5 Jobs With the Worst Cases Of Depression

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You 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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• Can Depression Be a Symptom of ADHD? (healthcarejobsiteblog.com)

How To Tell If Your Job Needs Some Changing

We have all been there, working a job that seems like a dead end. Sitting at your desk and thinking that if you have to listen to your co-worker laugh one more time you are going to shove a number two pencil right through your eyeball. It is so common, in fact, that whole movies have been made about just this situation.

But this is real life, not Hollywood, and the only happy endings are the ones we make ourselves. And, while it is easy to think of using a line like “take this job and shove it”, in this economy, things aren't as simple as just up and quitting your job when you don't have another one already in the bag. But sometimes, you feel as if you have no choice but to leave. So, how can you make the decision?

Before you decide to throw in the towel, it is important to find out if there are ways you can fix the problems and turn you job into something that is more fulfilling. So here are some ways to tell if your job is in need of some changes:

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  You have to force yourself to go to work – When you wake up on work days and feel miserable, forcing yourself to get ready. This often causes you to think of reasons and excuses for being late or calling in, making your performance suffer. If this sounds familiar, maybe you could look for other positions in the company, or other responsibilities you could take on that would give you a challenge or make you more excited about your job.
  
  
  
  


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  You stop putting energy into your job – If this is really how you feel, try to find out why you dislike it so much. By figuring out why, you can raise the chances of finding a job that doesn't make you miserable or see how you can change your job to make the situation better.
  
  
  
  


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  You spend your breaks and off-work time complaining about your job – This is a bad habit to get into. If you find yourself doing this, make a big effort to force yourself to stop. Negativity breeds more negativity. So, even if things get better, you won't feel better because you are in the habit of complaining about it. Force yourself to talk about the positive things about your job. When you start focusing on looking for the good things, it may help you feel better about the work you do.
  
  
  
  


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  Your boss hates you – This one is a tough one, but it happens to people all the time. When you feel that your boss hates you and is always looking for reasons to make your job harder, it is difficult to know what to do. In this situation, your only options are to look for a way to transfer to another department or quit.
  
  
  
  


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  You're making the same money as when you started, several years ago – It might be time for you to write out your accomplishments and ask for a raise. However, if you have been unhappy for a long time, it is certain that your work morale and performance have been affected. So, before you ask for the raise, you might want to try to be more positive and take on more work for a little while. Then you will be in a better position to make a case for how valuable you are to the company.

When you feel stuck in a job, it can really kill your enthusiasm and your motivation. Not only that, but it can cause a tremendous amount of stress on your home life too. So, it is important to find ways to make your job more challenging or start looking for a better job. But, if you can manage to stick it out until you have the new job, it will make your life a whole lot easier.

Are you looking for a job in Healthcare? Be sure to visit Healthcarejobsite.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, 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.