Combating employee depression

Are you dealing with employees that are suffering from depression? Depression in the workplace can be a real morale killer and it can really hurt your productivity. You need to be able to understand employee depression so you can help your employees and hopefully prevent it from becoming something that will really destroy your business.

Pay attention to your employees during the winter months or when it is an extended rainy period. It is common to see your employees suffering from depression during this time as they are lacking sunlight, which can help to give them Vitamin D and will actually make them feel better. When winter comes around and your employees are trapped inside without the sunlight they need you should consider bringing in some lamps that actually mimic the sunlight. FullSpectrumSolutions.com sells several different types of lights that mimic the sun and will actually aid in combating depression for your employees. Give them each a desk lamp that they can turn on or consider adding these lamps to the office and then turning them on before the employees get to work. You will see that employees that tend to suffer from seasonal depression are not nearly as depressive and they will actually end up feeling better and can be quite productive for the company.

Supervisors need to monitor their employees and really pay attention to them in order to see how they are doing. You may find that your employees seem find but within a few hours their entire demeanor has changed. What can you do about depression? It helps to educate yourself and look for the signs and symptoms of depression. There are close to 19 Million Americans suffering from depression so the chances that your employees have depression is very likely.

Some of the signs that you are dealing with workplace depression include the following:

• Decreased productivity


• Lack of concentration


• Failure to cooperate with other employees


• Complaints of pain


• Abuse of sick leave


• Acting differently or becoming withdrawn from coworkers

Treatments for depression are effective in 8 out of 10 cases. As an employer you should be sensitive to your employees needs and discuss depression and encourage them to seek treatment. This is the best way to ensure you are doing the right thing in order to really get your employees to do something about depression. Look into your employee health benefits and check out what options are available for your employees that are suffering from depression. Call the employee in for a one on one meeting to talk about depression and to find ways in which you can help them get the help that they need. While you cannot diagnose depression you can at least encourage your employees to take notice of their behavior and to consider the possibility that there could be a problem.

Have the employees come in for a meeting and bring to light some of the things that you have seen in their behavior such as coming into work late or noticing that their performance has really diminished. As you notice their behaviors you will be able to address these issues with the employees and to get them to talk about what is going on so they will hopefully take the next step to see a healthcare provider.

Just encourage your employees as this is the best way to show them that you have noticed issues and that you really do want what is best for them. Let them know you would like to do everything possible to get them back up to a higher level of performance and to help them become better at their job and continue progressing with the company.