Psychological Consequences Of Unemployment

Unemployment has an even more bitter face than it seems: the invisibility and stigma of those who suffer from it.  This is compounded by the complicit silence of many mental health professionals, who contemplate its clear consequences. More and more unemployed people need psychological and psychiatric attention.

Even though the path is still arduous, there are many voices that are launching to denounce this situation, as this cannot be completely resolved if there is no real awareness of the magnitude of what is happening. This is not victimistic pessimism:  prolonged unemployment and poor working conditions can be lethal to health.

A study by the BMC, a British newspaper, shows that  long-term unemployment causes mental disorders and precarious work multiplies somatic illnesses, in direct line with suffering from high levels of stress (a major cause of depression). French physician Michael Debout recently published  “Traumatisme du chomage” (The trauma of unemployment) , a book in which he explains how to resist the undesirable effects of a situation of inactivity.

Faced with the impossibility and impotence of the health authorities to curb 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 they seem and that looking for help from a professional is not “crazy”.

Knowing what has happened before, we will be more aware and tolerant with respect to our feelings and take, with more perspective, the following observations about our current unemployment situation.

Unemployment may impact your reality, but not your aspirations

Doing a job for which you are over-qualified is a reality shared by many young people  in today’s generation.  So, for example, some branches of engineering or architecture see their job opportunities blown up in certain places.

This situation makes people have to perform a much less qualified job for mere survival, neglecting the improvement of their profession. When that happens, it’s good to look at a perspective:  Allow yourself to do work that ensures your survival, but doesn’t annihilate your dreams.

Although with greater effort,  the important thing for personal fulfillment is not to lose sight of your values ​​and goals,  despite combining these goals with less qualified work. It sounds obvious, but losing perspective will cause you to lose sight of your boundaries and prevent you from being aware of whether you will continue to sail towards a harbor or whether you will continue aimlessly.

abandon baseless 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 takes place from the private to the public sphere.

One of the most frequent reasons currently in therapy alludes to this fact. Honorable, hardworking and responsible people who carry a huge sense of guilt because of the difficult situation they are going through. They feel victims but also guilty, and the ambiguity sometimes becomes unbearable.

Be part of a collective

You can fight individually, but the truth is that, given the number of people in the same situation, relating to a group is a good option. The ideal is to rely on people who share  time  and interests.

Relating to a group in the same unemployment situation, but undergoing continuous training, can increase not only the chances of success, but also their self-esteem and motivation for change. It should also be understood that selfishness is sometimes an act of generosity towards others: we cannot waste time, and we cannot make others waste it.

Conditioned by age?

We ourselves are our worst enemies with respect to   limiting prejudices and labels. If we look back and see what we’ve learned so far, we’ll have momentum. If we think about all that remains to be done and how unattainable our goal seems to be, we will be paralyzed.

Sometimes the fear is so great that we look for an excuse good enough not to commit, for fear of “failure”, due to the evaluation and social pressure on everything we do. If we continue to take the future and the assessment that others make of ourselves as a perspective, we will be at a standstill.  We will neither advance nor retreat; therefore, we need to decide if we want to continue in neutral until we fall off the precipice.

A golden rule: Don’t worry, get busy

Get more busy changing your situation, urgently, without a lot of waiting time. Make sure that the time spaces for daily reflection are spaced and at the same time as short as possible. Unemployment tends to increase the instability of neurotic people.

Don’t give time too much leeway, it often betrays periods of waiting and especially emotional tension. Even if you can’t work, train for a job in such a way that employers not only think you’re qualified, but that you’re ready and prepared for a competitive daily routine.