Working through depression may offer health benefits

Employers can find themselves contending with a wide range of different illnesses among their staff. While in many cases it’s good to keep them away from the office, this might not be the case for depression

Joint research from the University Of Melbourne and the Menzies Research Institute at the University of Tasmania found that working could be just what depression sufferers need to stay on top of their condition.

“We found that continuing to work while experiencing a depressive illness may offer employees certain health benefits, while depression-related absence from work offers no significant improvement in employee health outcomes or quality of life,” said Lead Researcher Fiona Cocker from the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.

There’s also the cost burden that employers face when staff are absent on long-term sick leave, which is often higher for white collar than blue collar industries.

No matter what industry you’re in, HRMS software could be just what you need to keep track on of what tasks workers are performing and ensuring their productivity levels remain high.

Dr Cocker emphasised how bosses need to weigh up a whole host of factors when it comes to promoting mental health policies in the workplace.

For example, they may choose to offer flexible working arrangements that enable staff to work from home some of the time, or their tasks might be modified slightly to facilitate their illness.

This, in many cases, is much more favourable to putting them on long-term sick leave, which could ultimately make them feel ostracised and less likely to want to return to work at a later date.

It’s not only workers with depression that have the potential to benefit from these strategies, but also those suffering from diabetes, heart disease and other conditions that could hinder someone’s ability to work.