Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Depression and the workplace: A progress report

  • Published:
Current Psychiatry Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There has been considerable interest recently in the relationship between depression and the workplace. This interest is driven by the growing recognition that depressive disorders are highly prevalent in the workplace and have an enormously negative impact on performance, productivity, absenteeism, and disability costs. A variety of clinical research with occupationalrelated samples has helped to define those at risk for depression and has led to a better understanding of the overlap of the construct of clinical depression with more longstanding occupational health and organizational psychology models such as stress, burnout, and job satisfaction. From an employer perspective, depression’s impact remains largely unmitigated due to stigma, uncertainty about treatment’s cost effectiveness, and lack of effective interventions delivered in a workplace setting. Progress in these areas is reviewed with suggestions for future directions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References and Recommended Reading

  1. Murray CJ, Lopez AD: Global mortality, disability, and the contribution of risk factors: Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet 1997, 349:1436–1442.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Waghorn G, Chant D: Work performance among Australians with depression and anxiety disorders: a population level second order analysis. J Nerv Ment Dis 2006, 194:898–904.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Patten SB, Wang JL, Williams JV, et al.: Descriptive epidemiology of major depression in Canada. Can J Psychiatry 2006, 51:84–90.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Kessler RC, Akiskal HS, Ames M, et al.: Prevalence and effects of mood disorders on work performance in a nationally representative sample of U.S. workers. Am J Psychiatry 2006, 163:1561–1568.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Stewart WF, Ricci JA, Chee E, et al.: Cost of lost productive work time among US workers with depression. JAMA 2003, 289:3135–3144.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Godard C, Chevalier A, Lecrubier Y, Lahon G: APRAND programme: an intervention to prevent relapses of anxiety and depressive disorders. First results of a medical health promotion intervention in a population of employees. Eur Psychiatry 2006, 21:451–459.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Leon AC, Walkup JT, Portera L: Assessment and treatment of depression in disability claimants: a cost-benefit simulation study. J Nerv Ment Dis 2002, 190:3–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Kuhn M, Ehlert U, Rumpf HJ, et al.: Onset and maintenance of psychiatric disorders after serious accidents. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2006, 256:497–503.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hoge CW, Auchterlonie JL, Milliken CS: Mental health problems, use of mental health services, and attrition from military service after returning from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. JAMA 2006, 295:1023–1032.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Grieger TA, Cozza SJ, Ursano RJ, et al.: Posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in battle-injured soldiers. Am J Psychiatry 2006, 163:1777–1783.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Smith JL, Rost KM, Nutting PA, et al.: Impact of primary care depression intervention on employment and workplace conflict outcomes: is value added? J Ment Health Policy Econ 2002, 5:43–49.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhang M, Rost KM, Fortney JC, Smith GR: A community study of depression treatment and employment earnings. Psychiatr Serv 1999, 50:1209–1213.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Lerner D, Adler DA, Chang H, et al.: Unemployment, job retention, and productivity loss among employees with depression. Psychiatr Serv 2004, 55:1371–1378.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Greenberg PE, Kessler RC, Birnbaum HG, et al.: The economic burden of depression in the United States: how did it change between 1990 and 2000? J Clin Psychiatry 2003, 64:1465–1475.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Post RM, Denicoff KD, Leverich GS, et al.: Morbidity in 258 bipolar outpatients followed for 1 year with daily prospective ratings on the NIMH life chart method. J Clin Psychiatry 2003, 64:680–690.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Sanne B, Mykletun A, Dahl AA, et al.: Testing the Job Demand-Control-Support model with anxiety and depression as outcomes: the Hordaland Health Study. Occup Med (Lond) 2005, 55:463–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Maslach C, Jackson S: The measure of experience burnout. J Occup Behav 1981, 2:99–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Ahola K, Honkonen T, Kivimaki M, et al.: Contribution of burnout to the association between job strain and depression: the health 2000 study. J Occup Environ Med 2006, 48:1023–1030.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Kopelowicz A, Liberman RP: Integrating treatment with rehabilitation for persons with major mental illnesses. Psychiatr Serv 2003, 54:1491–1498.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Trivedi MH, Rush AJ, Wisniewski SR, et al.: Factors associated with health-related quality of life among outpatients with major depressive disorder: a STAR*D report. J Clin Psychiatry 2006, 67:185–195.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Wang J: Work stress as a risk factor for major depressive episode(s). Psychol Med 2005, 35:865–871.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Wang J: Perceived work stress and major depressive episodes in a population of employed Canadians over 18 years old. J Nerv Ment Dis 2004, 192:160–163.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Shields M: Stress and depression in the employed population and unhappy on the job. Health Rep 2006, 17:11–38.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Virtanen M, Honkonen T, Kivimaki M, et al.: Work stress, mental health and antidepressant medication findings from the Health 2000 Study. J Affect Disord 2007, 98:189–197.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Kivimaki M, Virtanen M, Vartia M, et al.: Workplace bullying and the risk of cardiovascular disease and depression. J Occup Environ Med 2003, 60:779–783.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Wieclaw J, Agerbo E, Mortensen PB, et al.: Work related violence and threats and the risk of depression and stress disorders. J Epidemiol Community Health 2006, 60:771–775.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Steele L, Dewa C, Lee K: Socioeconomic status and selfreported barriers to mental health service use. Can J Psychiatry 2007, 52:201–206.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Ahola K, Hakanen J: Job strain, burnout, and depressive symptoms: a prospective study among dentists. J Affect Disord 2007 [Epub ahead of print].

