Why People Feel Depressed At Work And What To Do About It
I keep hearing the same thing from people in completely different roles and industries. They say they go to work, answer emails, go to meetings, and do what's expected. But underneath all of that, they feel something is off. They say things like, "I feel like I am existing, but I'm not really living." Or, "I used to care more, but now I just want the day to end." They're not necessarily depressed. But they're not fully engaged either. It's like something vital is missing, and they're too tired to go looking for it. You might think this is about quiet quitting or burnout. For some people, it probably is. But there's something else going on. I hear it from people in situations where you'd expect them to be excited, like when they have a new job or a flexible schedule. There's something deeper, and it feels like it's about how people see their place in the world and at work. Many describe it as feeling depressed at work, even when nothing specific has gone wrong.
Why Do I Feel Depressed At Work And Blah Even When I Should Feel Fine?
Why Do I Feel Depressed At Work And Blah Even When I Should Feel Fine?
There's a heaviness that a lot of people seem to be carrying into their workday. You might not even see it because they still hit deadlines and smile on Zoom. But if you ask them if they feel like they're doing meaningful work, they pause. Or they laugh in that way that people do when they don't know how to answer. I think a lot of people are just tired of pretending that things are fine. They're overwhelmed, overstimulated, and at the same time, incredibly bored. Everything seems urgent, but nothing really feels all that important. That kind of emotional contradiction drains people in ways that are hard to measure.
Is This A New Kind Of Burnout, Or Something Else Entirely, Making People Depressed At Work?
Is This A New Kind Of Burnout, Or Something Else Entirely, Making People Depressed At Work?
Burnout used to be about overwork. Now, it's often about emotional disconnection. You can be working fewer hours and still feel burned out if you've lost your sense of purpose. During the pandemic, a lot of people had time to reflect on what mattered. For some, that created positive change. But for others, it created awareness without a path forward. They saw what was missing but didn't know how to fix it.
I've had jobs where everything looked great on paper, with perks, promotions, and travel. But I dreaded Mondays. My skills were not well-aligned to my job responsibilities, and I wasn't challenged in a way that felt meaningful. I didn't feel like I could say that out loud without sounding ungrateful.
What's Fueling People Feeling Depressed At Work Beneath The Surface?
What's Fueling People Feeling Depressed At Work Beneath The Surface?
People tell me several things have caused them to feel depressed at work, including the following.
Where Do You Go When You're Depressed At Work And Just Drifting Through Your Days?
Where Do You Go When You're Depressed At Work And Just Drifting Through Your Days?
Where do you start when you feel like you're drifting? That feeling is a signal that something needs attention. It usually means there's a gap between what matters to you and what you're doing. That doesn't mean you need to make drastic changes overnight. But it might be time to ask questions you haven't asked in a while. When was the last time you felt excited about something at work? What small thing could you change this week that would make you feel more alive?
It always comes back to curiosity. When people lose it, they start going through the motions. When they find it again, they start asking better questions, having better conversations, and noticing opportunities they didn't see before. Then their energy starts to come back.
Technology can be part of the solution. Try asking ChatGPT or another tool to give you new ideas. Ask for projects, hobbies, or fun things to explore. You might be surprised at what you find.
How Can Leaders Help People Who Feel Depressed At Work Without Making It Worse?
How Can Leaders Help People Who Feel Depressed At Work Without Making It Worse?
At work, leaders can start by listening to people, not with a survey, but with real conversations. Don't ask employees how satisfied they are. Ask what they wish they could spend more time doing. Ask what would make them feel like their work matters again. And then listen without interrupting or trying to fix it right away.
The best leaders I've interviewed all had one thing in common. They didn't rush to solve everything. They made space for exploration. They knew that when people feel safe to be honest, they become more invested, more creative, and more motivated.
If someone on your team is just getting by, don't assume they're disengaged. Ask what they're missing. Ask what they're curious about. That shift in how you lead could change everything.
What Does It Take To Get Over Feeling Depressed At Work?
What Does It Take To Get Over Feeling Depressed At Work?
