Media Credit: Blake Hamilton (Right to left) Jon Thwaites, Mark Steinhardt, and Alaina Pinny work together to design a multi-family housing site in Phoenix. [Click to enlarge]

At 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, architecture student Stephen Kirmse cheerfully wheeled his bike through the foyer of Lawrence Hall and headed upstairs to finish a project. He didn't seem unhappy that he was giving up half his Halloween weekend to study on campus.

"Architecture is a lot of work," he said. "It's a big time commitment."

Students who opt for this five-year plan are in for a lot of stress, hard work and long hours, but it's been proven to pay off: After college, they will be the least likely to suffer from depression during their lives.

A government study released Oct. 11 revealed that only 4.3 percent of architects, engineers and surveyors suffered from depression, the lowest percentage among all professions.

Although Kirmse made less money at his last internship than he currently does waiting tables, he wasn't surprised. "People who make it through the rigorous schooling are really happy and passionate about what they're doing," he said.

The study, conducted by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, asked adults in different professions whether they had suffered from a period of two weeks of depression - defined as a time during which the person loses interest or pleasure in his or her career - in the last year. Full-time personal care and service workers between the ages of 18 and 64 had a higher depression rate than all other professions: 10.8 percent.

Depression rates were highest among women who worked in food preparation and serving-related fields, which could be attributed to low wages. A food service worker can make as little as $5 an hour, and a food service assistant manager's salary starts at $25,195, according to a study from PayScale, Inc. The average starting salary for someone with a bachelor's degree in science is $56,036. Adults in scientific professions were shown to have the second-lowest depression rates.

A high income doesn't necessarily translate into happiness, though. Men who worked in law, mathematics and computer sciences were equally as likely to experience a period of depression as men who worked in maintenance, installation and repair.

So what is the key to on-the-job happiness? Tom Ryan, director of the University Health Center, guessed someone's ability to manage time at work was a large contributor.

"I think people tend to feel less dissatisfied with their jobs when they have more control over their work," said Ryan.

In social work, for example, "there's a huge backlog," he said. "There aren't many social workers out there, so they always have a lot to get done. Their time isn't really their own."

The study showed that adults between the ages of 18 and 24 were the most depressed age group. Ryan suggested that, since many adults in this age group attend college, "part of that might be that they're working while going to school and they don't have a lot of control over their time."

Health care practitioners like Ryan were ranked among the most depressed professionals, something that Ryan attributes to the ever-changing field of medicine.

"I think the changing is getting increasingly frustrating for health practitioners," he said.

jkimball@dailyemerald.com

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