Dear sailguy-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer another one of your
interesting questions as I have done in the past.
QUESTION: “Are there any studies of depression in the workplace and
its effects
on cost, productivity, morale, etc?”
With the ever-increasing interest in the areas of metal health,
workplace discrimination against disabled persons (The ADA considers
diagnosed depression a disability -
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/skills/disability/papers/usapart1/usapart111.htm
), rising costs and violence in the workplace there are actually more
studies on the topic of depression and its impact on a variety of
sectors in our society that you probably imagined. I have found a
number of credible articles and reports for you related to the impacts
that depression has on the workplace and I have assembled them here
(along with sample quotes) for your perusal:
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
“Costs of workplace stress are rising, with depression increasingly
common”
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2000/37.htm
(I found this to be a wonderfully informative study that actually
answers several of your questions)
"Employees suffer from low morale, burnout, anxiety, stress, lost
income and even unemployment associated in some cases with the
inevitable stigma attached to mental illness. For employers, the costs
are felt in terms of low productivity, reduced profits, high rates of
staff turnover and increased costs of recruiting and training
replacement staff. For governments, the costs include health care
costs and insurance payments as well the loss of income at the
national level."
YALE UNIVERSITY
“Impact of depression in the workplace examined in new study by Yale
researchers”
http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/01-05-01-01.all.html
"The findings suggest that depression has a substantial and persistent
association with decreased workplace productivity, an impact that may
be underestimated when looking only at days missed from work," -
Benjamin Druss, M.D., lead author on the study and assistant professor
of psychiatry and in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
at Yale School of Medicine.
MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
“Depression and the Workplace: A Costly, Unnecessary Drain on
Productivity, by Andrew W. Kane, Ph.D.”
http://www.mhamilw.org/Workplace/0102.htm
“A 1999 survey of human resource managers found that 80% of workplaces
surveyed showed evidence of lowered productivity and increased
expenses as a result of depression among the workforce. The total cost
of depression on the national economy was Estimated at $44 billion per
year, largely due to absenteeism and decreased productivity. A 2001
study placed the cost at $70 billion.”
PSYCPORT
“Experts: Depression Taking Toll at Work”
http://www.psycport.com/news/2001/01/07/eng-bostonherald_local/eng-bostonherald_local_063605_14_1357838106342.html
“According to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, depression cost the
U.S. economy $44 billion in 1990, including $12.4 billion in treatment
costs, $11.7 billion in absenteeism, $12.1 billion in lost
productivity and $7.5 billion in wages lost due to suicide. The total
figure is believed to have doubled in 2000.”
As you can clearly see, depression has a tremendous impact on the
workplace in all areas of the workplace including productivity,
morale, and cost. Its effects are felt well beyond the corporate and
industrial sector because when these entities suffer, so suffers our
economy as a whole.
QUESTION: “Is there a link between abandoned/botched initiatives and
programs to depression (anger, fear (especially), etc)by team members
or leaders?”
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
“EMPLOYEE CYNICISM DOESN'T COME FROM JUST A FEW "BAD APPLES"
http://www.acs.ohio-state.edu/units/research/archive/cynics.htm
(Cites cynicism as the chief cause of failed initiatives.)
"If there is a history of failed initiatives, employees may become so
cynical that future attempts are essentially doomed to
failure…Cynicism about organizational change becomes its own
self-fulfilling prophecy…When plans fail, management needs to give
credible and verifiable reasons for the failure to employees…If
management made a mistake, then say so.”
Beyond this, after extensive research, I conceded that I was not able
to find such a study directly linking depression or other mental
conditions to the management or leadership’s failure to complete
projects or carry out initiatives. The general assertion seems to be
that an effective leader is one who leads by example, provides
decisive direction and assails in production. If the leadership is
lacking these attributes, he doesn’t remain a leader for very long. Of
course, that’s not to say that the situation doesn’t exist, it merely
reflects corporate society’s general practice and somewhat focused
attitude toward successful leadership.
QUESTION: “How about the effects of depression in teams in general,
perhaps military, for example?”
