Anxiety and Depression in Occupational Health

Depressive and anxiety disorders account for a large share of mental health-related sickness absence in the Netherlands, and their 12-month prevalence has risen substantially over the last decade (NEMESIS-3). For the occupational physician the hardest question is often not what the diagnosis is, but what it means for work: when a disorder justifies temporary incapacity, when partial work is possible or even therapeutic, and when absence itself begins to maintain the problem.

This course combines a psychiatrist’s view of diagnosis with the practical questions of occupational and insurance medicine. It covers the continuum from normal distress to disorder (including overspanning and burnout), the clinical diagnosis of depression and anxiety disorders, the boundaries and overlap between them, the use and limits of screening instruments, and a structured framework for deciding when a common mental disorder justifies work disability.