Depression and Work

Our feelings and emotions are the basis of any behavior.

Can you imagine how many people suffer from depression and hide it in their work environment this profound suffering, that could happen in any family?

How many people lost opportunities, emotional relationships, friendships, for not being able to explain the pain they felt because of depression?

During the quarantine, I received many private messages from people who were ashamed of their condition and didn’t know to bring it up in their work environment.

I ask you. Why does the pain of the soul need to be taboo?

People walk around the office all the time talking about their diets, their broken arm, muscle pain, backache — we even have a name for chronic illnesses such as RSI, a condition causes by repetitive work.

The WHO estimates that 264 million people suffer from depression on account of their work on a global scale, and we haven’t yet ruptured the barrier of talking about mental health or emotional pain.

WHO’s data indicates that the losses caused by depression and anxiety cost 1 trillion dollars a year to the global economy.

There is no right or wrong when we talk about suffering. The suffering of the soul sometimes needs an external help. We are biochemical bodies and sometimes a chemical element out of place can bring grave consequences — and with that, the frustration and fear of feeling part of a group of so-called “useless” people.

If you are feeling or have ever felt like that, know that everything moves at its own pace and sometimes, healing takes time. But with a good professional and the help of the right chemical, you can take the first step in solving your problem. There are many methods in biohacking where we use supplements and natural strategies to countering inflammation in the body, and following this line of thought, depression is also a kind of inflammation.

But some people can’t use the strength of their own body because they really are biochemically unbalanced and need both medication and professional help.

Think about it: if you had a broken leg, would you go parading around the office in silence without talking about your pain, or even the possibility of having a crooked leg if you don’t fix it ASAP? Not to mention the grave consequences to your spine on account of your limited leg movement, or even the impact on your social life for not being able to move right.

I’m sure you’d go straight to the hospital and look for an orthopedist.

I want to propose this same sensibility to your soul.

People who suffer from depression aren’t lazy, they aren’t mushy or weak. Actually, my opinion is that they’re really strong people who overcome depression every day to go to work and have a life like all of us. For a depressed person, getting out of bed is like climbing a mountain.

I invite you today so that each of us that has a friend, a colleague, or a relative who suffers from depression embrace and encourage that person. Don’t bully them, don’t talk behind their back or make any more trouble for them. And if you are a transformational leader, one with compassion, know this: this professional that suffers from depression today can be the best one of your team, and if you really take a look at their competence and not their pain, you’ll find a resilient person.

Don’t stop anybody from growing in life, under any circumstances. It’s time for all of us, as a society, to stop hindering the growth of others who are different from us. Be it by physical differences, disabilities, illnesses, pains, color, preferences; those who are different from us are exactly like us, and it’s our job as a leader to encourage people to grow and how what they have inside of themselves — who knows, it may even change the world.

Sometimes, what changes the world is that tiny difference. Have you ever thought about it?