Major Depressive Disorders Have an Enormous Economic Impact
The tech field is one that requires constant and ongoing self-development and learning, or you&#x27;re just going to be left behind and gradually become all but unemployable (those who are able to carve out a niche by becoming an expert in an in-demand ancient technology like COBOL aside).<p>But how do you get the energy and motivation for constant learning and self-development when you struggle to get out of bed every day, or are burnt out on tech altogether?<p>Even if, against all odds, a depressed person manages to get a job, it&#x27;s likely that doing it will feel meaningless and overwhelming, leading to a struggle not to quit, poor performance, and possibly firing.<p>If you screw up at work because of depression, of course you&#x27;re not going to make a good impression on your colleagues, making getting hired or recommended by them in the future even less likely.<p>If one is out of work for extended periods of time, not only is that a drain on your savings, but also an economic drain on whoever helps you (whether that&#x27;s family, friends, or society).<p>Then there are the secondary economic effects of all that lost productivity that the depressed person could have contributed to the economy but didn&#x27;t because of their depression.  All of the deals that could have happened, all of the innovation that was missed, the people that they might have inspired, etc, have economic consequences that are difficult to quantify but that are real nevertheless.<p>This doesn&#x27;t even go in to the potentially drastic economic consequences of suicide, both to the family of the person who takes their life who might have been relying on them for sustenance, and because of the knock-on economic effects of depression and trauma of those affected.