Seasonal depression could affect your company. How to fight it?

The December season can be one of the happiest for some; however, for another it can affect their mood and consequently impact on productivity. These mood swings are often known as seasonal depression, and they generally occur at the beginning of autumn or winter and are related to the end of the year.

This affective disorder is short-term and in most companies it can worsen when combined with other factors such as tax closing of a business or even employee vacations.

In fact, the social factor and even the financial one, typical of the dates, have a great impact on the mood of the collaborators.

“The end of the year by nature forces people to reflect on the months behind them and what lies ahead. For example whether or not the purposes were met, what self-perception each employee has of the year that is leaving, how these dates will spend, which is worth saying, they have a great social burden. These combinations are a bomb of feelings that, if you don’t have the right support to manage it, can negatively impact the harmony of a work space”, says Abel Navajas, Manager of Affor Health.

Data from the Mexican Institute of Social Security indicate that between 4% and 8% of the population mexicana suffers from seasonal depression. Within this universe of people, 75% of the incidence occurs in women and 25% in men. This condition affects all the activities of a person’s daily life, including their affective and work relationships.

Navajas says that this disorder can impact on the companySince there are sectors in which December represents the season with the highest sales, such as retail and e-commerce, work increases due to end-of-year gifts, Good End and Black Friday. Data from Statista reveals that at the end of the year Amazon has an increase in demand that raises its income up to 60 percent.

“It is not a secret that for many companies, the end of the year represents a work overload, or even the opposite, a drop in income. In the first case, leaders must have a clear work management strategy that reduces mental health risks such as stress in the face of an increase in activities.

When it comes to a low season, they should also ensure that fear or anxiety in the face of a bad closing impacts the team’s spirits and mental health. The key is to have prevention and care toolsas well as having excellent communication”, adds Navajas.

How to take care of the well-being of workers?

According to records from the British consultancy YouGov, 25% of people consider that Christmas affects their mental health; At the same time, 51% of women feel a major stress during the end of the year season, to a large extent, due to the social and professional expectations that increase during the autumn and winter months, that is, the work overload is compounded by preparing dinners, buying gifts, decorating home, among others.

“The end of the year is a complex season in terms of mental health at work. But it can also be the ideal season for companies to turn to see their collaborators and address psychosocial risks of your company. Doing so brings great benefits both in the short and long term”, concludes the specialist.