ARMYLINK NEWS
“Suicide: study shows cadre more at risk than trainees”
http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/May2002/a20020521suiciderevu1.html
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
“Police Suicide Study Recommends Additional Training, Counseling”
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/record2002.14.html
VHI HEALTH
“A Dangerous Beat”
http://www2.vhihealthe.com/topic/cops
“Each year, dozens of cops are killed on the job. But the biggest
threats to their health are stress and depression.”
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
“Preventing Police Suicide”
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/1996/oct966.txt
“Many officers feel that referral to a mental health professional
would mean the loss of their jobs. Police supervisors have a similar
value system, and because of this belief, they often fail to take the
appropriate action. As a group, police officers and supervisors often
have protected those officers experiencing depression and denied the
existence of any problems. However, such an obvious cover-up does a
disservice to affected officers by denying them the help they need.”
Most studies related to mental health issues in military or
paramilitary environments group conditions and syndromes such as PTSD,
stress, anxiety and depression together in the same seemingly well
wrapped classification of afflictions. Being both a veteran of
military service and currently a 22-year law enforcement officer, I
can attest to the fact that the overall approach to the problems by
the entities is institutional at best. While depression has been an
issue in both the military and law enforcement for centuries for
obvious reasons the traditional approach is to consult the manual,
provide what assistance is necessary and carry on. It has been my
personal experience (and doubtful that anyone with equivalent insight
would argue) that depression, suffered by one or more members, can
have a major impact on the success or failure of military or
paramilitary team objectives and indeed, life or death. Obviously, any
physical or mental suffering or loss of a team member has a
devastating effect on the remaining team – because the mission goes on
– unfortunately this is a reality in “our” world that I have also
experienced first hand…on more occasions than I can comfortably
recall. Oddly enough, the effects of depression on the team are more
likely to be enhanced by the member’s and leaderships’ willingness to
help the affected member disguise the problem in hopes that it will
simply go away.
QUESTION: “Any corporate HR studies/data on the subject?”
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
“The Effects of Depression in the Workplace”
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/workplace.cfm
(Cites research by a RAND Corporation)
MCMAN’S DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR WEB
“Is Work Driving Us Crazy?”
http://www.mcmanweb.com/article-203.htm
(Cites studies conducted by Bank One Corp.)
REACH
http://www.reachline.com/benefits.htm
(Cites findings from multiple corporations)
Corporate studies seem to be an excellent source for data. They
provide an excellent round sampling of society, offer large numbers of
subjects exposed to a variety of factors and have the funding to
conduct long-term reliable observations in a quasi-clinical setting.
These documents are full of information from a group credible of
sources.
QUESTION: “Does any of data skew one way or another by group (men,
women, etc)?”
CHUCK III’s COLLEGE RESOURCES
“Causes for Higher Depression Rates Among Women”
http://www.chuckiii.com/Reports/Health_&_Beauty/Causes_for_Higher_Depression_Rates_Among_Women.shtml
“Hopefully as women gain more equality in our society, the gender gap
in depressive personalities will begin to lessen.”
THE JOURNAL OF GENDER SPECIFIC MEDICINE
http://www.mmhc.com/jgsm/articles/JGSM0101/lazarus.html
“Depression is a common problem seen by physicians who treat adults,
and it is reported about twice as often in adult women as in adult
men.”
PREVENT DISEASE.COM
http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/feeling_bad_good.shtml
"We know that women are more likely to report symptoms of depression,"
says Blazer, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Duke
University Medical Center. "When men say they are depressed, they may
not express depression until it becomes more severe."
“Too Eager to Please? - UNH Sociologist Wonders Why Women Suffer
Depression at Higher Rates than Men”
http://www.unh.edu/news/Aug00/tm_20000814depression.html
“They found that the women in the study not only demonstrated higher
levels of emotional reliance than the men, but the link between
emotional reliance and depression was two-and-a-half times greater
among the women.”
QUESTION: “Finally, is there any literature on organizations behaving
in ways that are indicative of cronic depression? What are the
conclusions of research/studies that
exist?”
PR WEB
“HOW TO KNOW IF YOUR ORGANIZATION IS DEPRESSED”
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/10/prweb48507.php
“Depression is the number one emotional problem for people in the
United States,” says Dr. Lois Frankel, President of Pasadena-based
consulting firm, Corporate Coaching International. “It shouldn’t be
surprising that entire organizations or departments within certain
companies experience the effects.” With this in mind, Frankel suggests
that there are specific symptoms, causes, and cures for organizational
depression.”
