Careers can be stressful. There’s promotions to run after, there’s jobs to switch, and there are roles to perform. And amidst all that, you must deal with competitive colleagues and unreasonable bosses. And to top it all off, you must still keep running your personal life, and manage friends, spouses and families. That’s a lot of balls to have in the air at once, and it can end up being too much to take. Depression is becoming increasingly common among young professionals, and the symptoms won’t necessarily show up only in your personal life.
Given how common depression has become, counselling has emerged a popular career choice. Counseling jobs are now in vogue — there are a large number of medical schools and other institutes which are training people to become counselors, and these counselors now are available in all major cities. As such, it’s always easy to find a counselor close to where you are. Here are 5 signs that you should consult one:
1.Disinclination to go to work: It’s common to crave weekends — the number of Monday Motivation memes out there would attest to this — but if you can’t stand being at work at all, you might be depressed. If the very thought to going to office, sitting at your desk, and dealing with your job bums you out, you might need to seek clinical help. This condition does not necessarily have to be caused by your work itself — it can be brought about by your personal life, your life in office, or a combination of both. But if you simply can’t stand going to office, it might be sign that all’s not well.
2. Withdrawal from co-workers: If you’re the sort of person who has lots of friends at work, and loves chatting with your colleagues, and suddenly don’t feel so keen about socializing in office, you might be depressed. Each person is social to different degrees in the office — some people are extroverts, and are friends with everyone at work; others are more reserved. What you need to notice here is the change in your behaviour: if you’re being less social than before, it might be a sign that you’re depressed.
3. Fall in work performance: One of the most tell-tale signs of depression could be a degradation in your work performance. If you feel you aren’t being as productive as you were before, and you’re not doing your job as well as you did before, it could be a sign that you’re depressed. It might not be immediately apparent if your performance at work has fallen, but if you receive feedback from your colleagues or your boss that you aren’t quite performing at the levels you once did, it might indicate that you could need some counselling.
4. Daydreaming at work: If you find that you can’t focus on your job at hand, but are constantly fantasizing about other things at work, you might be depressed. You could either be thinking about travel, or plans for the weekend, or just about anything other than the work you’re actually supposed to be doing. This happens to the best of us — there’s no one who hasn’t done some harmless daydreaming at work — but if you see it happening a lot more often, you might need to be on your guard.
[Depression is a serious medical condition. These guidelines are only indicative — if you’re unsure if you’re depressed, do contact a medical professional.]