People want something real, something that connects to their values and gives their work meaning. You don't have to overhaul your entire life to find that again. But you do have to pay attention to what you've been ignoring. If something feels off, it probably is. That awareness might be the very thing that brings you back to life. If you've been feeling depressed at work, you're not alone. You're also not stuck.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Herd mentality: Goats deployed by some Colorado cities for better environmental results
Goats graze along the Colorado Riverfront Trail in Grand Junction in 2025. (Sharon Sullivan for Colorado Newsline) Pedestrians and bicyclists along the Colorado Riverfront Trail in Grand Junction may have noticed something out of the ordinary this spring. In some fenced-off sections near Blue Heron Lake, 700 goats are grazing on an array of invasive species such as tamarisk, Russian olive, kochia, and Russian knapweed. Grand Junction is using goats to combat noxious weeds to make more room for native plants like cottonwood trees and willows. At the same time, they are lowering the risk of wildfire in this hot, dry, high-desert landscape by reducing the vegetative fuel load. 'It can be hard to stop a fire where there's lots of vegetation,' said Rob Davis, Grand Junction forester and open space supervisor. 'If it gets going on a windy day, and there's lots of downed debris …with 9 inches of precipitation a year, and high summer temperatures, the fire risk is high. Using goats for grazing is an environmentally-friendly strategy to help us reduce fire risks and knock down some of our invasive weeds.' Plus, people out recreating enjoy seeing the goats, Davis added. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'There's that added benefit that people just like it,' he said. A goatherder watches over the goats and nudges them down the trail after they've sufficiently grazed a patch of dead or unwanted vegetation. Goats will typically leave the mature cottonwoods and willows alone. However, the city sometimes places a fence around young trees to keep the goats from munching on the saplings. On the Front Range in Boulder County, the town of Superior has brought in a herd of 300 goats to graze on its open spaces for both weed control and fire mitigation. The catastrophic Marshall Fire in 2021 destroyed more than 1,000 homes in the region. Superior first began using goats in 2019, as a sustainable method for vegetation management. After the Marshall Fire the town 'doubled down' on using goats for fire mitigation, said Leslie Clark, director of Superior's parks, recreation and open space. Superior evaluates its open space properties annually to prioritize where to graze the goats each summer and winter, Clark said. Properties are monitored to gauge results before and after grazing. 'Initial results look positive,' Clark said. 'People like the results. The goats reduce the vegetative fuel that contributes to wildfire risk. The goats leave the area looking natural. The city later reseeds the areas with native species to improve biodiversity and reduce the number of noxious weeds.' People like the results. The goats reduce the vegetative fuel that contributes to wildfire risk. The goats leave the area looking natural. – Leslie Clark, director of Superior's parks, recreation and open space Using goats for weed control and fire mitigation is not new. Lani Malmberg, owner of Colorado-based Goat Green, said she was the first company to offer this type of fire mitigation work 25 years ago. She and her goats have been featured in The New York Times, the L.A. Times, and other national publications. She now runs her Goat Green grazing business with her son Donny Benz and his fiancée. Malmberg, 68, said she conceived the idea of using goats decades ago while studying botany, biology and environmental restoration at then-Mesa State College in Grand Junction. She said she watched how knapweed took over a cornfield while working a summer job in Colorado. It occurred to her then, 'Someone ought to run a business to eat the problem,' Malmberg recalled. 'Now there are a lot of goat businesses' — and she has trained people at some of them. Lockheed Martin uses 1,200 of Malmberg's goats for fire mitigation at its facility in Littleton. Goat Green has done grazing projects for many Colorado cities in the past, including Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Castle Pines, Broomfield, Golden, Glenwood Springs and Carbondale. 'Over the past 30 years I have worked in all the Western states, doing fire mitigation in California, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Montana and Nebraska,' Malmberg said. When asked where her company is based, she replied, 'Under my hat — wherever I'm on contract.' 'Fire mitigation is a big deal. Open space (managers) are clamoring to get goats. People are jumping into it. It's an alternative to machinery and chemicals.' Superior pays for the goat service via grants from FEMA and Boulder County, with matching grants provided by the town of Superior. The program is funded from 2025 through 2027. Louisville has used goats to control noxious weeds for several years, said Nathaniel Goeckner, the city's natural resource supervisor. Louisville contracts with Goats on the Go, in Boulder County, to graze 200 goats on open space around Louisville. Depending on the vegetation, the city also uses cattle for fire mitigation work, Goeckner said. Its grazing program is paid for with grants from Boulder County and a city sales tax. Longmont also uses goats — though not for fire mitigation, said Jim Krick, ecosystem manager for Longmont's Parks and Natural Resources. The city has brought in goats since 2023 for weed control — targeting kochia in particular, where it competes with native plants. The goats are brought in just before the weeds form and spread their seeds, Krick said. Longmont typically grazes goats on an acre per year based on its budget. Grand Junction contracts with Ecological Grazing Service, owned by Jennifer Studt, who, along with her husband, raises goats and sheep on a ranch in nearby Loma. She hires a goatherder who stays with the goats the entire time, moving his small camper, and the goats, down the trail when an area is sufficiently grazed. Studt says goats do particularly well here because they have a more resilient stomach. They can eat poisonous plants like Russian knapweed, which is highly toxic to most animals — but not goats, she said. And, whereas Russian olive seeds pass through other animals' dung, which then gets repopulated elsewhere, in a goat's gut the seed won't survive, Studt said. Therefore, goats don't spread noxious weeds. Studt's goats began grazing along the riverfront May 23 and will finish eating their way along the trail by the end of this month. They'll return in late October, when other annual weeds begin to germinate. 