Depression in the Workplace

Depression is a major personal issue for anyone who experiences it—but for many people, it’s also a problem in the workplace. It’s estimated that 15 to 20 percent of the workforce suffers from depression or depression related illnesses and costs our economy $44 billion each year in lost productivity. Most of that cost is in “presenteeism,” when employees show up for work but, because they are suffering from a depressive disorder, are unable to function. Such people may miss deadlines or meetings, fail to return phone calls or emails, or produce poor quality or low-volume work. In such cases, treatment can return these people to good health and to a productive work life.

Our program provides service, training, and research, primarily focused on depression in the workplace, but also on other illnesses, such as anxiety, psychosis, substance use disorders, and psychiatric effects of injuries (“accidents”). We seek to help people toward early diagnosis, effective treatment, preventing the illness from recurring and from getting worse over time, and fighting stigma and increasing awareness of these problems.

We believe that the term “impairment” is a better description of the problem of workplace depression than “disability.” It is the illness that is blocking the person from productivity, and with proper treatment, the ability to work effectively will return.

What We Do

We believe:

Work is therapeutic.

Getting to problems early will help resolve them.

A person should keep working if at all possible – consulting with the family doctor is often helpful.

Don’t let disability become a fixation. Try to make it a short time. Chronic dependence may occur and self-esteem goes down. In the worst case, the person may never return to work.

Disability/impairment problems should be considered separately from therapy.

We offer workplace consultations to employers and employees, and can help evaluate an employee’s condition with regard to impairment and the possibility of disability or accommodation through the ADA. Other clients may include insurance companies, judges, attorneys, doctors, and other health care professionals. Evaluations seek to answer these questions:

Can the person return to work?
Does she or he need to be placed off work? Or stay at work?
Is there a crisis whereby short-term psychotherapy needs to be undertaken?
Does malingering play a part?
Can violence be predicted using specific risk factors?

Initially, we do a confidential clinical interview with the employee. We may also occasionally administer psychological tests. Based on these, we make a diagnosis and establish a treatment plan. We always include the concepts of responsibility and accountability in our consideration of the situation.

Philip M. Margolis, M.D. works with psychiatric residents, as well as social workers, psychologists, nurses, and other students from a variety of disciplines. Our work is an ideal collaborative interdisciplinary endeavor. Depression in the workplace is also part of the Department of Psychiatry Forensic Program.