Image via WikipediaYou finally find the job of your dreams, only to become more depressed than you were when you were unemployed. Granted, the big difference is that you now get a paycheck. The thing is, once you aren't worried about survival, job satisfaction can make a huge difference in how satisfied you are and how happy you are on an average day.
It's important to find the right job for you, rather than settling for any job you can get. There are few things worse than working at a job you really hate. One of them is being unable to pay your bills. Still, if you can hold out for the job you really want, your overall happiness will benefit.
There are some jobs that cause more depression than others. In fact, in a recent survey about job satisfaction, depression and happiness, there are a few job titles that have significantly higher rates of depression and some of them might surprise you.
At first, I thought that the most depressed people would be the ones who have to do menial jobs that are dirty or involved a great deal of hard work. However, the results surprised me.
Here are the 5 most depressing jobs:
Nursing home or Child care workers - These care providers top the list with 11 percent of people reporting major depression. This has a lot to do with providing care for people who aren't able to express gratitude. There is the stress of taking care of several adults or children and not a lot of positive reinforcement for the employees.
Food Service Workers - If you think about it, the waitstaff at your favorite restaurant probably have to deal with rude or angry customers in addition to receiving very low pay and working long hours. Food service workers have a very physical job and have many people telling them what to do each day. In this industry, 10 percent of workers have reported bouts of depression.
Social Workers - This one didn't surprise me much. Working with abused children and families in crisis is demanding and often filled with helplessness. The people who are drawn to this career field are often extremely caring but face a huge risk of becoming burned out within a couple of years.
Healthcare Workers - Doctors, nurses and others in the healthcare industry face high risks of depression as well. Because they face matters of life and death on a daily basis, they often work long hours and don't leave enough time to care for themselves. This causes burn out and depression along with the feeling that if they could just work harder, they could help more people.
Artists, performers and writers - These jobs are creative and can be inspiring, but they also have irregular hours and uncertain paychecks. Added to this, creative people are more likely to have mood disorders to begin with. Although not all artist are depressed, the natural tendency to intense emotion and the sporadic successes can make a great breeding ground for depression.
What other industries do you think suffer high rates of depression? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for HealthcareJobsiteBlog and Beyond.com.. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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