FABJOB.COM
“What to do if your company is depressed”
http://www.fabjob.com/tips194.html
“Nearly 10 years ago I wrote an article for the journal, Employment
Relations Today, that was entitled, "Depressed Organizations:
Identifying the Symptoms and Overcoming the Causes." During the
technological and financial boom of the past decade, the notion of
depressed organizations became somewhat superfluous. What a
difference a decade makes.”
THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP
“Pulling the right emotional levers to reinvigorate employees”
http://www.bcg.com/practice/experts/organization_experts.asp
“Companies are suffering. For many, work-force morale is as depressed
as the company's stock price. This in turn leads to lower productivity
and energy levels that further test the functional effectiveness of
the organization. The result: a downward spiral that can challenge the
strongest management teams and the most insightful human resource
professionals.”
As you might imagine, the conclusion in a nutshell is that “the
depression” experienced by an organization (which differs greatly from
clinical depression in humans) can easily be attributed to
dysfunctional leadership and/or lack of managerial/corporate vision or
inspiration. This tolerance to mediocrity systematically bleeds down
to the employee level in the form of real or perceived indifference
and eventually infects the entire organism of the business with
consistently predictable results.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2000/37.htm
YALE UNIVERSITY
http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/01-05-01-01.all.html
MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
http://www.mhamilw.org/Workplace/0102.htm
PSYCPORT
http://www.psycport.com/news/2001/01/07/eng-bostonherald_local/eng-bostonherald_local_063605_14_1357838106342.html
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
“EMPLOYEE CYNICISM DOESN'T COME FROM JUST A FEW "BAD APPLES"
http://www.acs.ohio-state.edu/units/research/archive/cynics.htm
MCMAN’S DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR WEB
http://www.mcmanweb.com/article-203.htm
REACH
http://www.reachline.com/benefits.htm
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/workplace.cfm
THE JOURNAL OF GENDER SPECIFIC MEDICINE
http://www.mmhc.com/jgsm/articles/JGSM0101/lazarus.html
PREVENT DISEASE.COM
http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/feeling_bad_good.shtml
“Too Eager to Please? - UNH Sociologist Wonders Why Women Suffer
Depression at Higher Rates than Men”
http://www.unh.edu/news/Aug00/tm_20000814depression.html
PR WEB
“HOW TO KNOW IF YOUR ORGANIZATION IS DEPRESSED”
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/10/prweb48507.php
FABJOB.COM
“What to do if your company is depressed”
http://www.fabjob.com/tips194.html
THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP
“Pulling the right emotional levers to reinvigorate employees”
http://www.bcg.com/practice/experts/organization_experts.asp
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
study depression workplace
depression unfinished concentrate projects
depression leadership projects
depression management projects
depression management initiatives
study depression among team members
study depression police officers
study soldiers depression
research workplace depression corporations
study workplace depression men women
study workplace depression males females
study organization is depressed
study organization is uninspired
study organization is uninspired
study organization lacks inspiration |
Clarification of Answer by
tutuzdad-ga
on
02 Feb 2003 10:24 PST
* FOLLOW-UP *
With regard to improper behavior as a cause of project failure I found
this EXCELLENT and well known study by Gary Namie, PhD and Ruth Namie,
PhD:
“THE BULLY AT WORK” (http://bullyinginstitute.org/home/book2.html)
The research is quite expansive and it appears that somewhat of a
social and psychological science is being based upon of this study.
DEFINITION OF BULLYING
http://bullyinginstitute.org/def.html
“Eventually, the workplace is paralyzed by fear, incapable of
productive work, and susceptible to costly downtime with an unhealthy
workforce and an increased liability for destructive employment
practices.”
Excerpts from “THE BULLY AT WORK”: (the term “target” refers to the
employee victim)
“BULLYING TYPES AND TACTICS”
http://bullyinginstitute.org/home/twd/bb/bbstudies/bullytypes.html
A workplace bully…
“…accuses Target of wrongdoing, blamed for errors made up by bully
(doctored documents, compromised databases, fake witness accounts)”
“…ensures that the Target does not have the resources (time, supplies,
help) to do work”
“…steals credit for work done by the Target”
“…deliberately cuts the Target out of the communication loop--stops
mail, e-mail, memo distribution, doesn't return calls”
“…poisons workplace with angry outbursts, tantrums”
These are only a few examples of intentional misbehavior that can be
directly attributed to some employees who suffer from depression.
