At least according to this article from redding.com.
“WASHINGTON (AP) — People who tend to the elderly, change diapers, and serve food and drinks have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers.”
I admit, most servers have suffered some kind of depression throughout their careers, but I don’t know that it actually hits the service industry the hardest. Yes, we do have horribly skewed sleeping schedules, our circadian rhythms are all out of whack. We are up late and sleep all day. Some people say that contributes to depression. I have to say, I’m more depressed about the article than about my job.
I asked a few people that I work with their opinions on the article, and they all said that it must be leaning more toward the diaper changers. Most server’s depression is caused by constant substance abuse. (This will also be my next poll, service industry oriented). Many servers have problems with alcohol abuse, crystal methanphetamine, cocaine, heroin, opiate pain killers, MDMA, and the most common, Marijuana. Everyone knows that substance abusers have a higher rate of depression than those who are sober, so in that aspect the service industry is probably more depressed. It’s not caused by their jobs though. Many servers I know are happy with their jobs, and when they’re not, they quit.
I think the associated press needs to let us see the study or polling data they came up with, and then poll/study further to find the underlying cause of the depression. The statement they made was careless, and is going to scare people away from a lucrative and rewarding industry. Even with all we put up with, we are one of the most culturally diverse, we deal with all walks of life working in restaurants, as you can tell if you’ve read this blog for any amount of time.
Friday night’s poll is inspired by the aforementioned article, and will be about substance abuse in the service industry, including all aspects of service, not just restaurants.
Until then, keep reading,
Ribeye
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October 16th, 2007 at 8:39 am
I think you’re dead on with the substance abuse take. However, I think one area of major stress which leads to dissatisfaction can be the monetary struggles that many in the serving world face. Think less of turn and burn chan servers, or fine dining ‘experience’ servers, and more of the cash strapped diner and denny’s type servers. Money worries causes a lot of depression. IMO.
I also think anyone who has the chops to make it in the lucrative end of the serving pool isn’t gonna be swayed by anything some flimsy study publishes. Good tackle on a serious subject darlin’!
October 17th, 2007 at 8:13 am
I think that the development of depression is related to how people are treated at work, and how they see themselves in their job. Here’s an example. Hospital administrators, patients and their family members, and other nurses generally treat nurses like crap. Nurses start thinking of themselves as handmaidens and they start hating their job. That can lead into depression. The nurses who don’t get beaten down are the ones who keep a positive attitude. By the way, thanks for stopping by my blog. I like what I see where and I’ve added you to my blogroll.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy this blog.. Not only are you funny, but honest about your life and so very patient with all the recent nonsense.