Posted on 10/13/2007 5:30:47 PM PDT by decimon
WASHINGTON - People who tend to the elderly, change diapers and serve up food and drinks have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers.
Overall, 7 percent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year, according to a government report available Saturday.
Women were more likely than men to have had a major bout of depression, and younger workers had higher rates of depression than their older colleagues.
Almost 11 percent of personal care workers — which includes child care and helping the elderly and severely disabled with their daily needs — reported depression lasting two weeks or longer.
During such episodes there is loss of interest and pleasure, and at least four other symptoms surface, including problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration and self-image.
Workers who prepare and serve food — cooks, bartenders, waiters and waitresses — had the second highest rate of depression among full-time employees at 10.3 percent.
In a tie for third were health care workers and social workers at 9.6 percent.
The lowest rate of depression, 4.3 percent, occurred in the job category that covers engineers, architects and surveyors.
Government officials tracked depression within 21 major occupational categories. They combined data from 2004 through 2006 to estimate episodes of depression within the past year. That information came from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which registers lifetime and past-year depression bouts.
Depression leads to $30 billion to $44 billion in lost productivity annually, said the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The report was available Saturday on the agency's Web site at http://oas.samhsa.gov
The various job categories tracked could be quite broad, with employees grouped in the same category seemingly having little in common.
For example, one category included workers in the arts, media, entertainment and sports. In the personal care category, a worker caring for toddlers at a daycare center would have quite a different job from a nursing aide who helps an older person live at home rather than in a nursing home.
Just working full-time would appear to be beneficial in preventing depression. The overall rate of depression for full-time workers, 7 percent, compares with the 12.7 percent rate registered by those who are unemployed.
___
On the Net:
Read the report at: http://tinyurl.com/2ft37p
I am not employed and am as happy as the proverbial lark.
I am a health care worker. Yes, depression is my second name but I don’t have time to dwell on it. Many times I’ve wished that I was someone rich and famous so that I could go to a rehab or rest hospital for TLC.
I accepted retirement from my career job to retain my last shred of sanity. I didn't but I'm still glad I took the retirement.
Cheer up!
My guess is that depression is largely a leftist disease, related in some way to their other mental disorders.
According to that, I should be moderately depressed from working part time with special needs children along with a fair share of diaper changing. But, once again, I wasn’t asked.
The report has 'Installation, Maintenance and Repair' as being low on the depression scale. I hope that doesn't include field service (dealing directly with the customer on the customer site) as that field became one of walking on egg shells, stuck between uncaring customers and uncaring management.
“The lowest rate of depression, 4.3 percent, occurred in the job category that covers engineers, architects and surveyors. “
Wow! It’s a GREAT day, isn’t it? Makes one thankful to be alive!!!!!
I've worked many jobs in many fields from floor sweeper, to Electronics Technician, clothing manufacturing to the Aerospace industy.
And I was happy in jobs that other people absolutely hated.
Mostly because I practice thanking God for whatever job I have and always try to excell no matter what the job is.
I also refuse to feel sorry for myself in adverse circumstances and don't allow myself to be occupied with negative thoughts for long.
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
There are many threads here to indicate otherwise.
In many jobs you are punished for that.
Like Winston Churchill and Abe Lincoln?
For example....
When Hillary is elected, we will all have a depression.
Texas56-ISU3. I am very depressed, and it’s not going to get any better the rest of the season, I fear. Even the win over the Hawkeyes several weeks ago won’t carry me through to the NFL playoffs.
The one I retired from. And I did look at other jobs/companies.
If you see a formerly successful company going downhill then forget the Kudlow type analysis and think human factors.
That's an optimistic projection. ;-)
In as far as they want to blame others for their lot in life and make the Govt and the rich responsible for solving their problems, yes they are more succeptible to depression.
Otherwise depression crosses all political boundaries. There certainly are some miserable people on these boards.
Depression is no disease that one picks up from a toilet seat. Absurd! It’s a natural response to things going south and never returning north for the summer.
Like most of us, I’ve been working most of my life. I received a lot of grief at one union shop, but I’ve never been punished for excellence on the job.
You mean people worrying about their jobs and therefore seeing those who excell as a threat?
It could be that. It could be what we think of as the union thing where you don't dare do more than a certain amount of work. It could be the offense of outshining those preselected for advancement. Could be a lot of things.
If I’m depressed because I just discovered from reading this article that there is a federal bureaucracy entitled the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, who should I go to for treatment?