  29. Whooley MA, Kiefe CI, Chesney MA, et al.: Depressive symptoms, unemployment, and loss of income: the CARDIA Study. Arch Intern Med 2002, 162:2614–2620.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Center C, Davis M, Detre T, et al.: Confronting depression and suicide in physicians: a consensus statement. JAMA 2003, 289:3161–3166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Charbonneau A, Bruning W, Titus-Howard T, et al.: The community initiative on depression: report from a multiphase work site depression intervention. J Occup Environ Med 2005, 47:60–70.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Birnbaum HG, Leong SA, Greenberg PE: The economics of women and depression: an employer’s perspective. J Affect Disord 2003, 74:15–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Rost K, Fortney J, Coyne J: The relationship of depression treatment quality indicators to employee absenteeism. Ment Health Serv Res 2005, 7:161–169.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Dewa CS, Hoch JS, Goering P, et al.: Use of antidepressants among Canadian workers receiving depression-related short-term disability benefits. Psychiatr Serv 2003, 54:724–729.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Simon GE, Revicki D, Heiligenstein J, et al.: Recovery from depression, work productivity, and health care costs among primary care patients. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2000, 22:153–162.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Wells KB, Sherbourne C, Schoenbaum M, et al.: Impact of disseminating quality improvement programs for depression in managed primary care: a randomized controlled trail. JAMA 2000, 283:212–220.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Rost K, Smith JL, Dickinson M: The effect of improving primary care depression management on employee absenteeism and productivity. A randomized trial. Med Care 2004, 42:1202–1210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Wang PS, Simon GE, Avom J, et al.: Telephone screening, outreach, and care management for depressed workers and impact on clinical and work productivity outcomes. JAMA 2007, 298:1401–1411.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Adler DA, Irish J, McLaughlin TJ, et al.: The work impact of dysthymia in a primary care population. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2004, 26:269–276.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Haslam C, Atkinson S, Brown S, et al.: Perceptions of the impact of depression and anxiety and the medication for these conditions on safety in the workplace. J Occup Environ Med 2005, 62:538–545.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Riciutti J, Steacy R, Durant G, et al.: Mental health in the labour force: literature review and research GAP analysis. Paper presented to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Committee of Partners on Mental Health in the Workplace. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; July 12, 2007.

  42. Watson PJ, Booker CK, Moores L, Main CL: Returning the chronically unemployed with low back pain to employment. Eur J Pain 2004, 8:359–369.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Soderman E, Lisspers J, Sundin O: Depression as a predictor of return to work in patients with coronary artery disease. Soc Sci Med 2003, 56:193–202.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Isometsa ET, Katila H, Aro T: Disability pension for major depression in Finland. Am J Psychiatry 2000, 157:1869–1872.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Emptage NP, Sturm R, Robinson RL: Depression and comorbid pain as predictors of disability, employment, insurance status, and health care costs. Psychiatr Serv 2005, 56:468–474.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Demyttenaere K, Bonnewyn A, Bruffaerts R, et al.: Comorbid painful physical symptoms and depression: prevalence, work loss, and help seeking. J Affect Disord 2006, 92:185–193.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Nieuwenhuijsen K, Verbeek JH, de Boer AG, et al.: Predicting the duration of sickness absence for patients with common mental disorders in occupational health care. Scand J Work Environ Health 2006, 32:67–74.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. World Health Organization: Mental Health Policies and Programmes in the Workplace. Geneva: WHO Press; 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Lesser IM, Leuchter AF, Trivedi MH, et al.: Characteristics of insured and noninsured outpatients with depression in STAR(*)D. Psychiatr Serv 2005, 56:995–1004.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Cavanagh K, Shapiro DA, Van Den Berg S, et al.: The effectiveness of computerized cognitive behavioural therapy in routine care. Br J Clin Psychol 2006, 45:499–514.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Work, Stress, and Health Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada

    Ash Bender

Authors
  1. Ash Bender
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter Farvolden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ash Bender.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bender, A., Farvolden, P. Depression and the workplace: A progress report. Curr Psychiatry Rep 10, 73–79 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-008-0013-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-008-0013-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation