Managing a depressed employee

Anxiety and depression are at unprecedented levels in society. But unfortunately, our ability to help these people suffering these conditions isn’t increasing at the same rate.

It shocked me to hear of a case last week where a young employee confided to his manager that he had suffered through a long battle with depression and it has contributed to his poor work performance. A week later he no longer had a job. Melbourne newspaper The Age has run an article about young accountants struggling to cope with the demands of their industry and burning out, often with depression as an after-effect.

The difference between feeling sad and being depressed

Everyone has stretches at work that are difficult to handle. This could be about meeting a specific deadline, or trying to get a new project up and running, but these are typically short-lived, acute periods of stress and are often celebrated afterwards when that feeling of relief hits.

For people who are depressed there is no relief. There is a constant and long-running feeling of dread that engulfs them and affects every conversation and interaction that they have. The cause can be behavioural, due to things happening around them or even a matter of imbalanced brain chemistry. The result is clear: lack of motivation, a sad resignation to things in life that aren’t wanted and often a much poorer work output.

The issue of confidence

Depression is a lonely experience for anyone that suffers from it. The feelings are often confounded by the idea that sufferers should be able to just “get over it”. The terrible reality of depression is that the illness also prevents people from seeking help as they struggle to come to terms with how they feel, compared to how they think they should feel.

Managers need to be aware of how difficult it is for someone to admit they have a problem managing their emotions. Competitive and ambitious working environments have little tolerance for reduced working output and often lack sympathy for those who struggle, for whatever reason. The issue of confidence is also an issue of confiding. What are you doing to make sure people in your workplace feel comfortable confiding in you?

Try and address it before it’s a problem

Depression rarely happens suddenly. Sure, there can be significant life events that trigger depression, but work-related depression stems from prolonged difficulties that are unresolved. Individuals need to question their own day-to-day emotions as depression can creep up slowly. Ask yourself “Do I dread coming to work every day?”, “Do I feel like crying when I am at work”, “Do I ever feel excited, or get pleasure from the workplace environment?”

Managers also need to do their part. The typical assumption about an employee whose performance drops is that they are simply slacking off, that they’ve lost focus and drive and need to be pushed a little harder to avoid complacency. Always keep in mind that a drop in performance can be for many reasons. Sometimes the person is just taking it too easy, in which case some stern words may be required. But if the person is suffering depression this approach may just cause them to spiral down even more.

Always encourage professional help

Depression is an illness that sits below the surface even when a person is starting to feel better about life. It is great if you are trusted enough for someone to discuss their depression with you and even better if talking to you results in them being outwardly happier.

However, professional help allows a person to work through strategies to cope with future tough times. It also means that the true issues, which can often take several sessions to discover, can be addressed for a better long-term outlook.

Eve Ash has produced a wide range of DVD resources including Understanding and Dealing with Depression and Dealing with Trauma and Distress.