How can work focused therapy help people with depression?

If your diagnosis of depression makes you feel like the end of the world, then just drop that thought right now. Once you know about a therapy that works wonders, a psychological treatment for depression named work focused therapy, your life will change forever. But before discovering how work-focused therapy treats depression, let’s see what is work-focused therapy. 

What is work focused therapy? 

If you haven’t heard about this therapy, it is a cognitive behavioral therapy that is focused on matters related to work. Research published in the Journal of American Psychological Association shows that there has been a recovery in the workers diagnosed with anxiety and depression when their work-related problems were solved using this therapy. The therapy helped them come back to their work slowly by making them mentally prepared and laying out real plans to do so. And most of the patients returned to work. 

Will work focused therapy help you? 

Stress and depression can often make you feel demotivated about going to work. You might also be concerned as you will be slowly losing your financial independence and become a burden on your dear ones. You go through the feeling of guilt when you see your caregivers struggling to make ends meet. Your motivation is not the only factor. Due to the symptoms of depression, you are also not as perfect and skilled at your work. 

It is not only problematic for you but also for your employers. Your decreased productivity is bothersome to those who invested in your company too. As you might know, the problems that are undertaken by the therapist usually involve the other aspects of your life and not work in depth. Usually, your caregivers are understanding and simply let you rest at home. But what you need is to work. And that is what the work-focused therapy will help you be able to do the work and give your best to your employer. 

How will work focused therapy help you go to work? 

Work focused therapy majorly focuses on your behavior, thoughts, and feelings during a stressful situation at work. It helps you deal better with it by changing those thoughts, behaviors, and feelings which are irrational and unhelpful to your work and productivity. If you are unable to work under some department, this therapy will help you look for a better solution, such as joining other departments rather than giving your resignation. 

If there is some component or the person that makes you feel like not coming to work, the therapist can help you cope with such a component or the person by creating a work-like setting at the therapist’s clinic or your home. Once you implement and can cope well with the stressor, you can easily go back to work without hesitation or anxiety. Is your work harmful to your mental health? If you have such assumptions, which you think them to beliefs, then the therapist using work-focused therapy will also help you challenge such rigid beliefs and replace them with better ones. In addition to it, you will have poor well-being when they did not or could not go to work. They rated the participation in the work to be the important factor out of many other factors. 

When you go to work, you are not only concerned about being mentally and physically active, but you are also maintaining your hygiene by yourself. You learn to care and respect yourself. Working will make your life meaningful, and you will also be able to deal with emptiness feelings. You will be confident and proud of yourself. Gradually, you will also be motivated to do things that you did, which were snatched by the symptoms of depression back then. 

Don’t you see the increased disadvantages of not going to work? Rather than simply not going to work and take sick leaves, it will help you if you ask for help. Work-focused CBT therapy is one such intervention that can buy you all the benefits of going to work. The study also shows that once you can go to work, psychotherapy becomes more effective for you. How long does it take for the therapy to work for depression? Well, you will be happy and shocked to know that those participants were able to recover from depression in just six months!

Hence, this is how work focused therapy helps people by laying a full-fledged treatment plan for depression. Your disorder is not going to be burdening to your caregivers anymore. Apart from the symptoms of depression, work-focused therapy will also keep you away from the risks of the physical ailments resulting from obesity, such as diabetes and heart problems. It is necessary to consult your doctor before joining back to work and taking up newer and greater responsibilities. Though work-focused therapy helps people with depression, other factors such as the willingness of the person and his family members, medications, medication adherence, health, other physical disorders that they might have, and severity of the symptoms matter a lot in the success and failure of this therapy.