Mental Health Conditions and Work Retention: Report on Depression

Report on Depression
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Introduction
Mental health is the foundation for individual well-being and the effective functioning of a community. Depression is an integral component of mental health and is associated with significant social and economic costs. According to the World Health Organization, at least 264 million individuals of all ages experience depression, making the disorder a considerable contributor to the disease's global burden. When not addressed early, depression reduces employees' functioning, resulting in financial loss, workplace absenteeism, and higher job turnover rates. This report examines the characteristics of depression and the short-term and long-term interventions that companies can put in place to support employees.
Characteristics of depression
Depression is a mood disorder that instigates a relentless sensation of loss of interest and sadness. As a result, depression is characterized by loss of interest or pleasure, sadness, hopelessness, reduced appetite, weight loss, lack of energy, and sleep disturbances. Even though an individual may only experience depression once in their lives, patients usually experience numerous episodes. Therefore, depression is recurrent and long-lasting, which substantially impairs employees' ability to perform various workplace tasks. However, the severity of the symptoms of depression varies from mild to moderate to severe. For many individuals, symptoms of depression are severe enough to disrupt their everyday life.
Treatment of depression
Physical exercise, antidepressant medication, and psychotherapy are the most common treatment methods for depression. Antidepressants are used to manage moods, sleep patterns, and appetite but take up to 6 to 12 weeks to realize improvements. On the other hand, psychotherapy is often used alongside antidepressants as a treatment for depression. Psychotherapy helps people understand the causes of their depression and ways of managing those causes. Physical exercise is effective in the treatment of mild to moderate depression. Unlike other depression treatment methods, physical exercise has a higher remission rate of 22% (Belvederi Murri, Ekkekakis, Magagnoli, et al., 2019). Selecting the appropriate treatment combination for an individual may take time because individuals react differently to various treatments.
Challenges faced by workers suffering from depression
It is quite interesting to note that depression is often not seen or felt at work because some employees usually sit on it until it is too late. Depression can be a serious problem to the efficiency of an organization, especially in chronic levels. It can even immobilize the day to day operations of a specific department within the organization. Challenges faced by employees suffering from depression range from inability to effectively interact with other employees to poor performance. Poor performance is associated with impaired concentration, increased number of tardiness, and inability to make appropriate decisions.
In some instances, employers suffering from depression may lose their jobs because they are viewed as less-skilled workers rather than people struggling with depression. There is also the stig...