Stress at work makes you depressed

High workload and stress can trigger depression.

(15.07.2010) Ongoing stress and high workloads can depress the body, according to a study by the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA). Mental disorders, especially depression, increasingly lead to incapacity for work. The more stressful and stressful the job, the more people become ill from depressive episodes or even manifest depression. The assumption that too little room for maneuver and co-determination in the job also makes depressed, however, has not been confirmed in the course of the study.

The survey involved a total of 517 workers working in the banking, healthcare and public service sectors. In contrast to other stress studies, however, one has renounced the subjective evaluation of the subjects. Instead, objective criteria were used to correlate workload, stress, and depressive illness. According to the authors of the study, a subjective evaluation of the study participants corroborated the results. For depressive detuned people may be disturbed in their perception, which can lead to misjudgements of the work situation.

Not surprisingly, the result is that constant stress in the workplace leads to depression. What is surprising, however, is that too little room for maneuver in the job does not cause depression. Previous studies had repeatedly led to a connection. However, in these studies always the subjective impression of the subjects was included in the results.

More and more people are becoming ill with mental illnesses. In particular, the Burn Out syndrome and depression should be mentioned. According to the Techniker Krankenkassen, mental illnesses have increased by almost 40 percent in the last ten years. (Sb)