Work and depression: A meaning-making perspective

Abstract

Depression is a mood disorder that affects millions of people and is one of the most prevalent mental health problems worldwide. Biological, social, and psychological factors are associated with the emergence of this disorder. Among social factors, work is an area of particular importance. Depression is one of the leading causes of time off work and performance problems. Work can also trigger depression. This paper explores the potential connection between work and depression. Specifically, it analyzes the relationship between the processes of signification at work, understood as composed of senses and meanings, and depressive symptoms. The main thesis underlying this paper is that impediments and blockages in the meaning-making process may play a role in the emergence of depressive symptoms, as they affect the psychological function of work. This function consists of the possibility for workers to build meaningful experiences of transformation of themselves and their material and social reality. When individuals are prevented from developing such experiences, human action becomes disconnected from its sense for the person. As such, depression emerges as a pathology of action and meaning-making capabilities, a state of emptying and abandonment of the power to act against external resistance, enabling people to transform themselves through work.