Work as the first line of defense against depression

“You look like you need a vacation..” said John. David shrugged, “Yeah, I guess, haven't had one in a while huh?” as his eyes drifted into the distance and his mind contemplated when's the last time he truly felt at peace.

John had no idea that David is severely depressed and potentially even David wouldn't attribute the actual magnitude of the situation to depression in particular. These are obviously made-up characters and a fake situation, but it is not that far off from a daily reality for many people, not just colleagues as well.

At this point, everyone knows that taking breaks, be it in minutes, hours, days, or entire vacation weeks is beneficial to us, as long as we don't touch work during these breaks. There's been a plethora of studies on that. It is an obvious choice for burnout, stress, and perhaps other forms of negative workplace experiences.

But it shouldn't be the end-all-be-all, nor a disaster preventer. Because as much as you might be looking forward to getting a breath of new and exciting air, dipping your toes in some crystal clear azure waters, or stuffing your belly with delicious foreign cuisine, it might not help with whatever you're leaving behind, or in the worst case, running away from. And it might not help you to get rid of any underlying core issues.

What's going on?

The point of this article is not to bash vacations, sick days, or any other type of time break from work as they are indeed vitally important to have, but to look at ways in which companies and employees can improve their overall mental health and not rely only on vacation days.

Looking at some numbers (WHO) [1] – in the Netherlands, it is estimated that around 58% of work-related disabilities are related to mental health, similarly the UK reports that 30-40% of work absences can be attributed to some form of mental illness. Worldwide, it is estimated that around 15% of workers suffer from a diagnosed mental disorder, and depression and anxiety cut out about 12 billion working days every year, or about 1 trillion US$ in lost productivity.

Taking into account the undiscovered or undisclosed cases, these are almost alarming numbers, which are not improving overall year-over-year as more people are diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and other widely spread forms of mental disorders as well as the ones that are not yet put through a spotlight. This is the current reality.