11 Best Jobs For Those Suffering From Depression
Readers,
Depression impacts EVERY area of our lives. Of course our occupation is included in this. Check out the Top 11 Jobs For Depression Sufferers here.
Do you work? What is your job title? How do you balance your work life with your mental health?
♡
I am a cashier at a busy local grocery store. I can't say that I balance my depression/anxiety well with my job. In fact, they seem to make it worse. On my days wherr I am most anxioud talking with customers and coworkers is hard. On days when I am depressed being in a upbeat mood or in a enviroment where everyone is always happy is really difficult. There are days where I just call off work alltogether to low or anxious to get out of bed. What makes it worse is my managers get irritated when people call off. One manager ignored me for calling off. For a few days too. I am still unhappy about that. My job causes a lot of anxiety too. It can get extremely busy, we are sometimes understaffed and the holidays are another topic alltogether. On top of this i'm introverted and I have people in my face all day long. I hate it. But I have no college degree and this type of job is all I can get right now.
@Lavenderfolly I am very sorry that people aren't more understanding of you and that you are going through this. If you need anyone to talk to, I'm always here :)
@Lavenderfolly
Hi dear! I have been in your exact same situation. I know how hard it is ( I hated it too. You described the situation and the feelings very well.
I wanted to tell you that you have the right to be however you want to be, or, however the depression makes you. You have the same right to live and work there as all the other people in there. You have the right to call in sick and NOT feel guilty for that. You have the right to be you.
Maybe try to make that job interesting for you. Also, be proud of whatever your accomplishments for the day have been. even if, the depression might make you think that you did nothing well enough, or that your coworkers are doing way better.
Another thing, depression will end one day, trust me, and then you'll be free to think and plan another career, or studies, or whatever you will want, or you will choose to do the job you are doing now and you will feel joy in doing it. For now, the depression might not be letting you feel joy, but you are doing a very good job just for getting out of bed. I've been there, i remember how hard it was.
Big hug for you. don-t loose hope. better days WILL come!
@blitheSun94
Thank you for sharing Sun! This was a very interesting read, and it had a couple of jobs I would have never thought of on the list. Like writer! All my writer friends seem to be stressed but the article did provide some insight on how it worked better than I thought for those with depression!
@JanahisHere
Actually, I thought Author made the most sense of them all since it allows you to work alone and be creative. Perspective is everything! Sales and marketing sounds incredibly stressful to me, but some people find it creative and satisfying as well. 😀
@blitheSun94
This is awesome Sun! I wish I could have read about this a lot earlier. It's definitely helpful, thank you for the share <3
@BlueButterfly
You're most welcome! It prompted me to change my professional direction as well. What did you find most helpful?
That's a pretty good list
@AkvileSava
Thank you for reading!
@blitheSun94
Lovely post, no dig at you of course but I couldn't help but find it amusing that the #1 university/college course for suicide rates is the best job for those with depression.
Would definitely recommend something along the lines of volunteering or working with animals, so long as you like them of course, as that's (having a furry friend) been proven to aid in beating depression.
@HakunaMatata2k
Oh, which one? No worries, I didn't write it- LOL.
Thanks for reading! I'm not a pet person myself so it's all relative.
@blitheSun94
Dentistry is meant to be pretty bad for that reason aha and it was #1 on their list but the reasons are all personal aha.
Yeah it's just about finding what makes you happy :)
@HakunaMatata2k
This is true.. even if this list is inaccurate, I think it's a great conversation piece. I believe there are some jobs out there that are better than others for those with mental health issues.
For example, I worked in mental health for 3 years because I was so impassioned by my own experiences with mental illness. Still, I hit the burnout wall pretty hard and suddenly caring for others took a real toll on my own health. Self-care is never so important as it is in the service industry. As I grew older, I found myself ready for a quiet little desk job so here I am making the switch. I guess it really all depends on each person, their depression, and the severity of their illness. Not all depression looks, feels, or sounds the same. What kind of work do you do?
@blitheSun94
I agree, it is a great conversation piece to get people thinking about the effect a career choice may have on them.
At the moment I work in the setup and collection of bouncy castles aha, can be a rewarding job when seeing how happy the children get but it is also a very tiring job. That job though at the moment is only serving as a source of income whilst I'm studying. After I finish this year at college I'm going to be moving onto university where I can take a clinical psychology course and hopefully work in a job along the lines of counselling, psychiatry etc. Until then I'm basically using 7Cups as my "practice".
I too became very interested in working in mental health care after dealing with my own mental health issues as well as when I was helping others in the meantime as the satisfaction I gained from hearing how grateful people were that I was there for them and just seeing how much their lives had turned around had such a positive impact on me. I do however have the fear of losing my passion for helping people, I feel like it would always be there but that I would just crash and burn and it could become almost routine for me at times.
Do you mind me asking what the 'quiet little desk job' is that you refer to? I've always wanted to help people, more so over the internet as my skills aren't transferred as well immediately and vocally as they are when I have time to sit back and form a response to something someone has just said as I am also quite shy, especially when dealing with something so important in someone's life.
Depression is very personal to the individual in reference to the experience the individual has with it along with how they deal with it.
P.S sorry for the late reply, I received a personal request whilst writing this message.
@HakunaMatata2k
No need for apology, that's the joy of the forums after all. Thank you for taking the time to formulate a thorough and thoughtful response. I think you vocalized a very important point about using your pain to serve others. For a long time it was the only way to alleviate my own anguish. Somehow, assigning my pain a function rationalized my suffering and therefore was not in vain. I too enjoy helping people, but there is a strong urgency for self-care in the field of Psychology.
