The Depression Clinicians Don't Talk About

"They arrive on time, think clearly, and care about their clients. Outwardly, everything seems fine. In private, though, things can feel very different. A clinician's depression may not show up as clear despair. More often, it feels like emotional numbness, quietly withdrawing, or slowly losing interest in things that once mattered. Pleasure fades, curiosity lessens, and the work goes on, but it feels heavier and less alive."

"This isn't about being impaired or failing at work. It's about a special vulnerability that comes with a job where you hold in emotions, carry heavy responsibility, and are always expected to do well. It's also about a kind of depression that can develop in these conditions. Why Clinicians Are Especially Vulnerable There are several reasons why clinicians may be more likely to experience depression than people realize. First, the work takes constant emotional effort."

Many clinicians experience depression while maintaining punctuality, cognitive clarity, and caring behavior toward clients, making the condition invisible externally. Depression in clinicians often presents as emotional numbness, withdrawal, diminished pleasure, and decreased curiosity rather than overt despair, causing work to feel heavier and less alive. Professional training to detect distress can increase shame and self-blame when clinicians themselves suffer, leading to thoughts that they should "know better," that their symptoms must be less serious, or that showing vulnerability lets clients down. These beliefs promote silence with colleagues and self. Occupational demands, constant emotional labor, and assumptions of self-protection increase clinicians' vulnerability to depression.

Read at Psychology Today