Self-Management of Depression

Although empathy has increasingly become a buzzword in the modern wellness and leadership lexicon, it is more than just a fad. Empathy is the ability or capacity to identify or vicariously experience the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of others. Phrases such as “walking in another person’s shoes” or “seeing the world through the eyes of another person” epitomize the concept of empathy. Being able to pick up on emotional nonverbal cues, such as tone of voice and facial expressions, is at the heart of empathy. In addition to reading another’s emotions, at higher levels, empathy also entails sensing and responding to a person’s unspoken concerns or feelings and also understanding the issues or concerns that lie behind those feelings (Goleman, 1998). Empathic people – are attentive to emotional cues and listen well. show sensitivity and understand others’ perspectives. help others by understanding their needs and feelings. Empathy is not a single, discrete emotion, but a constellation of...

Burnout has become a common term in our modern lexicon, with people using it in a broad sense to describe their general experience of stress at work. Although not classified as a medical condition with diagnostic criteria like other mental health conditions, burnout does have a specific definition based on extensive research. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes burnout as an “occupational phenomenon” resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Burnout is more than just feeling bummed out or having a bad day at work; it doesn’t happen overnight. It slowly creeps up on us, albeit with some warning signs. Burnout most commonly results when there is an imbalance between the demands and resources at work, or a conflict between personal and organizational values. In particular, burnout is conceptualized as the final stage of breakdown in one’s ability to adapt to the demand/resource mismatch or values conflict. Symptoms of burnout represent not o...

What is Hardiness? A lot has been talked about resilience in popular media and, regrettably, most of these discussions don't go beyond the oft-repeated wellness strategies. In this context, hardiness is a psychological construct that contributes to resilience but has received little attention. Previously labeled as existential courage, hardiness is a pattern of attitudes and strategies that together facilitate turning stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities. Hardiness functions as a resistance resource in buffering the effects of stressful events and thus contributes to resilience. The 3 Cs of hardiness that help hardy individuals cope better with stress are as follows (Kobasa et al., 1982): Commitment: Commitment is the belief that no matter how bad things get, you will stay involved with whatever is happening, rather than sinking into detachment, passivity, or avoidance. Commitment helps you have a generalized sense of purpose that allows you t...

                                                              In today’s fast-moving global economy, the concept of one-size-fits-all linear career path is a thing of the past. Employees have unique needs in context of their work. Some view it to as a means to an end, some as a steppingstone for advancement in their career while others may consider it a calling. These three types of orientations toward work are described in more detail below (Wrzesniewski et al., 1997): 1. Job orientation: Individuals with a job orientation are only interested in the material benefits from work and do not seek or receive any other type of reward from it. Their main source of joy is outside their work and work is a means to provide resources to enjoy their time outside of work. They often wish time would pass more quickly at work and greatly anti...

Much has been written about how work-related stress is associated with burnout and depression. Burnout has become a buzzword that has spawned a modern-day cottage industry of one-size-fits-all wellness programs. Before we discuss the remedies for burnout, let's examine what causes it in the first place. From a psychological perspective, the hazardous effects of the work environment on health, aka burnout, have been explained by the effort-reward model . According to this model, the imbalance created by high “costs” (spending high effort at work or over-commitment) and low “benefits” (in terms of monetary gratification, career opportunities, esteem, respect, and job security) produces emotional distress affecting both mental and physical health (Siegrist & Li, 2016). In fact, research shows that this effort-reward imbalance is associated with a 1.5-fold increased risk of depressive disorders (Rugulies et al., 2017). In this context, the concept of “job crafting” is a ...

We have all faced the modern-day malady of analysis paralysis. We think and plan, but when it comes to putting the plan into action, analysis paralysis creeps in and prevents us from executing the plan. This then leads to a sense of failure, triggering mental exhaustion leading to more analysis paralysis - a vicious cycle. One of the core symptoms of burnout is mental exhaustion and a key driver of this is, of course, analysis paralysis.   So, what happens in analysis paralysis? Here are some common attributes of this state of mind: You work on solutions to a problem but are overwhelmed by the available options. You feel you don’t have the “perfect” solution to a problem. You are afraid of picking up the “wrong” solution. You overthink about the possible solutions and believe that the problem is too complicated. You are afraid that you don’t have all the facts to make a decision. You may never have all the facts and the...