As knowledgeable and loving and caring and compassionate as you could possibly be, you must know your limitations. So, I prefer to help people genuinely in my life, on 7 Cups, and through my work. That is, outside the clinical experience I grew accustomed to.
In reference to that desk job: I recently switched my major from Psychology to English with hopes of pursuing a career in Publishing. Put simply, I returned to my childhood dream that I feel is a more positive, creative, calm space that can be quite lucrative with half the schooling.
Thank you for all you do.
@blitheSun94
Being able to help other people through my own struggles was my silver lining too. Reassuring myself I had a purpose and that there was a reason for the suffering was definitely something that kept me going over the years.
Yes that is true and I feel that through 7Cups I'm beginning to learn my limitations in terms of caring for strangers. As rewarding as helping people online is I've always found helping people I know and already have a connection with much more satisfying and withstandable.
Hopefully, that childhood dream can be fulfilled in a way that a creative child could not have even of imagined :)
@HakunaMatata2k My job is on that list and it's really stressful if you have depression because if you fall behind it becomes very hard to catch back up again (computer programmer) and the deadlines are often unreasonable and stressful for someone who is working at 100% capacity.
@indigoFriend7982 Also I don't think non-programmers understand, that it requires a LOT of communication skill to do well. You have to communicate often times difficult things to clients, other programmers, etc. So if you have too many quiet days you are going to run into trouble.
@indigoFriend7982
I could definitely see that, as a non computer programmer it seems even more stressful as I understand nothing of it 😂 so I most certainly see how hard it could be having that job whilst having depression especially with stressful deadlines.
Hopefully there becomes a way where you can succeed in a job you love whilst not being pressured and stressed out by it.
Hmm, Electrical Engineer. Come to think of it, I don't think that someone with severe depression should be working with electricity, especially if the person is suicidal. It might become a source for them and bring harm to themselves and people around them.
Before I started working in a new position at work for the past week, I was on the Fulfillment Team. Helping with unloading the truck and stocking products on shelves (Walmart). There was this one time where I suddenly felt depressed. It was so bad that I couldn't sleep one night, and I knew that I was not in the state to be going to work either. Since I did not sleep that night, I had to get to work to speak with my Store Manager to ask for a 5 day Leave of Abscense personally. With no sleep, I did not trust myself to drive to work; I did not want to put myself in danger or be a danger to other drivers on the road. So, I walked to work instead. By car, it usually takes at least 15 minutes to get to work. My walking took 2.5 hours. As there was no sidewalk on a certain stretch of the highway, I had to take the inside residence streets instead.
I told my Manager that I needed the 5 day leave, because I believed I needed to take care of my mental health first. Fortunately, he approved my Leave and seemed to understand. Then, for those 5 days, I had completely lost my appetite to eat, only eating one meal a day or in bed at other times. (Didn't even wash up!) I was just tired all the time. I was only out of the house to help water our plants (parents were gone for a 10 day road trip with another couple). I went back to work after the 5 days, but I was still depressed. I didn't talk much with my coworkers, and spent breaks alone. It took me about another week or so to actually feel better. My appetite still isn't quite back to normal yet, and that was 3 weeks ago.
I guess you could say I tried to balance my work and my depression for that incident. Knowing that my mental health is more important than work. I knew that if I went to work, I wouldn't be as productive and chances of getting injured might increase too.
With my new position right now. I'm liking it so far. A great team of ladies that I work with. Time goes by quicker and I get a better sense of accomplishment after each shift. Althought it's an early morning shift (5am to 1:30pm), I feel more refreshed and energetic, compared to the previous hours I worked (3pm to 11pm). Also when I've finished my shift, I can be out doing other things. Not as tiring, not much lifting of heavy items, not as tired and exhausted after work. Plus, I can have lunch with my parents, have dinner at home, and not eating out all the time for my dinner, like before.
I still get stressed and anxious with this new position. But I'm trying my best to keep up with pace of others, and their expectations of me.
I thought about becoming a writer once. It was actually suggested by one of the Psychologists I've seen before. Because I get nightmares a lot when I was younger, and I remember each one very vividly and I write it down. That Psychologist was able to interpret what my nightmares actually meant. How that I was trying to figure things out or solve something subconsciously during those nightmares/dreams. She suggested I write a book on my nightmares with the interpretations that she will help me with. But, she only talked about it for a couple of sessions and it was forgotten. And my parents couldn't afford the pricey sessions on a weekly-basis anymore. So, I stopped seeing her after a few months. Otherwise, it would've been interesting to have written that book and have it published.
Thank you for your article, it was an interesting read. Just in my opinion, there are some jobs on there that I don't see why it will be a good choice for someone with depression~
I work in events. I hate it, it's the worst industry I've been in so far. I work for a set building company, and my job is to help us get the jobs in. Marketing and sales.
Event managers are some of the rudest, strictest, unfair and horrible people I have ever had the misfortune to meet, and when I have to actually manage the projects (which was not on the job description, and something that would put me off applying for this job) I spiral into depression and anxiety attacks.
On top of rude clients, the labour is physically hard work, lots of heavy lifting, moving things around, early morn is, late nights, it completely fucks up my diet and workout routine. I'm in a good mood when I don't have to go to the events.
I have no knowledge of set building; I only applied for the job because prior to this I was suicidal and unemployed. It was something. But the boss is one of the most short tempered men I have ever met, and doesn't want to offer any sort of training. I need to know how to do everything on my first go basically. I'm 23 and this is my first 9-5 job, and defitely my first job in events. I feel ill probably lose my job soon, despite no real indication of this. He's literally that temperamental.
If if you're depressed, I'd seriously it recommend looking to work in events. You will get eaten alive and no one will care. First hand experience.
