The study, which appears in Psychological Medicine, tracked 1,000 adults in their early 30s in Dunedin, New Zealand. It found 45 percent of all new cases of depression and anxiety was attributable to stressful work.
Urging employers to be more protective of workers' mental health, the researchers found that overall 10 percent of men and 14 percent of women in the study suffered a first episode of depression or anxiety over the year.
But the risk was double in those with the highest-pressure jobs including actress, brain surgeon, teacher, helicopter pilot, dustbin man, journalist and policeman.
BBC quotes study leader Dr. Maria Melchior, epidemiologist at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, as saying, "Our study shows that work stress appears to bring on diagnosable forms of depression and anxiety in previously healthy young workers."
Since people in high-pressure jobs may also have less time to take part in social activities, the study also found that stress hormones in the brain could not only lead to depression, but also fatigue and lack of sleep.
