Supporting an employee who is depressed

It is never you as manager who makes the diagnosis, leave that to a professional. But it is still useful to read about the symptoms and risk factors of depression and to be able to recognise depression. The suspicion that an employee may be depressed can then encourage you to speak to them. At the sites Hey het is oke.nl and Depressievereniging.nl you will find a lot of information (in Dutch), both for yourself as a manager, and also for your employee.

According to DSM-IV, the handbook for psychiatric ailments, people who are depressed can suffer to a greater or lesser extent from the following symptoms:

• changes in appetite or weight:
• inability to sleep or sleeping too much;
• agitation or hesitation;
• tiredness or loss of energy;
• feelings of worthlessness or guilt;
• indecisiveness, problems with concentration or reduced ability to reflect;
• thoughts of death or suicide.

Not all these symptoms are immediately visible, especially not those which are thoughts or moods, if the person does not talk about them. But you can probably see the changes from the employee's behaviour and work.

You may be looking at depression if someone:

• starts making more mistakes;
• works more slowly, is less productive;
• finds it hard to concentrate;
• is sluggish, daydreaming, or conversely hyperactive;
• gets tired more quickly than normal;
• is gloomy, downbeat, listless;
• arrives late more often, calls in sick for short periods more often.

These symptoms can also appear due to other stress-related ailments, but with depression they are there every day and remain even when the circumstances change.

Depression can be treated, but it is not simple. On average, half of those who suffer from depression once do so again within five years. For heavy, recurring depression help really is needed from a psychiatrist. Luckily, there are also factors that can protect against depression:

• being highly intelligent;
• self-knowledge, realistic self-esteem, self-confidence;
• understanding and awareness of depression and how much it can be influenced;
• a flexible personality;
• social support, a good network and dealing with other people easily;
• taking responsibility yourself for events or plans;
• the feeling of being in control of your own life.

These are all factors that relate to mental resilience. So it is important to increase this. In this way, people learn to make better use of their personal and work-related resources. For preventing and treating and recovering from depression, being autonomous is important. The feeling that you yourself can drive the process, even if you are under treatment, is good for your self-confidence. More exercise, mindfulness and a healthy lifestyle are things that may also make up part of the treatment.

Employees who suffer from depression may be unfit for work for a shorter or longer period. Depression can lead to absences, a loss of pleasure in their work and a drop in productivity. Depression is just as big a threat to employees as burnout, just that a depression tends to recur faster after recovery than burnout.

How would you initiate, respectfully, a discussion about a delicate subject? It helps if you stick to your own experience, and talk about what you have notice and what feelings that creates in you. You can say "I have noticed recently that you have been absent more often, arrive late more often, overrun lunch breaks, and so on." Or "I'm getting the impression that you are not feeling great, I can see the effort it takes you to concentrate during meetings, I have noticed more mistakes in your work, and so on."

If you find it difficult to have a discussion like this, ask your manager or employer if you could have some training on this. Leading a good meeting is something you can easily learn.