What Occupation Has Highest Depression Rates?
Provided by: Associated PressWritten by: Kevin Freking, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oct. 13, 2007
WASHINGTON - People who tend to the elderly, change diapers and serve up food and drinks have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers.
Overall, seven per cent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year, according to a government report available Saturday.
Women were more likely than men to have had a major bout of depression, and younger workers had higher rates of depression than their older colleagues.
Almost 11 per cent of personal care workers - which includes child care and helping the elderly and severely disabled with their daily needs - reported depression lasting two weeks or longer.
During such episodes there is loss of interest and pleasure, and at least four other symptoms surface, including problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration and self-image.
Workers who prepare and serve food - cooks, bartenders, waiters and waitresses - had the second highest rate of depression among full-time employees at 10.3 per cent.
In a tie for third were health care workers and social workers at 9.6 per cent.
The lowest rate of depression, 4.3 per cent, occurred in the job category that covers engineers, architects and surveyors.
Government officials tracked depression within 21 major occupational categories. They combined data from 2004 through 2006 to estimate episodes of depression within the past year. That information came from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which registers lifetime and past-year depression bouts.
Depression leads to $30 billion to $44 billion in lost productivity annually, said the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The report was available Saturday on the agency's website at http://oas.samhsa.gov/
The various job categories tracked could be quite broad, with employees grouped in the same category seemingly having little in common.
For example, one category included workers in the arts, media, entertainment and sports. In the personal care category, a worker caring for toddlers at a daycare centre would have quite a different job from a nursing aide who helps an older person live at home rather than in a nursing home.
Just working full-time would appear to be beneficial in preventing depression. The overall rate of depression for full-time workers, seven per cent, compares with the 12.7 per cent rate registered by those who are unemployed.
The percentage of full-time workers age 18 to 64 reporting depression lasting two weeks or longer, by categories of occupation, as provided by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health using 2004 through 2006 data:
-Personal care and service: 10.8
-Food preparation and serving related: 10.3
-Community and social services: 9.6
-Health care practitioners and technical: 9.6
-Arts, design, entertainment, sports and media: 9.1
-Education, training and library: 8.7
-Office and administrative support: 8.1
-Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance: 7.3
-Financial: 6.7
-Sales and related: 6.7
-Legal: 6.4
-Transportation and material moving: 6.4
-Mathematical and computer scientists: 6.2
-Production: 5.9
-Management: 5.8
-Farming, fishing and forestry: 5.6
-Protective service: 5.5
-Construction and extraction: 4.8
-Installation, maintenance and repair: 4.4
-Life, physical and social science: 4.4
-Engineering, architecture and surveyors: 4.3
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
WASHINGTON - People who tend to the elderly, change diapers and serve up food and drinks have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers.
Overall, seven per cent of full-time workers battled depression in the past year, according to a government report available Saturday.
Women were more likely than men to have had a major bout of depression, and younger workers had higher rates of depression than their older colleagues.
Almost 11 per cent of personal care workers - which includes child care and helping the elderly and severely disabled with their daily needs - reported depression lasting two weeks or longer.
During such episodes there is loss of interest and pleasure, and at least four other symptoms surface, including problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration and self-image.
Workers who prepare and serve food - cooks, bartenders, waiters and waitresses - had the second highest rate of depression among full-time employees at 10.3 per cent.
In a tie for third were health care workers and social workers at 9.6 per cent.
The lowest rate of depression, 4.3 per cent, occurred in the job category that covers engineers, architects and surveyors.
Government officials tracked depression within 21 major occupational categories. They combined data from 2004 through 2006 to estimate episodes of depression within the past year. That information came from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which registers lifetime and past-year depression bouts.
Depression leads to $30 billion to $44 billion in lost productivity annually, said the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The report was available Saturday on the agency's website at http://oas.samhsa.gov/
The various job categories tracked could be quite broad, with employees grouped in the same category seemingly having little in common.
For example, one category included workers in the arts, media, entertainment and sports. In the personal care category, a worker caring for toddlers at a daycare centre would have quite a different job from a nursing aide who helps an older person live at home rather than in a nursing home.
Just working full-time would appear to be beneficial in preventing depression. The overall rate of depression for full-time workers, seven per cent, compares with the 12.7 per cent rate registered by those who are unemployed.
The percentage of full-time workers age 18 to 64 reporting depression lasting two weeks or longer, by categories of occupation, as provided by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health using 2004 through 2006 data:
-Personal care and service: 10.8
-Food preparation and serving related: 10.3
-Community and social services: 9.6
-Health care practitioners and technical: 9.6
-Arts, design, entertainment, sports and media: 9.1
-Education, training and library: 8.7
-Office and administrative support: 8.1
-Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance: 7.3
-Financial: 6.7
-Sales and related: 6.7
-Legal: 6.4
-Transportation and material moving: 6.4
-Mathematical and computer scientists: 6.2
-Production: 5.9
-Management: 5.8
-Farming, fishing and forestry: 5.6
-Protective service: 5.5
-Construction and extraction: 4.8
-Installation, maintenance and repair: 4.4
-Life, physical and social science: 4.4
-Engineering, architecture and surveyors: 4.3
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
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