Recent research has found a clear link between jobs which cause tiredness, moodiness, bad temper and irritability and depression. Of course that might not be any surprise to people whose stressful jobs have obviously caused and aggravated their depression and low mood, but an established and proven link is a new thing. According to this study as much as 45% of new cases of depression and anxiety were due to work conditions, with these being the worst triggers:
- Long time spent working (hours)
- Lack of understanding, support or flexibility from managers
- Continually pressing deadlines
- High volume of work, with no end in sight.
What was surprising was that this did not apply just to office workers in companies with narrow minded bosses. It also affected members of the emergency services, people from the entertainment industry, refuse collectors people in fact from all walks of life. Other patterns shown in the study went along similar lines to what is already known. For some reason women tend to suffer a bit more on average from depression and anxiety.
Stress related depression may be caused by sleep disruption. Certainly it is harder to unwind at the end of a stressful day and the poor quality sleep one gets, even if it is long, is not enough to rest our minds and bodies. Irritable Bowel Syndrome can also be a problem.
Remedies to this problem may include using relaxation techniques or Yoga to wind down at the end of the day, and also avoiding stress in the first place. Becoming less obsessed with consumer goods, money, status and celebrity would probably be a good place to start.
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