12 Workplace Depression Busters

In his classic, "The Prophet," Kahlil Gibran writes: "Always you have been told that work is a curse... But I say to you that when you work you fulfill a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born."

Unfortunately Kahlil's words don't jibe with a new Australian study that found almost one in six cases of depression among working people caused by job stress, that nearly one in five (17 percent) working women suffering from depression attribute their condition to job stress and more than one in eight (13 percent) working men do the same. In the last decade, the number of American workers that say job stress is a major problem in their lives has doubled. In fact, the US Department of Health reported that 70 percent of physical and mental complaints at work are related to stress.

What do we do? Bring our Kleenex to work and hope we don't get caught crying, or give our notice with no other job in reach? Thankfully, we have a few steps between these two extremes. Here are 12 techniques that have helped me manage the workplace blues.

Don't Quit Yet
Let me just say this first. Chances are higher that you will feel worse if you quit than if you keep on showing up to a job that you hate. Why? If you're not working, you will have even more time to think about how much you hated your job. On top of the acute anxiety you feel when you think about how you are going to pay off your next phone, electric, and mortgage bill without the regular paycheck being deposited automatically into your bank account. And then there's the isolation of having no one to talk to during the day, because... one small detail... everyone else you know is probably working. So just sit tight until you read through, say, ten of these tips before you gladly give your notice, okay?

Learn Some Calming Techniques
You know what's cool about most relaxation techniques? You can do them while you are listening to your boss give you your next assignment. Let's say, as he is telling you that he hired a nice woman half your age that you now report to, that you suddenly feel lots of tight pressure in your shoulders--naturally, because you have the desire to slug him. You relax your shoulders in a way that relieves some of that tension and tells your body that slugging him isn't an option (right now, anyway).

Then, as you walk back to your desk, where the kid right out of college hands you five assignments due by the end of the day, you can take ten deep breaths: counting to four as you inhale and to four again as you exhale. If you are allowed to listen to music or white noise at work (or if you work from your home, as I do), you might want to invest in a CD of ocean waves. Whenever I listen to mine, I take a few seconds to visualize myself on the sandy beach of Siesta Key, Florida, hunting for sea shells, a short moment to catch my sanity.

Turn Your Things Off
I'm not talking about your sex drive, although if you're depressed, chances are that that's off, too. I mean your BlackBerry or iPhone, or at least the "ding" noise alerting you to every new ("URGENT!") e-mail that you don't think drives you crazy but does. Trust me. When you turn it off for an afternoon, a day—or even commit to a weekend without it!--you will see that it is responsible for a sizable chunk of your madness.

It's ironic that very technological advances that were supposed to free us end up imprisoning us to our work, argues integrative doctor Roberta Lee in her astute book The Superstress Solution. In her introduction, she cites a recent survey commissioned by Support.com: 40 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds said they couldn't cope without their cell phone, yet the same students reported less stress and had lower heart rates and blood pressure when they stopped using them for three days.

You need not join the monastery. Just try turning the thing off for a few evenings and see how you feel.

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