I'd suggest going to someone dispensing abusive substances.
¡Ya comprendo! I know all about the union thing.
As the youngest and one of the best cutters in the local ILGWU back in the 1970's, I ran into a lot of resentment from the old timers who hated the fact that I worked harder than they did.
I was labeled a "company man" and told more than once that I didn't "need a union".
But it NEVER held me back.
In fact when others were laid off I would be brought back before those with more seniority.
And NOBODY did a thing to me.
Probably because at that time the unions were more worried about businesses pulling out and moving overseas.
You know there is a lot of truth to that - have tried explaining to some folks that if they worked harder they wouldn’t have to work as hard, but oh well.
This is the consensus, but some think that many men manifest depression by things like alcohol abuse, and if such men are counted, the sexes are equally at risk. Anyway, I wonder if they controlled for sex in their evaluation of job classifications? Some of the job types they rate as high in depression are dominated by females, and vice versa.
You design it, i’ll stake it...JFK
I said “largely” — I didn’t say exclusively.
Depression is awful, but it's not a disease anymore than addiction or "ADD".
Treating it so has a bit to do with the Left's penchant for drug-worship, but a far greater motive is the dehumanizing, economic, and political control over every person they diagnose.
Instantly gone are electability and gun rights. Social stigma, being so blatant and unalterable, is paid lip-service as something wrong and unjustified.
Today's doctor-patient relationship: the doctor drives 6-figure cars and has as many affairs as he or she chooses. The patient is told that being poor (in any respect, not just in dollar terms) is OK, "just take your happy pills... By the way- you are probably gay, but I'm taking your girl out to dinner tonight... go find a fag to be happy with. That will be $350, pay me now or later."
"[Depression is] a natural response to things going south and never returning north for the summer."
Well said.
Depression leads to $30 billion to $44 billion in lost productivity annually, said the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Again, the motive for aristocratic concern is revealed. It's not that we are stuck changing diapers, it's that someone wants us to work harder for them.
“There certainly are some miserable people on these boards.”
That’s true, but I still think depression to be largely, not exclusively, but largely a disorder that afflicts people that also happen to be leftists. And, i don’t think that the two are unrelated.
I agree.
The reason for their low occupational depression is largely that they've already been through it. They know themselves better now- including how to be happy, and how not to be happy.
I had that job for 27 years. In the early years the good part of the job was dealing with the customers (not all). They depended on me to take care of them and I did and that was very satisfying. But things change.
The Great American service sector economy.
“The reason for their low occupational depression is largely that they’ve already been through it. They know themselves better now- including how to be happy, and how not to be happy.”
Interesting theory. You may be right. However, to be fair, it could also be that engineers know that people are just jealous of their snazzy wardrobe and dance moves, too.
“You design it, i’ll stake it”
....and we’ll both do it with a smile!
No it is listening to NPR all day. I have a co-worker (afile clerk) who listens to NPR in the file room. It dawned on me after being down there for 20 minutes or so why libs are so upset all of the time. It was just one negative headline after another. I had this horrible urge to jump out of a window (just kidding). Seriously though, it was some depressing stuff!
I wonder if this is because women are more likely to have conscious or subconscious longing, guilt, anxiety, etc., about not being home with their children.
As a naturally lazy individual, that's my plan too.
A co-worker asked me if I'm going to work after I retire. I told her only people with a guilty conscience feel the need to work their whole life away and I'm as innocent as a new born babe.
About 10 years ago... my Mom quit a job at the Treasury Dept. She was black-balled by co-workers for "over-producing" and making the rest of them look bad. After having been praised in front of everyone for her high productivity... she'd come to work and find things missing from her desk or equipment broken. After enduring this harrassment for 6 months...she threw in the towel.
No offense, but nobody here should be posting anything saying they are depressed. We may have some government-paid psychologists out there reading your comments and building up evidence to take away your firearms. /semi-sarc
I used to call it “walking a tightrope over a pride of lions” or “juggling chainsaws”. Sound about right?
I'm a conservative who has suffered from depression, and I've had several family members with similar problems. I suspect that any real survey would find depression equally distributed among political ideologies.
Bill
LOL Engineers just aren't sensitive enough and artsy enough to realize they are truly depressed. /s
I'll take the bennies in sick (beach) days and will call it quits. Think of the savings in therapy!
If Hillary is elected, we will rejoice because this website will explode as it did during Monicagate.
BUMP
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.