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

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

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

(OP)
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_2YFCTO103FG1DCC__vzn.dsl/apnws/story.htm?kcfg=apart&sin=D8S8KLM80&qcat=finance&ran=5693&feed=ap&top=1

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

2
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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...


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!"

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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

Ciao.

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

2
I know a few dampers and spings that are depressed all the time...

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

yes that was lame...now im depressed

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

Gymmeh:

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

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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...

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

"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."

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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.

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

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.

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

4
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....

 

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

2
So if you separate men from women, the rate of depression among male engineers is one of the lowest of all the professional groupings, while for women, engineering is somewhere in the middle.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

Quote (2ballcane):



In some defense companies, when engineers retire, they pass away at least 2 to 3 years later
Our insurance broker put it this way.  There is a trend for people who retire at 65 to die before they are 70.  People who retire at 60 live to 75+.  The theory is that the early retirers have a life outside of work, and get on with it.  The late retirers often only have work, and when they stop that they struggle to find something else to do.  This seems to link to an early demise.
My next-door neighbour is in his 80's and doesn't stop, does our (small) garden for us, and that of an elderly aunt, fixes the fences, you name it.
Hope I'm like that.

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

An old neighbour of mine retired at his 65th birthday, dying not long after that. The short time he was retired he always said:

Ever since I'm retired, I've never been this busy before!

Always pops up in my mind when talking about retirement, luckily I'm only 27, so I have a long time to go!

IJsbrand

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

For that very reason I plan to die at work or on my bike trying to get to work.....now I'm depressed

I believe being happy is a choice we all have to make every morning.  I ofter wonder if folks that actually suffer from depression have given up that choice.

Heckler   americanflag
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 4.0 & Pro/E 2001
      o
  _`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

This post contains no political overtones or undertones for that matter and in no way represents the poster's political agenda.

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

Heckler, are you a close friend of Tom Cruise with that outlookwinky smile

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

Heckler,

If you'd ever knwon anyone with depression, or suffered from it yourself, you would understand that it's not as simple as choosing to be happy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20631359/

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

I wonder if cave man were depressed...

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

KENAT - I think Tom Cruise is an idiot and do not subscrib to any of his views.  I actually go to the point of not watching any of his movies or productions.  But he is entitled to his opinions regardless of if I don't share them.

IMO, happy people make the world a better place and frankly we have a moral obligation to be happy.  I have suffered brief periods of depression as a result from the pain medication I have taken from a very bad sports related injury.  I'm not trying to be insensitive to a real problem just merely trying to stimulate dialog....maybe this is the wrong forum....happy Friday.

Heckler   americanflag
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 4.0 & Pro/E 2001
      o
  _`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

This post contains no political overtones or undertones for that matter and in no way represents the poster's political agenda.

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

Hey, who am I to start throwing stones (hence the winky smile).

I'm doing well if I just make a choice not to be a miserable/honary *** each day.

Not sure it's a moral obligation to make ones self be happy but I do have leanings toward the 'put your big girl panties on and get over it' end of the spectrum.

However, I'm not a qualified medical proffesional so am out of my knowledge base.  Mental illness in its many forms is a real problem which many of us probably don't take as seriously/aren't as sympathetic to as we should be.

Gymmeh, I've had the same thought.  I guess when your very survival depends on getting on with it though that's a real motivating factor.

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

Exactly! If people are depressed, give them something to get them out of depression, like drop them off in a jungle with cave man tools.

Or better yet, drop them off in a jungle with tom cruse!

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

No worries, KENAT  Happy Friday

Heckler   americanflag
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 4.0 & Pro/E 2001
      o
  _`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

This post contains no political overtones or undertones for that matter and in no way represents the poster's political agenda.

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

Gymmeh, how far do take it though, do the same for people with Schizophrenia and other mental illness?

This is probably seeming pretty insensitive to most people suffering or with friends/relatives suffering from mental illness so I'll probably stop there.

Happy Friday to you too Hekler,

Kenat Out!

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

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

I was not referring to all the mental illnesses, general depression which people in University can get diagnosed for to avoid exams…

However I will stop here also, to go camping for the weekend smile

Have a Happy weekend.

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

Sorry, guys, but you are definitely sounding like Tom Cruise.  Unless you've been through it, or lived with someone who has, you have NO damn idea what you're talking about.

Come talk to me again sometime after you get hit with a wave of utterly causeless anguish that knocks you literally to the ground.  "Happiness" is not the opposite of depression.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Are you Depressed? You shouldn't be...

Wooo HgTX, spill!

Had quite a lot of sh1t myself this year.  Sounds like your sh1t may trump mine.

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