10 Low-Stress Jobs For People With Anxiety and Depression Disorder

These 10 low-stress jobs for people with anxiety and depression disorder have a perfect work environment for people who need to avoid the urgencies and hectic pace that usually follow many of today’s jobs.

Anxiety and depression disorders are very serious conditions that can and often do crippling damage to people’s lives. Since they often lack obvious physical symptoms, they make it very hard for other people to feel empathy for a person that suffers from them, which puts a tremendous amount of stress on any personal relationship, including family ones as well.

Mentally healthy people can take a look at our list of Easiest Fields to Get a Job in, but sometimes the opposite is true for people with anxiety and depression disorders. Their triggers make them ill-suited for high-pressure environments found in many jobs. The constant pressure to meet deadlines and the buzzing of full office of people trying to get the job done are just some of the things that will force people who suffer from anxiety to stay home and off the job market since for them these are classical triggers that will activate their disorders. Not only is catastrophic for them as individuals and their families but for a society as a whole, since that means increased social spending that has to accommodate a larger number of unemployed people, most of them with substantial medical bills that will be paid from the taxpayers’ pocket, instead of an employers’.

Unfortunately, there aren’t that many low-stress jobs that are suited for people with anxiety and depression disorder. Greg Weber, the author of Treating Anxiety Blog, lists several requirements that a job must fulfill in order to be considered anxiety-friendly. The minimal amount of stress is the most obvious one, but there are others that are equally important, like low levels of noise, lack of disruption, and an absolute minimum of interactions with other people, especially strangers. For people with social anxiety disorder, the last one is a nightmare. Disruptions and distractions can also be devastating since people with anxiety and depression disorder usually aren’t that great at multitasking and when forced to split their attention can easily get overwhelmed. You can see Greg’s recommendation for anxiety-friendly jobs here.

We compiled a list of low-stress jobs for people with anxiety and depression disorder below. Hopefully, you’ll be able to find one that suits you the best. Happy job hunting!

10. Childcare

This seems like an odd suggestion and it isn’t for people with severe anxiety issues. For those with mild conditions, it can be very fulfilling, though. After all, dealing with kids is a lot less stressful than dealing with adults.

9. Dog trainer

In fact, any job on the list of low-stress jobs for people with anxiety and depression disorder that requires you to spend a lot of time with animals is great for people with depression, since it can be quite therapeutic.

8. Factory/workshop jobs

Menial labor isn’t for everyone, but many of the people with depression and anxiety have reported its huge therapeutic benefits. There’s something liberating in being able to release all that pent up anger and fear through hard working with your hands.

7. Accountant

Accountants don’t have to have a lot if interactions with their clients, as a majority of communication can be done via email or phone in the worst case.

6. Computer programmer

This one on the list of low-stress jobs for people with anxiety and depression disorder is usually considered an epitome of solitude, which is, in this case, a great plus.

5. Deliveries

This one is actually Reddit recommended as a great low-stress job for people with anxiety and depression disorder. For the most part, you are alone and only have to have brief interactions with both customers and other employees.

4. Cleaning jobs

Cleaning is usually done after hours and those big scary offices are vacant and pleasant then.

3. Counselor

The number three on our list of low-stress jobs for people with anxiety and depression disorder is counseling that can involve plenty of interactions, but those are mostly limited to one or two people at the time and therefore can be managed. If it is done from an office and visits to a client’s site are limited, even better.

2. Writer

Writing is a solitary business and writers throughout history have suffered from anxiety and depression disorders.

1. Landscaping

Another job with a menial labor component, but also the one that lets you create beautiful landscapes, which is why we placed it on the top of our list of 10 low-stress jobs for people with anxiety and depression disorder.