The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Stress among IT professionals leading to depression

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Stress among IT professionals leading to depression

Sahana Charan

At least 10 per cent of Bangaloreans have gone through some degree of depression

Bangalore: High work pressure, long hours in front of the computer and a fast-paced lifestyle, if these factors team up to weaken your physical health, here is one more strong reason why they are simply unhealthy: mental health professionals are now convinced that an increasing number of persons working in the IT and IT-enabled services sector fall prey to depression, because of the high stress they undergo.

Studies confirm that at least 10 per cent of the population in Bangalore have gone through some degree of depression. Of these, IT and ITES employees form a large chunk, say doctors.

“At least eight years ago, you hardly saw any IT professionals in Bangalore. But now about 30 to 40 per cent of the patients I see for various psychiatric problems, including depression, are people from the IT sector,” informs Murali Raj, Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Manipal Hospital.

He says the patients mostly go through anxiety and depression and in worst cases may be panicky and become extremely paranoid.

The signs that a person is going through depression becomes apparent through loss of interest in regular activities, poor sleep and appetite, feeling of worthlessness, negative thoughts about the past and present and hopelessness about the future and even thoughts of self harm.

“Depression is usually related to work and stress these people undergo because of the pressure to perform better, compete with other colleagues and meet tight deadlines. Most of their work is target-oriented and if targets are not met, it can lead to anxiety. Peers are not very supportive as they also competing in the same field. Moreover, insecurity about the job may lead to feelings of depression,” Dr. Murali Raj adds.

Since IT professionals are more achievement oriented, they do not have much of a social life and the time spent with family is also less. There is also lack of recreation and opportunities to relax, and all these may lead to frustration and eventually depression, he explains. But taking time off from their busy schedule, taking up recreational activities and better sleep and eating patterns are bound to help matters.

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