Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be... 12

[bridgebuster]

because you're an engineer!

News
10/13/2007 17:44:48 EST Report Ranks Jobs by Rates of Depression
By KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press Writer

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, 7 percent 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 percent 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 percent.

In a tie for third were health care workers and social workers at 9.6 percent.

The lowest rate of depression, 4.3 percent, occurred in the job category that covers engineers, architects and surveyors.

Full story at:

http://kevxml2adsl.verizon.net/_1_2...D8S8KLM80&qcat=finance&ran=5693&feed=ap&top=1

 

[msquared48]

Are they saying that Engineers, architects and surveyors have the least feelings? Guess we need to use the other side of our brains. We are unbalanced. I'm depressed.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[casseopeia]

msquared48,

I think you may not be far off the mark. I'll bet more care providers know the symptoms of depression than people who choose technical professions, like engineering, architecture and surveying. Care providers are more adept at being in touch with those emotions and having the ability to interpret them. I'd be interested to know where doctors fall in the spectrum. That might eliminate some of the influence of income on depression.

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[ScottyUK]

Good to know that we're only 4.3% of that group...

----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[flamby]

Good point Scotty. I am already feeling myself on the verge of a depression. Well done.

Ciao.

 

[btrueblood]

And I have this pain in all the diodes down my left side...

 

[csd72]

Maybe because we are in a somber profession it is not as obvious as say a waitress who has to smile and be nice to people.

csd

 

[roadapple]

Maybe it is because engineers are dour and stuffy - if you live in this world, at the bottom, improvement is the only option. Brightens my day just thinking about it.

Or maybe the fact that humor is in the details, one time I had a question:

If I have 12% sour gas in my well do I need sour service equipment?

I asked - is that 12% by volume, 12% mass, or 12% molar mass?

Dead silence - I laughed about it - but no one else got the joke.

roadapple

 

[Gymmeh]

I know a few dampers and spings that are depressed all the time...

 

[Gymmeh]

yes that was lame...now im depressed

 

[JAE]

But you got a star....so cheer up!

 

[prohammy]

Make that another star, made me smile....

Kevin

“It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class." ~Author Unknown

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." ~Author Unknown

 

[msquared48]

Gymmeh:

What's a "spings"? Is that that thing in Egypt?

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[KENAT]

Maybe it's because we already have Aspergers (however you spell it) so the depression isn't noticable as we're obsessed with something else.

I know depression isn't the opposite of happy but, I know plenty of unhappy engineers at my ccurrent employer right now.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[Twoballcane]

"Just working full-time would appear to be beneficial in preventing depression. The overall rate of depression for full-time workers, 7 percent, compares with the 12.7 percent rate registered by those who are unemployed.

http://oas.samhsa.gov"

Wow it seems that working will keep you from being depressed and not working will make you more depressed. Well that's good, because I am going to work for the rest of my life. In some defense companies, when engineers retire, they pass away at least 2 to 3 years later, and some even come back to work till their 75. I wonder if there are any tallies on the life span of a retired person per field of work?


Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[msquared48]

Accountants for the Mob - Zero. This figure is set in concrete.

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[dvd]

Maybe it is because engineering is a male-dominated field and men are less prone to depression....

 

[Gymmeh]

Thank you,
m^2; some how i got an A in english!

I found this collection of data:

http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k7/depression/occupation.htm

And it is kinda interesting, they leave out a few facts that I would like to know with might give more insite, like women in Jobs like; fishing farming construction..etc.

 

[SomptingGuy]

Correlational studies are mostly pointless. The cause and effect (even if they are connected) are generally impossible to divide. Unfortunately it's not ethical to do double-blind tests with people to see if the job causes the depression or not.

 

[BJC]

Outsourcing gone amuck!

I was feeling a bit depressed the other day, so I called the Depression Help Hotline. I was put through to a 'call center' in Pakistan. I explained that I was feeling suicidal. They were very excited at this news and wanted to know if I could drive a truck or fly an airplane....