How Depression Affected My Life

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As a working adult, depression affects my abilities on a daily basis. Despite attending therapy twice a week and using medication help me function better, depression continues to play a role in my life. I have had depression for most of my life, so every job I have ever held has been affected by it.
Depression can manifest in many different ways; for me, it causes excessive fatigue, mood swings, and an intense lack of motivation. Some days, getting out of bed is an almost impossible task to accomplish. This makes attending work difficult. If I force myself to push through my symptoms, I can have a successful day at work. But this does not always work out in favor of my health. Self-care must be practiced every day to help with depressive …show more content…

I had always been quiet about my depression. It was not other people’s business, and I did not want it to affect how people thought of me and my ability to perform well at work. I learned through this experience that if I am going to continue working at any job, I need to keep my supervisors informed of my well being. Because I work in the field of psychology, my co-workers and supervisors all understand the importance of self-care, especially if you are already prone to depression. Once I informed my work of the situation, they were very responsive and helpful. I could take a leave of absence – which proved beneficial when I needed to be hospitalized a second time for a whole week –even obtain free counseling should I need it, and even have a team of co-workers to help support me while I was at work. My job had many different options for handling an employee struggling with their mental health, more options than most jobs would provide because of the nature of the work. Even though I only took advantage of the leave of absence option, informing my supervisors of my depression helped a lot because they were able to adjust my schedule and duties, and I always knew they were there to help should I ever need it. When I returned to work after being hospitalized for the second time, they checked up on me every week, allowed me to take days off when my depression flared up, and did everything they could to ensure I

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