover, this profession requires extraordinary accuracy - it is enough for a professional to do the commissioned work inaccurately once, and his reputation may be completely ruined. The factors described here can be a source of tension or anxiety, which - if experienced over a long period of time - may eventually lead to depression in a professional.

Teachers

The fact that some time ago teachers in Poland went on strike did not come from nowhere. Low wages, increasing demands (both on the part of the board of trustees and the parents of the students themselves), but also - unfortunately - less and less respect from the pupils.

In the past, teachers were one of the most respected professional groups, today more and more criticism is directed at them. Therefore, it should probably come as no surprise that education workers are among those in whom depression appears more frequently.

Professions most conducive to depression: what to do to avoid depression?

In fact, any job that is unsatisfactory for the person doing it can contribute to depression. So then, when it does not bring any pleasure, it would be easiest to change it - but unfortunately it is not always possible.

However, this does not mean that a social worker, doctor or waiter must develop depression - the most important thing is what life looks like after work.

Regularly relieving tensions by doing sports, engaging in passionate reading or spending time with close people plays a great role. If the employee has the impression that he is unable to deal with his negative emotions on his own, you can consider using a psychologist.

It is also worth getting rid of the fears concentrated around a possible visit to a psychiatrist - in such a situation when an accountant, salesman or carer of an elderly person begins to suspect that he or she may havedepression, there is nothing to procrastinate. The greater the delay in starting the treatment of depressive disorders, the greater the risk that they will be maintained for a longer period of time - due to this correlation, treatment of depression should be started as soon as possible after its occurrence.

Also read

How to deal with stress at work? Descriptions of specific situations

Review of exercises and training for the best stress reliever

Breathing Techniques To Overcome Stress

How to recognize masked depression?

How to live with a person suffering from depression

About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of the medical faculty at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (most willingly strolling along its shores with headphones in his ears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.

Read more from this author

Category:

Psychology