Do you work in tech and battle depression? You're far from alone.
A new survey from anonymous business social network Blind asked its community of tech employees to answer "true" or "false" to the following statement: "I believe I am depressed." Nearly 40 percent of tech workers answered in the affirmative.
Overall, 38.78 percent of the 10,081 tech workers who participated in the survey, which ran from November 20 to 28, said they believe they believe they are depressed. Amazon had the highest rate of employee depression (43.4 percent), followed by Microsoft (41.58 percent), Intel (38.86 percent), LinkedIn (38.73 percent), Facebook (36.7 percent), Uber (35.87 percent), Oracle (35.21 percent), Cisco (34.69 percent), Google (33.11 percent), and Apple (30.61 percent).
"Users on Blind talk anonymously about burnout, high stress levels, insomnia, overworking, and irregular work hours," Blind wrote. "These are all characteristics that have [been] shown to increase a person's chance of developing depression."
A Cisco engineer anonymously posted this:
The survey results follows recent research from job site Glassdoor indicating that employee satisfaction at Facebook has taken a big hit in the last year. Ranked number one last year, the social network is now the seventh best place to work, according to Glassdoor.
According to the World Health Organization, depression is "characterized by persistent sadness and loss of interest in activities that you normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities for at least two weeks." If you believe you are depressed, the organization recommends talking to someone you trust about your feelings and seeking the help of a local health-care professional or doctor. If you feel suicidal, immediately contact someone for help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255.