30 The Courier sun • wellness • FEBRUARY 18, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com WELLNESS s Could depression be affecting your job? Did you know that one in 10 people struggle with depression? Depression can consist of a range of symptoms and it can also impact every aspect of a person’s life including social, family, personal and work/school life. Depression affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act, and affects people during their prime working years. One area people tend to ignore is the impact depression can have on their work life. Depression is evident at work through absenteeism (days away from work), and presenteeism (being at work, but not engaged/productive). Workers with depression report an extra 1.6 days absent from work each month compared to healthy colleagues. “Individuals with depression sometimes aren’t aware they have the illness,” says Clare Miller, director of the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health. “We spend a lot of time at work, so it’s an important place to share information on depression and to encourage people to access resources and tools that can help to get them healthy.” Despite advances in treatments, only one-third of people with diagnosable mental health conditions seek care. Many people who struggle with depression may go untreated because they fear retribution or loss of their job if they report their problems. Depression has a variety of symptoms, but the most common are a deep feeling of sadness or a marked loss of interest or pleasure in activities. Other symptoms include: • Changes in appetite that result in weight losses or gains unrelated to dieting • Insomnia or oversleeping • Loss of energy or increased fatigue • Restlessness or irritability • Feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt • Difficulty thinking, concentrating, or making decisions • Thoughts of death or suicide or attempts at suicide Depression does not have to throw your work life or your career off track. If you are concerned that depression is impacting your performance at work and feel like you have experienced any of these signs, it is important to seek help because depression is treatable. In fact, more than 80 percent of those who seek treatment show improvement. The most commonly used treatments are antidepressant medications, psychotherapy or a combination of the two. For more info, visit www. RightDirectionForMe.com. The website offers educational information on common symptoms of depression, a screening tool for depression that can be shared with a health provider, resources for how to discuss this with family and additional resources outside the workplace to access for help. Courtesy BPT New moms guide to going back to work Going back to work for new moms can be challenging. Learning to balance work and family while facing many new stressors can be overwhelming. Jill Smokler, author of the New York Times bestselling book “Confessions of a Scary Mommy” and “Motherhood Comes Naturally (and Other Vicious Lies),” shares tips and tricks on how new moms can acclimate back into to the working world. • Plan ahead: After working a full day and driving to daycare to pick up your baby, the last thing you’re going to feel like doing is cooking dinner. My advice is to embrace the wonder of the crockpot by letting the machine fill your home with the scent of a freshly cooked meal while you’re miles away at work. Another time-saving tip is to lay out all your clothes for the week on Sunday to avoid that moment of tearing apart your closet when you should already be in the car. Also, always charge your cellphone overnight. Another important plan to have in place is your new baby’s feeding plan. According to a survey conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Perrigo Nutritionals, 42 percent of moms returning to work are stressed about how they will feed their baby. Some moms find that substituting or supplementing breast milk with infant formula can make the transition into a working mom much easier. If you decide to choose that route, be smart about it. In the case of baby formula, skimping on price does not mean skimping on quality. The FDA strictly regulates infant formula to keep babies safe. Moms can rest assured knowing that store brand formulas, like Walmart’s Parent’s Choice Infant Formula, have to meet strict FDA guidelines and regulations. Additionally, when switching to store brand formulas, families can save up to $600 a year, according to Perrigo Nutritionals. • Celebrate the benefits: No, not the dental and vision plans, silly - the benefits you’ve been missing the last few months: Having a conversation that doesn’t revolve around the consistency or color of poop, being able to go to an actual restaurant over your lunch break, writing TGIF as your Facebook status update and appreciating that you know what day it is. • Reacquaint yourself with adult conversation before you head back to work: After months alone with a newborn, it’s natural to forget how to interact with adults on a daily basis. Practice conversing with adults other than your spouse a few weeks prior to your return to work. Keep in mind not everyone can read your mind or understand that irrational screaming simply means you’re craving a hug. • Go shopping: Chances are you won’t be fitting perfectly into your pre-pregnancy wardrobe by the time you head back to work, leaving you with two choices: 1. Rock the maternity outfits your coworkers saw you in all those months ago or 2. Wear your mom uniform of stained, black yoga pants and an oversized shirt to the office. However, there is a third choice and that is to go shopping. Getting new clothes that actually fit will do wonders for your self-esteem. Just be sure to check your shoulders before you leave the house, as spit up can be more prominent on a black business suit than a ratty old T-shirt.` • Give yourself a break: Whether you’re missing your baby, not missing your baby or missing one of your baby’s milestones, allow yourself to have an outburst every now and then. Just remember to pick yourself up and get back to work. Feeling guilty is a useless emotion that isn’t going to help you focus on your job or get you home sooner to cuddle that baby of yours. Best of luck, fellow mom. You can do it. Courtesy BPT
SC02182016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above