QUICKLINKS TO THE WORKPLACE BULLYING & TAUMA INSTITUTE
http://bullyinginstitute.org/home/twd/bb/camplinks.html
US HOSTILE WORKPLACE SURVEY 2000
http://bullyinginstitute.org/home/twd/bb/res/surv2000.html
“Bullying is a health hazard to the person targeted:
- 41% were diagnosed with depression
-over 80% reported effects that prevented them from being productive
at work (severe anxiety, lost concentration, sleeplessness, etc.)
-PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) affects 31% of the women, 21%
of men”
Graphic: HOSTILITY ESCALATION
http://bullyinginstitute.org/home/twd/bb/bbstudies/hostesc.html
As for your follow up question regarding undiagnosed, misdiagnosed
people and what connection they may have with workplace depression, I
also references:
“The Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute's Definition of the
Phenomenon”
http://bullyinginstitute.org/def.html
“Several external institutions--disability benefits & workers' comp
systems, the courts, health and mental health practitioners unaware of
Work Trauma--then cooperate with the bullying employer in an economic
and psychological assault against the victimized employee-Target.”
From a previously offered resource from the FEDERAL BUREAU OF
INVESTIGATION: http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/1996/oct966.txt
“As noted, troubled officers usually resist seeking help. Officers
fear that if help is sought, employment and economic security will be
threatened.”
“Many officers feel that referral to a mental health professional
would mean the loss of their jobs. Police supervisors have a similar
value system, and because of this belief, they often fail to take the
appropriate action. As a group, police officers and supervisors often
have protected those officers experiencing depression and denied the
existence of any problems. However, such an obvious cover-up does a
disservice to affected officers by denying them the help they need.”
MANAGER’S WORKSHOP: DEPRESSION IN THE WORKPLACE
http://www.mmsonline.com/columns/1102man.html
“According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 20+ million
American adults suffer from clinical depression between the ages of 25
and 45, their most productive years on the job. Depression results in
more sick days than any other major illness except advanced coronary
heart disease. Yet two-thirds of these people go undiagnosed and
untreated each year.”
PFIZER
http://www.pfizerforum.com/english/elgie.shtml
“Men suffering from the symptoms of depression - poor sleep patterns,
fatigue, agitation and lack of appetite - are often reluctant to
accept the true diagnosis. They will more readily find some other
explanation, stress for example, for experiencing these symptoms.”
(The implication here is that the sufferer tends to “point the finger”
and lay the blame of his condition on other, more socially acceptable
factors, rather than the truth. This of course, as we have seen in our
other research, could certainly be related to performance failure in
the workplace)
CAREER JOURNAL
“Executive Suite Can Be Struck by Mental Illness”
http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/survive/20010702-tanouye.html
“It isn't clear how prevalent mental illnesses are in the corporate
upper echelons. Executives rarely reveal having any impairment. Some
people argue that mental illness isn't common in executive suites
because managers with problems are weeded out at lower levels. Still,
depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions plague one in
five people in the U.S., so it stands to reason that executives would
be among the afflicted.”
Also relative to the earlier issue of depression in the management
ranks, or depressed organization, are these quotes from the same
source (another excellent article I might add, that talks specifically
about certain companies and their leaders who suffered from
depression):
“But even when the board knows of a problem, there is a "longstanding
tendency to circle the wagons on boards and protect an out-of-control
boss”
“It's a vortex that sucks you down…”
“Like many people, Mr….had been very intolerant of psychological
problems and believed people should "pull up your socks and get on
with it."
“"I truly believe my abilities as a manager continued at a pretty high
level…”
This is only one example of an intolerant executive who eventually
became depressed himself to the point of considering suicide. This
obviously changed his view of depression and as such, allowed him to
re-evaluate his position on depression with regard to his company and
his employees.
I do hope this added information provides you with the clarification
you are seeking
Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
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