Workers' Depression: 21 Fields Ranked

Depression may be more common in some fields than
others.

New research shows that people who work in personal care and services --
such as child care workers or hairdressers -- are more likely to report
depression than engineers and architects.

So says the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA).

Some 67,500 adults aged 18-64 participated in annual SAMHSA surveys from
2004 to 2006. They reported their job status and whether they had been
depressed for at least two weeks in the last year.

Overall, 8.6% of participants had been depressed in the past year. They
include:

• 7% of full-time workers


•  9.3% of part-time workers


• 12.7% of unemployed people


• 12.7% of retirees, homemakers, disabled people, and others not in the paid
  workforce

Depressed Workers

Depression was most commonly reported by personal care and service workers
and least commonly reported by engineers, architects, and surveyors.

Depressed full-time workers tended to be young (18-25). Depression was more
commonly reported by women than men.

Here are the percentages of full-time workers in each field who reported
being depressed in the past year. Fields with the same percentage of depressed
full-time workers are ranked together.

1. Personal care and service: 10.8%


2. Food preparation and serving: 10.3%


3. Community/social services and health care: 9.6%


4. Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media: 9.1%


5. Education, training, and library: 8.7%


6. Office and administrative support: 8.1%


7. Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance: 7.3%


8. Financial and sales: 6.7%


9. Legal and transportation: 6.4%


10. Mathematical and computer scientists: 6.2%


11. Production: 5.9%


12. Management: 5.8%


13. Farming, fishing, and forestry: 5.6%


14. Protective service (includes police and firefighters): 5.5%


15. Construction: 4.8%


16. Installation, maintenance, repair, sciences: 4.4%


17. Engineering, architecture, and surveyors: 4.3%

Depression Symptoms

Depression is common and treatable. The first steps are recognizing the
signs and seeking help.

People with major depression may experience five or more of the following depression
symptoms for at least two weeks:

• Persistent sadness, pessimism


• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, or hopelessness


• Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities, including sex


• Difficulty concentrating and complaints of poor memory


• Worsening of coexisting chronic disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis or
  diabetes


• Insomnia or oversleeping


• Weight gain or loss


• Fatigue, lack of energy


• Anxiety, agitation, irritability


• Thoughts of suicide or death


• Slow speech; slow movements


• Headache, stomachache, and digestive problems

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
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