Psychological Consequences Of Unemployment

Unemployment has an even more bitter face than it is shown: the invisibility and stigma of those who suffer it. This is aggravated by the complicit silence of many of the mental health professionals who contemplate its clear consequences in the increasingly demanding of psychological and psychiatric care.

Although the road is still arduous, there are many voices that are launched to denounce this situation, because something cannot be fixed quickly and deeply if there is no real awareness about the magnitude of what is happening. It is not victimizing pessimism: prolonged unemployment and poor working conditions can be life-threatening.

A study by the British BMC Public Health Journal shows that long unemployment is a cause of mental disorders and that precarious work multiplies somatic ailments, in direct line with suffering from high levels of stress (one of the main causes of depression). The French doctor Michael Debout recently published “Traumatisme du chomage” (The trauma of unemployment ), a book that explains how to counteract the undesirable effects of this situation of inactivity at work.

Given the impossibility and powerlessness of the health authorities to stop this situation, some observations from the psychological level should be taken into account. All of them can help you understand that your feelings of frustration are more frequent than it seems and that seeking help from a professional is not a “crazy thing”.

Knowing the above, we will be more aware and tolerant about our feelings and we will take the following observations with more perspective regarding our current unemployment situation.

Unemployment can undermine your reality, but not your aspirations

That you are doing a job for which you are over-qualified is a reality shared by many young people of the current generation. Thus, for example, some branches of engineering or architecture have seen their job opportunities dynamited in certain places.

This situation causes that sometimes people have to perform a job much less qualified for mere survival, neglecting the improvement of their profession. When this happens, it is good to take perspective: allow yourself to do a job that guarantees your survival but does not destroy your dreams.

Although with greater effort, the important thing for personal fulfillment is not to lose sight of your values ​​and objectives despite combining those goals with less qualified jobs. It seems obvious, but losing that perspective will blur your limits and prevent you from being aware of whether you are still sailing towards a port or are doing it aimlessly.

Banish unfounded guilt

Playing with guilt is one of the most powerful control strategies on the part of those with low morals who seek to impose it on others by playing with their feelings. This manipulation happens from the private sphere to the public sphere.

One of the most frequent reasons currently in therapy refers to this fact. Honest, compliant and responsible people who carry a huge feeling of guilt for the difficult situation they are going through. They feel victims but also guilty, so the ambiguity sometimes becomes unbearable.

Be part of a collective

You can fight individually but the truth is that in the face of so many people in the same situation, interacting with a large group is a good option. The ideal is to rely on people with whom you share time and interests.

Relating to a group in the same unemployment situation but in continuous training can increase not only the chances of success, but also the self-esteem and motivation for change. It should also be understood that selfishness is sometimes an act of generosity to others: let’s not waste our time nor do we waste it on others.

Conditioned by age?

We are our worst enemies when it comes to prejudice and limiting labels. If we look back and see what we have learned so far, we will gain momentum. If we think about all that we have to go and how unattainable our goal seems, we will be paralyzed.

Sometimes the fear is such that we look for an excuse good enough not to commit ourselves, because of that fear of “failure”, because of that evaluation and social pressure of everything we do. If we continue to take the future and the value that others make of ourselves as a perspective, we will become stagnant. We will neither advance nor retreat, so we must decide if we want to continue in neutral until we slide off the cliff.

The golden rule: Don’t worry, take care

Be so busy changing your situation that it seems urgent, without too many waiting times. Do it in such a way that the time slots for daily reflection are spaced apart and as short as possible. Unemployment tends to increase the instability of neurotic people by a high percentage.

Do not give too much room for maneuver to time, it tends to betray you in periods of waiting and of special emotional tension. Even if you cannot work, train yourself for it in such a way that you are not only qualified, but also aware and prepared for a daily and competitive routine.