People who take antidepressants can work, as long as they are fit. It is necessary that they be evaluated by a professional who corroborates it. It is believed that the intake of medications such as antidepressants harms human work performance, but this will depend on the particular case of each person.
Many people take antidepressants to improve their mood, encourage positive thoughts, and improve performance at work. However, there is some controversy about whether someone taking antidepressants can perform their job duties normally. To resolve these doubts, in this Psychology-Online article, we will explain if you can work by taking antidepressants.
Can I work if I am taking antidepressants?
People who take antidepressants can work, as long as they are fit to do so. To determine it, It is necessary for a mental health professional to evaluate your psychological state and give you a diagnosis.
In this sense, the possibility of working while taking antidepressants will be determined by the following factors:
- Performance level: It is necessary to determine if the person can respond to work instructions in a timely manner. Sometimes you can work while taking antidepressants, and other times the tasks cannot be assumed by the patient, because his reactions to the stimuli are not in accordance with the times he requests a job. Inevitably, this negatively affects work performance.
- Medication dosage: If the intake of medication is excessive, it can cause harmful effects, such as fatigue, lack of concentration, attention, memory or physical slowness, among others. As a general feature, side effects negatively affect the person’s work performance.
- Environmental variables: These are the situations that the person is experiencing at the time they take antidepressants. If you are going through a very stressful time, it is important to evaluate whether it is compatible with your work activity. Some examples could be traffic accidents that affect speech and memory, family losses, suicidal ideas or catastrophic thoughts, among others.
Why it is better not to work while taking antidepressants
In some serious cases, the idea of not working while taking antidepressants may be the best option, however, it is important to take into account the following parameters to make the best decision:
- Medication is not a definitive solution: Psychiatric medication helps combat the symptoms of mental illnesses such as depression, but it does not solve the problems of a person’s daily life. For this reason, if you have depression it is preferable to first address the problem before returning to work.
- The ability to cope with work demands decreases: Working while taking antidepressants can be difficult, because work demands could be difficult to cope with. The day-to-day routine can be full of needs that must be resolved as soon as possible, and if the person is not able to give a response in the time and manner required, difficulties may arise in the workplace.
Beyond the aspects mentioned, it is necessary that the person taking antidepressants be under psychological and psychiatric treatment, since mental health professionals are the best qualified to evaluate whether you can work taking antidepressants or not. In this article you will find more information about whether.
What happens if I take antidepressants for a long time while working?
Taking antidepressants for long periods of time can cause harmful side effects for the central nervous system. In turn, your emotions, thoughts and behaviors can also be affected. Therefore, taking antidepressants for a long time harms the body and causes problems. Next, we’ll talk about the effects of taking antidepressants for a long time while working:
- Sleep disturbances, insomnia and hypersomnia.
- Dietary deregulation, loss or increase in appetite.
- Constant mood swings.
- Unstable work performance.
- Low self-esteem.
- Lack of control.
- .
- Distress.
Taking antidepressants should be supervised by a mental health professional. Furthermore, it is necessary to know that these types of medications can generate physical and mental dependence. In other words, it could happen that the belief is established that it is not possible to work without taking antidepressants. If this is the case, it will be necessary to work with the therapist on this point so that the person becomes independent of antidepressants. In this article you will see.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Heerlein, A. (2002). Antidepressant pharmacological treatments. Chilean Journal of Neuropsychiatry, 40 (1), 21-45.
- Vergel Hernández, J., Barrera Robledo, ME (2021). Management of depressive disorder. Risaralda Medical Magazine, 27 (1), 85-91.