HR workers more vulnerable to depression on average

The results of a new report that has just been issued show that those working in the HR industry are more vulnerable to depression, with close to half qualifying as clinically depressed.

That finding is taken from the HR Mental Wellbeing Report, which was carried out by the Ultimate Resilience training company and Towergate Employee Benefits. The purpose of the report was to find out how those working in the HR industry are faring in terms of mental health. What the results show is that 44% of them would qualify as depressed, based on the standard clinical symptoms.

Elsewhere, the report also uncovered high levels of burnout and anxiety among those working in HR. A total of 75% of those who took part said that they suffered from anxiety, while 38% met the clinical definition. By way of contrast, the figure for the general population is 23%.

When it comes to reasons for the above average levels of depression and anxiety, many HR professionals cited a lack of support within their organisations and a heavy workload. One option that companies could consider to reduce that burden is to hand over some aspects of the job to an outsourced HR consultancy.

Talking to HR Magazine, Georgina Kelly from Women in HR said:

“Organisations need to provide protected time for peer learning, include HR in wellbeing initiatives and offer leadership development support as they do for other functions.”

Matt Slavin, a clinical psychologist, added that the everyday demands of the job put those in HR at greater risk.