British and Finnish researchers found from a survey of the working conditions of more than 2,000 British civil servants that people who work long hours are more likely to suffer from depression. People who work for more than 11 hours a day or over 55 hours a week run an even higher risk. In addition, women, young people, low-income earners with drinking habits are most vulnerable to depression. Questionnaires show that people who work for 11 hours or longer each day are 2.5 times more likely to develop depression than those who work seven-eight hours a day. The study also found that most people who work long hours are high-income-earning males in challenging jobs, but their percentage of developing depression is relatively lower. In this regard, the researchers believe that on the one hand, high income can "ease" depressive feelings and make them indulge in work; on the other hand, they enjoy a higher level of "social support", such as support from subordinates. (Source: Sina Education Channel) Regularly working long hours in the office might increase your risk of a serious depressive episode, according to a new study. While other studies have been done on work hours and depression, "results have not been conclusive because there is no standardized benchmark for what constitutes a 'normal' working day," reports WebMD. Researchers from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and Queen Mary University of London examined records of more than 2,000 London-based white-collar workers in a five-year study. None of the recruits had a recent history of depression when they were enrolled in the study. A previous study by the same researchers, which also relied on the same database of London-based workers, found that overtime was linked with a 60 percent increase in coronary heart disease. "Long working hours don't just affect us because of the pressure and intensity of work itself, they affect us because we don't have enough time for all the other things we need for good mental health, such as good quality sleep, relationships, and opportunities for rest and exercise," Paul Farmer, chief executive of leading British mental health charity Mind, told WebMD. "Every time we squeeze more work in, many of us will be squeezing something else out. According to findings published in the journal PloS ONE on Wednesday, people who regularly work 11 hours or more each day are more than twice as likely to experience a major episode of depression than colleagues who stick with an eight-hour work day. Those who worked 11 hours or more each day were between 2.3 and 2.5 times more likely to develop a major depressive episode than those who worked seven-to-eight-hour days. Researchers controlled for other factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and general health.