<div>Depression has always been that dark dirty secret you suffered in silence. Today’s workplace is impatient of anyone “dropping the ball”, let alone allowing depression to cause a dip in performance. But the consequence of making depression taboo has been brought home forcefully with the suicide of the Germanwings pilot who crashed the aircraft along with 149 passengers. Back home in India, actress Deepika Padukone brought the forbidden topic to the table with a courageous open interview on television. Dr Alok Sarin, Consultant Psychiatrist at New Delhi’s Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research speaks to Mala Bhargava about why it’s important to talk about this loneliest of diseases even at work.<br /><br /><strong>Apart from a drastic and unusual situation such as happened with the Germanwings pilot, is depression really an issue at the workplace?</strong><br />People spend a large part of their lives at their workplace. About one in four people are likely to suffer from depression at some time. If depression is not recognised or acknowledged, certainly it can impact functioning and the feeling of well-being at work. It’s unlikely that a person who suffers from depression is working at his or her full potential. The impact may not be obvious, but it’s there.<br /><br /><strong>If it isn’t obvious, how does one recognise depression at work?</strong><br />The way that you would recognise it anywhere else. You need to step out of the employer-employee paradigm and look at the person with the fellow human lens. There will be changes in behavioural patterns which could directly relate to work, or changes that show up in socialising in the workplace. A person could be actively avoiding company, participating less in activities, saying the minimum possible at meetings, and of course looking sad. It’s the same things you would notice in a friend or a family member — this isn’t specific to a workplace. <br /> </div><table width="200" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5" border="2" align="right"><tbody><tr><td><img width="200" height="200" alt="" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=05f4776f-3fb6-4dcc-9854-d719ab8c4969&groupId=222861&t=1429016208609" /></td></tr><tr><td>Dr Alok Sarin</td></tr></tbody></table><div><strong>Since people at the workplace are not trained to recognise depression, isn’t there the danger that they will only see dropped performance?</strong><br />The same would be true of a parent, a child or a spouse. It’s important for all people to be sensitive to the possibility of someone having a depressive illness or disorder and be sympathetic to the fact, whether it’s a colleague or family member. Both for the good of the individual and the micro unit, whether that’s the family or the office or a team, it is important to understand that while all sadness may not be depression, it can often be a disorder for which sympathetic and thoughtful intervention needs to be planned.<br /><br /><strong>Would you say then that people in organisations need to know more about depression?</strong><br />People in the world certainly need to know more about depression. It is important in organisations that those in supervisory positions and in HR be aware of the possibility of depression and consider it when evaluating performance. They need to make sure that they have a plan to help those who need it. And this is not just for depression but other problems as well, both mental and physical.<br /><br /><strong>How would you say organisations should become informed about depression? </strong><br />It is important for them to be part of public discourse on this and not shy away from a problem that is obviously so common. In fact, if you a’re an organisation — whether an educational institute or a company — where a large number of people collect and spend their time, then the sensitive handling and care of each and every member of your micro community is your responsibility. <br /><br />There are people who talk to companies about stress management and so on, but while not wanting to medicalise the issue, depression beyond day-to-day stress also needs to be talked about. While talking about time management and productivity, it must be kept in mind that some people — a very few people — might need a little more intervention, even if it’s psychotherapeutic or pharmacological. <br /><br /><strong>People have become particularly spooked after the incident of the Germanwings air crash. Do you think they’ll just be wary of depression now?</strong><br />It would be most unfortunate to demonise anyone with depression because of these atypical incidents. One doesn’t really know the reasons for the pilot’s actions. Just because a person is suffering from depression doesn’t mean that everything he or she does is stemming from that. Bringing it down to just mental illness, in fact, would be a very limited and limiting perspective. And we should certainly not start to think of depression as dangerous in this way or as inevitably leading to catastrophic consequences. That would be a real pity. The more you demonise, the more you stigmatise. <br /><br /><strong>In fact isn’t there enough stigma causing people not to report or come out in the open with depression?</strong><br />Yes, there is and that’s unfortunate. People believe that they will be discriminated against. For instance in the army, they may be denied promotion or moved to other work categories, and so they keep the problem hidden. In the services in fact, people will seek help outside rather than from services doctors because they are so worried about it being known.<br /><strong><br />Isn’t depression dangerous for some jobs that need intense alertness and concentration. Also do drugs not interfere with some jobs causing sleepiness or blurred vision?</strong><br />Yes, it is possible and that’s where proper handling is required. Many solutions are available, if explored. Such as moving a person to another kind of work, either temporarily or permanently, or increasing the level of supervision, dealing with the person more sensitively, and so on. Pure avoidance isn’t the answer and nor can you — or should you —keep people with depression out of the workforce. <br /><br />(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 04-05-2015)</div>
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
