As millennials are getting into jobs for the first time in their lives, they are facing for the first time in their lives – workplace stress.

Workplace stress is common. Though some organizations, like Alibaba and Tencent, warrant and demand it through 699 (6 days a week, 9am to 9pm) to achieve the tremendous growth that it has, workplace stress has recently turned into workplace depression. Stress is good for the body. It keeps you alert, motivated and primed to respond to danger. But too much stress may lead to depression in susceptible people.

Stress might be necessary for extracting the best out of oneself, but the moment it turns into depression, the employee can have serious health and life risks attached. More importantly, the productivity of an employee who is in depression can be questionable. The modern conveniences have made it easier to work easily at any time of the day. Unless you are loving
your work, replying to emails while walking your dog can easily turn into a stressful event.
Lack of Empathy among co-workers and bosses has been stated as the main reason for employees going into depression. Long hours and lack of vision of how the inputs of the employees are going into the betterment of the overall company output are some of the other most commonly stated reasons.
It can be safely assumed that work stress is inevitable. So what is important in this scenario is building a support system. Whether it might be in the form of a person or a journal where you can write down your thoughts and feelings. Writing on a piece of paper of what you are feeling
has never been more underestimated anymore than in this generation than any other. Writing down can help settle one’s thoughts, open up new ideas and figure out solutions to the problems that one is currently going through.

It is also important to understand the criticism. Criticism is inevitable in a growth-oriented organization. One should always possess a critical understanding of whether understanding is constructive or not. If you are observing an environment where non-constructive criticism is being offered more than anything, it is important that you do yourself a favor and let the management know it. If it persists it is always healthy that you select a different pathway. This is because the criticism being offered is not providing any value other than the obvious mental harm which comes with it.
Even in tough times, you should always remember to keep self-belief of your skills and value. Nothing is more important than keeping up your self-esteem. Human beings, by their very DNA, want to be successful and add value, in everything that they do. But in a workplace that is constantly changing and where the goals keep changing, regrets and burnout can easily set in. This, in turn, can lead to anxiety, depression and, if employees
have poor coping strategies, addiction issues like drinking and smoking. It may also increase employees’ risk of developing lifestyle-related illnesses such as diabetes.

How to cope up with this stress?
Understand the importance of self-talk, reflection through writing and finding someone to open up about the worries you are facing. Get in a routine, eat healthy, exercise. Take a walk when you can; a light jog or run can churn up endorphins to ease some depression symptoms. When you need to take a day off, you do that without fear. Come back to work when you can give it a 100 percent again.