Feeling anxious or depressed? Go to work, says Harvard psychologist: ‘Work has a protective effect on our mental health’

Feeling anxious or depressed? Go to work, says Harvard psychologist: ‘Work has a protective effect on our mental health’


Companies who don’t address employees’ mental health might be sabotaging themselves, a new study shows.

Adults with social anxiety and depression tend to work fewer hours, according to the recent study published in Psychiatric Research & Clinical Practice.

Researchers analyzed the data of 250 adults between ages 18 and 60 who were diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. During a 52-week period, they tracked how many hours each participant worked and recorded their anxiety and depression symptoms to see if their mental state could predict hours worked.

CEOs and employees both are negatively effected when poor mental health persists, says Natalie Datillo, a clinical psychologist and instructor at Harvard Medical School. Depression and anxiety are treated differently, but they both cause people to isolate, she says.

“What comes with avoidance is isolation and withdrawal and limiting our opportunity to have positively reinforcing experiences,” she says.  

Working can provide some safeguards that are often overlooked.

“Work has a protective effect on our mental health,” she says. “Overall working is good for us from a mental health standpoint. It provides structure for our life, it gives us something to do, it allows us an opportunity to interact with other people, not to mention it allows us to have an income.”

‘The less we do, the less likely we are to experience things that make us feel better’

A person who struggles with some anxious tendencies might find it challenging to go to work, give presentations, and interact with co-workers, but ultimately isn’t plagued by their decision to do so.

“For the most part we can pull it together and do it and feel better afterwards,” Datillo says. “With folks who struggle with an anxiety disorder they don’t feel better. They spend the rest of the day overthinking or ruminating or obsessing on how they did, what are other people thinking.”

If they are depressed, harsh self-criticism can kick-in, as well. This can cause them to leave early, call in sick, and self-isolate even more.

Ironically, the more they avoid work the more severe their anxiety and depression symptoms can become, Datillo says.

“The less we do and the more we avoid, the less likely we are to experience things that make us feel better,” she says.

By caring about their employees’ mental health, companies might actually be helping their bottom line.

Want to up your AI skills and be more productive? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Use AI to Be More Successful at Work. Expert instructors will teach you how to get started, practical uses, tips for effective prompt-writing, and mistakes to avoid. Sign up now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $67 (+ taxes and fees) through February 11, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

How we built a $2 billion mindfulness company



Source

SK Hynix shares hit multidecade highs, Samsung also surges as chipmakers partner with OpenAI
World

SK Hynix shares hit multidecade highs, Samsung also surges as chipmakers partner with OpenAI

Headquarters of Samsung in Mountain View, California, on October 28, 2018. Smith Collection/gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images Shares of South Korean chip heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix surged Thursday, a day after the two companies partnered with artificial-intelligence major OpenAI as part of the U.S. firm’s Stargate initiative. Shares of Samsung hit […]

Read More
Stock futures are little changed as investors look past government shutdown: Live updates
World

Stock futures are little changed as investors look past government shutdown: Live updates

A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 1, 2025. NYSE Stock futures are little changed Wednesday night after the S&P 500 logged a fresh high and investors appeared to shrug off concerns tied to the latest U.S. government shutdown. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20 points, or […]

Read More
Microsoft sales chief Althoff gets new role as CEO of company’s commercial business
World

Microsoft sales chief Althoff gets new role as CEO of company’s commercial business

President of Microsoft North America Judson Althoff speaks on stage during We Day at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, on April 23, 2015. Mat Hayward | Getty Images Microsoft‘s top-ranking sales leader, Judson Althoff, has been promoted to a bigger role as CEO of the company’s commercial business. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, wrote in a memo […]

Read More