Making friends at work when you have depression is important because social support is an integral part of a healthy life. Even the most introverted among us need friends. Depression inherently affects the way we interact with others. Feelings of loneliness are a common sign of depression and the symptoms of depression often result in the desire to isolate yourself, which only further compounds the feeling of being alone. It can feel impossible to reach out when you're depressed, but if you can establish a healthy support network, you have a lifeline during moments when it feels like depression is encompassing your whole world. This is particularly beneficial at work, where you spend most of your time. This is why it’s in your best interest to try to make friends at work, even with depression.

Letting go of perfectionism can be difficult, but it's important because perfectionism is a nightmare. It makes it impossible to be satisfied with your accomplishments (or to accomplish anything at all) because it will never be good enough. I used to have a terrible problem with perfectionism. I would have these great ideas but never follow through with them because I couldn’t execute them perfectly. This perfectionist paralysis held me back from a lot of success, especially in the workplace. Now I have come to accept the philosophy, “Done is better than perfect.” You have to let go of the idea that perfection is attainable. However, that is easier said than done, especially for someone with depression.

Being self-employed presents a number of challenges. If you compound being self-employed with having a mental illness, it can be a very difficult dynamic. However, the dynamic may work better than a traditional employment situation for someone living with depression.

Many individuals that live with major depressive disorder decide to pursue a career despite their sometimes debilitating illness. If you are interested in working, you should consider several things regarding your choice in employment. In order to increase the likelihood of success, it is imperative that you choose a job that best suits you and how your depression manifests.

Like many average people that we share the world with, people living with depression have good days and bad days. However, when you have depression, your bad brain day can turn into bad brain days, weeks, months, etc. Depending on the nature of your depression and depressive episodes (frequency, severity and length), it can sometimes feel impossible to manage your life in any area, much less a job. 

As of June of 2014, there were over 21 million living veterans in the United States according to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. This figure, considering the population of the United States, certainly makes the occupation significant. The dynamics of war, and the soldiers that fight them, have some parallels to the dynamics of living with chronic mental illness while trying to manage a vocation.

More tips on keeping a job when you have depression? Yes. More. In the last article, I shared five tips for how to maintain a job with depression. Most of those tips centered around physiological wellness enhance performance on the job. This article will delve into five additional things you can do to keep a job when you have depression.

Have you ever experienced the joy of being offered an employment opportunity? We may make the statement, "I got the job!" with a happy tone and then say it again with an anxious tone. Why? Because we landed the job, but will we be able to maintain it? We know that depression can prevent people from functioning well enough to meet work demands. But take a look at these tips to maintain a job with depression to see how you can keep that employment.

I was on the radio recently as a guest of Dr. Stan Frager on WGTK, and he asked about depression or bipolar disorder disclosure to an employer. Although many people think they are familiar with bipolar disorder these days due to the attention it has received in the media, by and large they have the wrong idea about it. Mental health stigma on the news and in the media show mental illness to be something it usually is not. So my answer to whether you should disclose bipolar disorder to your employer has to be...

Let's talk about calendars. We all have calendars of one form or another and some of us actually use them. I use multiple paper calendars. One is set aside for my doctor, therapy and other health-related appointments. The second is for work and work-related schedule. My third is for personal, family, birthdays and vacation time. Although it may sound overly complicated, dividing up appointments, etc. into various categories allows me to quickly look in a specific place for a particular type of event.