Depressed employees: Spotting signs of depression in employees

What are some of the signs of depression? How can you tell when your employees are depressed? What is the difference between demotivation and depression?

One of the most common mental health issues that employees face in the workplace is depression. Especially with the onset of the pandemic, the number of depressed employees has risen.

The rest of this article will cover some of the reasons your employees might be depressed, how to recognise the signs, and what you can do to support them. Remember, valuing your workforce can be one of the most important things you do!

Reasons employees may be depressed

When it comes to the reasons behind why your employees are depressed, there are a variety of reasons. Some of them can include personal matters:

• Financial issues. Stressing out about living from paycheck to paycheck can be a reason for your employees’ depression. Money may be a bit tight, and they may be struggling to make ends meet could cause anxiety and depression.
• Family concerns. Someone may have fallen ill or there could be family tension. Whatever the case may be, familial problems can affect your employees’ mental health.
• Relationship struggles. They may have just gone through a divorce, a break-up, or perhaps infidelity. Broken-hearted employees can turn into depressed employees.
• Bereavement. Without a doubt, losing a loved one is one of the hardest things to overcome. Especially if your employees don’t take the time out to properly grieve.

Equally, there are work-related reasons:

• Poor management. Disorganisation, lack of communication, zero feedback – all of these are signs of poor management. When employees have to jump over constant hurdles in the workplace, it can start to impact their mood.
• Low morale. Employees can feel demotivated or discouraged from time to time. But a lack of camaraderie, rewards, or incentives can make them lose their sense of purpose.

You could consider improving employee wellbeing in the office with these five steps!

Recognising signs of depression in employees

What are the signs of depression in employees? There are several that you may want to look out for, including:

• Low motivation or morale
• Reduced productivity or taking longer to complete tasks
• Being less talkative or communicative
• Absenteeism
• Sleeping too little or too much
• Safety risks or accidents
• Inability to concentrate, remember or make decisions
• Feelings of irritability or restlessness
• Changes in appetite or weight
• Problems cooperating with others

Supporting employees with depression

One of the things you can consider when supporting employees with depression is to provide mental health services and resources. They may not feel comfortable going to their supervisors about their struggles. However, workplace counselling can be a useful outlet and solution.

What you can also do is to offer your employees a flexible working schedule. Whether with their working hours or spending a few days working from home. They may also need a few weeks off to properly focus on themselves and recuperate. Since sleep problems are quite common with depression, your employees may also need to catch up on a few hours of sleep or self-care.

Simplifying their work can also be worthwhile. Depression can make it difficult to perform even the most basic tasks. So you can make your employees’ lives more simple by breaking up large projects into smaller tasks! You could also allow more breathing room when it comes to deadlines.

You may also find that more praise and less criticism can go a long way with your employees. People who suffer from depression tend to be self-critical. Therefore, focusing on their strengths and achievements might be the boost that they need!

Work is one of the main places that most of us spend our time at. When your employees are depressed, it’s important to watch out for the tell-tale signs. Providing a supportive environment can improve your employees’ well-being. At SupportRoom, we provide solutions, such as therapy for depression and workplace counselling.

SupportRoom

SupportRoom is here to revolutionise the way we access mental support. Nobody should suffer in silence, and we think that therapy support should be immediate and accessible. Register your interest and connect with a therapist right now.

Our platform offers patients confidential, professional mental health support for individuals and businesses. We connect you with licensed professionals, who can provide round-the-clock support via multiple formats – such as unlimited messaging, voice notes or video calls.

We also have an ESP solution that provides detailed analytics to help organisations improve mental health within their workplace, and understand why their employees may suffer from mental health issues.