If you continue working while in therapy, or if you've just returned after a few weeks leave, you'll need to take care of yourself and reduce stress as much as you can. It's going to take a while to heal, and you're going to need to modify your routines to give yourself every advantage.

Managing Stressors

Tackling one stressor at a time will help you make some inroads into managing your work environment. Here's where you'll want the paper and pencil again. What causes you the most stress at work? Is it an individual? A procedure? Unscheduled meetings? Some things are beyond your control to change, but you can work on ways to modify your responses and lower your stress level in the process.

Your goal here is to simplify the situation to the greatest extent possible. You'll probably discover that work isn't the main problem. The culprit might be that new hire that's been eyeing your desk and toadying up to the boss. Or perhaps it's the new competitor down the block or across the Pacific, that's eating into your market share.

Narrowing the stressor down to something you can accurately name will be the first step in identifying a strategy to handle it. And when you're done, destroy the paper or, at the very least, leave the paper home! This is for your eyes only. Here's how this might look:

Stressor:

There's one co-worker who talks behind your back, spreading rumors about your mental health condition. This person wants your job and is nice to your face, offering support and sympathy, but you know it's a sham.

Strategy:

Actually, there are a couple of strategies here. How far you want to go depends upon you.

First of all, document. Document everything. And back up your files. This takes time, extra time that is not always easy to find, but it's essential that you have a written record of your work output and productivity. Think of this as a variation on the ledger system of accounting. The task goes on the left of the ledger, along with the date assigned. Date completed goes to the right, along with any pertinent comments. In addition to providing concrete refutation of whatever the co-worker conjures up, this info will serve you well come time for performance review and raise time.

You know that this person is talking about you. Enlist one of the folks this co-worker has talked to, someone you trust, and confront your co-worker about his actions. If your boss or supervisor is also someone you trust, bring her in on the confrontation, as a witness. It's unlikely you'll have to do this more than once. You'll be seen as someone in charge, someone who's prepared to fight for her honor, and as someone who's definitely not mentally incompetent. Yes, you may be exhausted when it's done, but this exhaustion will be a catharsis.

Exercise

You read about the importance of exercise in combating the symptoms of depression. If you followed one of the tips there, you've already got a comfortable pair of walking or running shoes in your car. They're not going to do you a whole lot of good there, so you're going to need to put them on and get moving.

Pick the best time for some exercise and make it a priority. If you can walk or bicycle to work, so much the better. If you only have the lunch hour or half hour, make it count. Make it work for you. If after work is the best time, that's fine too. Exercise will raise your endorphin level and work off the negative energy and lower your stress levels.

Priorities

Health is Priority One. If you're not taking care of yourself, you can't take care of the job or your family. You've got to come first. Make health the bottom line for every decision and you'll come out ahead. That may very well mean learning to say, “No thanks,” when you have to. Here's how that looks in practice: Your colleagues say, “We're going out for margaritas after work. Join us. We've got a lot to catch up on.”

You hesitate. You've used up your daily quota of energy, and you're tired. You had plans to exercise after work, and you've noticed that you feel better, when you do. Besides, alcohol and your antidepressants don't mix, so you've decided to pass on the booze. What do you do?

You smile and say, “Thanks, but I'm going for a run after work. How about joining me?”

That puts the onus back on your co-workers. They're going boozing, and you're going running on the moral high ground. You're in control and you've got a plan. Soon, they're going to wonder who the one battling depression is!

Keep Your Distance

Distance yourself from negative people, whenever possible. Every workplace seems to have at least one person who never has a good word to say about anyone or anything. These people drain your energy and sap your strength. Avoid them when you can. Engage them minimally, when you must. These are not happy people, and they spread their own discontent around the office like a virus. Limit your exposure to them.

Lighten Up

Bring some extra light into your workspace. Whether that means hauling in some natural spectrum lighting for your desk lamp, buying a floor lamp with high intensity light to stick in the corner, or having the fluorescent bulbs replaced with something that will deliver more light, do it! This is not the time for economy. Hang holiday icicles around your doorway if that's what it takes. Your mood will improve as a result.

Breathe

You've been informed another meeting has been scheduled for exactly the time you'd planned on getting the report finished and sent on. You can't control the situation, but you can control your stress reaction. This is the time to do those isometric exercises, practice your relaxation techniques, and control your breathing. The report will still be there when you return and your more relaxed frame of mind will allow you to tackle it.

Knowing When to Call It Quits

You're making progress, but you're still slow. You're not getting things done as quickly as you'd like, so you're thinking maybe some overtime would help clear your desk. But before you decide to stay late, consider the following:

• The reward for a job well done is more work.

• Your desk will fill up tomorrow, no matter how clean it is today.

• Work expands to fill the time allotted for it.

• If you don't say no, you're saying yes.

Nope. Call it quits at the end of the day and call it good. Tomorrow is another day. Leave on time. If you've been accustomed to staying late, going in on weekends, and taking a slew of work home, it's time to get your priorities straight. Nobody, as the old saying goes, has ever decided at the end of his life that he wished he'd spent more time at the office.