Research into prevalence rates for depression by industry has found that one factor is a very likely contributor to depression in workers.
The study, which surveyed employees from 55 different industries, found that jobs which are heavy on ’emotional labour’ can take a toll on the mind-state of the people working them.
The key finding of the study was that “Industries that experience more interpersonal conflict and encounters with difficult people have higher depression prevalence.”
The industries in which depression was most prevalent were healthcare and social services with a rate of 11.5%. Over 43% of people in this industry reported having one bad mental health day in the previous month.
The good news in the study related to manufacturing workers, who suffer depression at a significantly lower rate than the average worker (8.9%).
More common complaints, however, were things like “Job earning less than is deserved” and “Work interfering with family” – factors which almost all industries reported as being prevalent. Again, healthcare and social services had the highest prevalence of dissatisfaction in the earning column with 48% claiming the don’t earn enough.
You can check out the data in full here.
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