Depressed workers hiding their condition

A survey by the Depression Alliance, timed to coincide with 'Depression Awareness Week', showed that 79% of workers believed that disclosing their condition would cause them problems at work, while 32% of those who had revealed their depression claimed to have been turned down for a job as a result.

The Alliance said figures had suggested that one in 10 people of working age in the UK suffered depression and anxiety, but just a quarter (25%) of sufferers had informed their personnel departments of their condition.

Of those who had revealed their condition, 51% believed they were discouraged from taking on projects, 48% were avoided by colleagues and 47% had received "snide comments".

Half (50%) said they had been passed over for promotion and 14% had no access to support at work. Sufferers were most interested in flexitime, cover for time off and counselling. Almost half (46%) of the 288 questioned with depression also said that having a job helped them feel "on the road to recovery".

Emer O'Neill, chief executive of the Depression Alliance, said: "Having a job is very important to people with depression so employers and colleagues need to have a much greater understanding of the challenges faced by people with depression in order to provide the support they need to contribute fully."

The survey also found that 75% of people felt low energy levels were the most distressing aspect of their depression. More than eight in 10 (83%) believed their work was adversely affected by poor quality of sleep, contributing to 40% having lost their job because of it.

Advice for employers

Meanwhile, employment relations service ACAS has said employers need to do more to spot the signs stress, anxiety and depression among staff.

ACAS' Gill Trevelyan said: "Spotting and doing something about troubled employees is an important business skill. As well as being good managers in the traditional sense, we urge bosses to look out for early indicators before they develop into something more serious, like stress or depression. Healthy and content workers translate directly into productive employees."

Among the warning signs were uncharacteristic behaviour, such as not being able to cope with work, seeming distracted, a sudden loss in motivation or absenteeism. At the same time ACAS said managers shouldn't "make assumptions" as everyone had their "ups and downs".

It added that if depression was work-related then employers had a responsibility to help remedy it. A long term aim should be to create a working environment which eradicated the "stigma" associated with mental health.

"Introducing policies will help doing this, so staff know and feel comfortable in feeling able to talk about the topic," said ACAS. "You can also make support options available, like employment assistance programmes or access to occupational health."

Further advice and information from ACAS - including a link to its new guide to health, work and wellbeing - can be found here.