Depression due to Office Stress

The workplace causes stress because it is an important source of demands and pressures, and the structural and social resources counteract stress. It can be caused by any reason that creates a feeling of tension in your mind.

Reasons for Depression Due to Office Stress

Many external or internal factors contribute to the causes of depression due to problems in the workplace. The following are the reasons for office stress

1. Miscommunication
2. Inability to get well with colleagues
3. Inability to cope up with deadlines
4. The extreme workload at the office
5. Work shifts at odd hours
6. Any illness
7. Physical or Sexual Assault by boss or colleague
8. Inability to leave the job due to financial problems
9. Unable to find a new job when the present one sucks
10. Having a misfit job i.e. other than your dream job
11. Having a job with ethical discomfort.
12. An imbalance between office and personal life
13. The guilt of being a working mother when you have a small baby at home
14. Unreasonable demands from office management
15. Unclear instructions from the employer and the blame of project failure on employees

Symptoms of Depression Due to Office

1. Giving up on performing well at the workplace
2. Withdrawal from any social activity at the workplace
3. Lack of enthusiasm towards finishing work
4. A decrease in problem-solving attitude
5. The decrease in work efficiency
6. The frustration of office work even when you are at home
7. Unwillingness to go to the office
8. Low self-esteem
9. Inability to communicate well with colleagues due to low self-confidence

9 Ways to Deal With Stress at Work

Stress at work is common and finding low-stress work is harder. The following are some stress management ways that you can try if you are having difficulty coping with work stress. 

1. Be Clear on Requirements

Unclear requirements for employees are one of the most important factors that contribute to job burnout. You can be highly stressed if you don't know what is expected of you and if your role requirements change with a little bit of information.

You should take time from your supervisor to go over expectations and discuss strategies to take help if you find that you are doing something wrong.

2. Stay Away From Conflict 

Conflict between co-workers can be difficult to avoid, so you should try to avoid conflict at work as much as possible. Because interpersonal conflicts affect your physical and emotional health. You should try to avoid people who don’t work well with others and if you find conflict anyway you should find ways to handle it.

3. Stay Organized

You should stay organized to reduce stress in your work even if you are a naturally disorganized person. You avoid the negative effects of clutter if you keep yourself organized. If you become organized then you will have to rush less in the morning to avoid being late and less hustling to get out at the end of the day.

4. Be Comfortable

Physical discomfort is also a surprising stressor at work mainly where you do most of your daily tasks(such as a chair, table. You can't pay attention if you have been sitting in an uncomfortable chair for a few minutes. If you practice at that chair while you are at work then you can be more reactive to stress because of it. 

5. Forget Multitasking

Multitasking was introduced as a great way to maximize time and do more in a day. However, people eventually began to realize that if they had a phone in their ear and were calculating at the same time, their speed and accuracy (not to mention purity) were often suffering. There is a certain feeling that comes from dividing your focus and it does not work well for most people. You should not be multitasking but try another cognitive strategy such as chunking to stay on top of your tasks.

6. Walk at Lunch

Many people feel many problems due to their sedentary lifestyle. So you should encounter the physical and mental effects of work stress by getting some exercise during your lunch break. You can walk at lunchtime and it will help to lift your mood, blow off steam, and get a better shape. 

7. Keep Perfectionism

If you become a high achiever, it will make you feel about yourself and help you to excel at work. But if you become a perfectionist, it can cause many problems not only for you but also for the people around you. 

You may not be able to do a full, every time — especially busy, fast-paced job. A good strategy to avoid the trap of perfectionism is always striving to do your best and making time to congratulate yourself for your efforts. You may find that your results are better and you are under much less stress at work.

8. Start Your Day off Right

Many people reach their work with stress because of reasons such as dodging traffic and reducing road rage, scrambling to get the kids fed and off to school, and gulping down coffee in lieu of a healthy breakfast. When there is a stressful morning then it can be surprising how much you are affected by workplace stress. You find that the stress of your job becomes less effective when your day is started with a positive attitude, good nutrition, and planning.

9. Listen to Some Music After Reaching Home

Listening to music can help to relieve stress and so you should play an uplifting song while making breakfast that will help to feel better with the people in your life. So you should listen to your favorite music while coming back from the office that will help to wind down and feel less stressed.

Finally, I can say it is rightly said that the office is the second home as we spend most of the time of our lives at our workplace apart from our primary home. Sometimes people around trigger you to sadness intentionally at the workplace so as to compete well with you. But if you are depressed, you will fall prey to such people. If you are happy at your workplace, then only you can lead a happy life at home. So you should try the ways such as to be clear on requirements, be comfortable, forget multitasking, and walk at lunch, etc. to deal with office stress.