'There are bucket loads of dead noxious weeds here,' Studt said. 'And while goats will eat live plants too, they really like the crunchy, dead material — a lot of other animals not so much. Goats like a lot of roughage in their diet. We're taking something noxious, poisonous to other animals and turn it into fertilizer which helps overall soil health — which helps the native plants come back.' Using goats to reduce fuel loads, and invasive plant species is a more environmentally friendly method than using chemicals, Davis said. The Grand Junction program is funded through the city's operating budget. Although using goats doesn't necessarily eliminate the use of herbicides, it reduces the amount of chemicals used in grazing areas, said Grand Junction spokesperson Kelsey Coleman in an email to Colorado Newsline. The town of Superior contracts with Goat Bros, which Clark said offers educational days when the public can meet the goats close up, and learn how goats improve the environment. 'It's an opportunity to get closer to the goats,' Clark said. 'We don't want people interacting with them, otherwise — they're working.' Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
News24
21 minutes ago
- News24
Not just for fun – TikTok tackles mental health and fuels SA's creator economy
Supplied Be among those who shape the future with knowledge. Uncover exclusive stories that captivate your mind and heart with our FREE 14-day subscription trial. Dive into a world of inspiration, learning, and empowerment. You can only trial once. Start your FREE trial now Show Comments ()
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
When my boyfriend and I blended our families and traditions, we realized we needed to form new traditions, too
When my boyfriend and I blended our families we made sure to honor past traditions. We soon realized that it was important for our new family to create our own traditions. New traditions like s'mores nights have helped bring our family together. The morning my boyfriend and I met for our first coffee date, we both knew there was something special between us. We spoke the language of grief, of solo parents, of young widows who'd lost their forever person to cancer. We understood the hurdles inherent in opening your heart after loss and the way heartache and hope coexist in a single breath. We understood the unspoken things, and when we made the choice, last year, to blend our families, we understood the challenge we were undertaking. With the goal of building a family of six out of our respective families of three — two adults and four children, ranging in age from 3 to 15 — we blended the things we can see including furniture, kitchenware, bedtime routines, schedules. We also blended the things we can't see such as rules, values, and most importantly, traditions. Some of the traditions were easy to blend. Our sushi Fridays merged with their pizza Fridays and became an alternating schedule of pizza and sushi. Our weeknights watching dramedies morphed into starting the night with a round of Netflix cartoons before bedtime for the littlest kids. Other traditions — the ones that involve extended family and grief and four children who had to learn resilience too early — were harder. There's no way to be two different places at once on Thanksgiving. There's no way to decorate a Christmas tree with ornaments that belonged to their person while lighting a menorah that belonged to ours without unsettling the grief we've learned to co-exist with. When it comes to those traditions, we've had to accept that there won't be a perfect blend, there won't be a seamless way to shape two traditions into one. We've had to realize that we won't get it right on the first try, or even the second, and we've had to compromise, communicate, and forge a way that works for all of us. It turns out, blending traditions isn't enough to build a family from the ground up. Because the heart and soul of any family lives, often, in their traditions. In the way they celebrate birthdays and special occasions. The way they spend their Saturday mornings and Sunday nights. The way they build a life in the little things that hold the most meaning. To truly build a family that was uniquely ours, we needed to build our own traditions. Ones that were new to all six of us. Our traditions were small to start: s'mores on Friday nights, Saturday afternoons on the basketball court, weeknights dropping onto the couch to watch Wheel of Fortune — and it's hard to tell if we're on the right track. Should we have developed more traditions by now or are we right to hope the traditions will come on their own with time? Are we hitting the right balance of old and new or are we tipping the scales too far in one direction? The truth is I don't know, and for our untraditional family, our crew of six which is so intimately acquainted with grief, the answers to those questions don't matter. For us, the only thing that matters is that whatever tradition we're honoring—old or new, blended or not, on track or way off the deep end—we do it with an open heart and an eye toward building a family. A family that's not mine or theirs, but ours. Read the original article on Business Insider
