What Are The Psychological Effects Of Unemployment?
Employment gives us economic security, structuring of time and identity, aspects which disappear when we become unemployed.
At first, being unemployed can be seen in multiple ways. Some see it as a kind of “vacation” while others are more concerned, but over time it has serious repercussions on our view of ourselves and our health.
Next we will delve into the topic of the psychological effects of unemploymentthe phases in which they appear and what we can do to counteract it.
The main psychological effects of unemployment, and its symptoms
Work is a fundamental part of our lives. It not only provides us with economic security but is also often considered a source of well-being and psychological and social balance. It is true that many people see working as something negative, but employment actually acts as an important protective factor for our health, since it It gives us identity, economic stability and helps us structure our time and feel useful and valued..
However, at some point in our lives we have to face a situation of unemployment. It may be because we have never had a job before and we are looking for what will be our first professional experience or it may also happen that we have been fired from our previous job, introducing us to the uncertainty of unemployment.
Regardless of how the unemployment situation was reached, if it continues over time, the jobless person will begin to suffer a series of emotional, psychological and social transformations that should not be underestimated. In fact, the health of unemployed people is more fragile than that of employed people, having twice the risk of suffering psychological problems such as depression, anxiety disorders and psychosomatization, in addition to having reduced psychological well-being and self-esteem.
Naturally, each person can experience the situation of unemployment differently.. Each person is unique in their way of relating to the world, having different resources and varied circumstances, in addition to social and family support that may also vary. Even so, if an unemployed person cannot find work for a long time, sooner or later his or her mental health will suffer, manifesting the serious psychological effects of unemployment.
Phases of job loss
Suddenly, the main psychological effects of unemployment that we can mention are reduced self-esteem, stress, anxiety and general negative feelings such as devaluation, hopelessness, irritability and apathy. These symptoms do not appear at the beginning of unemployment, but after a few months following a process that involves several phases.
This stage lasts approximately the first six months after the person loses their job.. Although with surprise and some uncertainty, the person tries to see the bad news of his dismissal in a somewhat positive way, believing in his chances of finding a new job and seeing this stage as a vacation period. They look to the future with optimism and put energy into looking for a new job. Your expectations are high. It may be the case that they go through this phase as a crisis but it is not serious.
Although the person looks positively at their new unemployed status, this new condition is not completely assumed and much less introduced as a characteristic of their identity. See this situation as something temporary, an impasse, something that will end up being fixed shortly. Likewise, some symptoms typical of a crisis phase may manifest, such as changing mood, anguish, worry about the future, irritation and insomnia.
Phase 2. Stagnation
This stage covers between six and 18 months since the person lost their job. The person who has not found a job in the first stage will begin to rethink their situation, your value as a person and evaluate your expectations trying to see if they were unrealistic. As demotivation and disenchantment with the new situation appear, it is normal for active job searches to begin to reduce and professional preferences to change, looking for something more desperate.
This is where the crisis symptoms that may have appeared in the first stage begin to worsen. Furthermore, many people begin to feel shame or guilt for not finding a job, and as a consequence they feel very irritable and nervous, sometimes even aggressive.
Phase 3. Reluctance
This third stage is between 18 and 24 months since the job was lost. Here People begin to resign themselves to their condition, introducing the word “unemployed” into their identity.. His emotional state tends towards depression, in addition to showing feelings of inferiority, apathy, reluctance, hopelessness, failure and sadness. The person feels like a real failure for not finding a job or because no one wants to hire them.
Phase 4. Total resignation
This stage would begin about 24 months after losing your job. The person has not found anything new for more than two years and has lost all hope of working again, he is totally resigned to it. He is no longer looking for a job because he considers it a waste of time.in addition to even feeling anxious about searching and being rejected again in an interview or not being called at all despite having delivered resumes all over the city.
The unemployed person has a great emptiness inside, seeing themselves as less valuable than people who do work and, also, as their former professional condition, that is, the name with which they defined themselves in relation to their profession (p. e.g., doctor, butcher, teacher…) no longer defines him. It is no longer any of that, now it is “Peter the unemployed” or “María the jobless.” This makes them chronically frustrated.
Besides, The more time passes, the less feeling you have that you will be able to do the old job. with the same effort. There is the impression that one is losing one’s faculties, that the practice that had been improving over time has been lost, that one would have to make the same effort as when one started as a young man… and other impressions that make the person set back even more and don’t want to look for work.
Psychological characteristics of unemployment
Once we have seen how unemployment implies different psychological problems in different phases, we can go deeper into a few characteristics of the absence of work. Many unemployed people feel as if they are not seen, as if they are invisible and separated from the economic and social system.since in their belief system those who do not work do not contribute to society.
Another characteristic of unemployment, which can occur as soon as you receive the news of the dismissal, is confusion and disorganization of time. Work imposes schedules on us that, even if we don’t like them, end up giving us structure in our daily lives. We get up to go to work, we go, we work and we come back at a certain time, having daily guidelines of what to do. The moment we become unemployed, these guidelines are lost and we become disoriented, running the risk that the days fly by without doing absolutely anything.
Another very worrying phenomenon that can occur associated with unemployment is that the person reduces their social interaction. When we work we have to interact with our colleagues and boss, which, even if we don’t like them, gives us a certain social life. It also happens that when you have a job you go out with friends to let off steam and interact with your family. When a person loses their job they may feel so ashamed that they abandon their friends.in addition to not wanting to talk to his family because he is very dissatisfied with his situation, which ends up hurting his ties.
As we have seen, the longer we spend unemployed, the more our mental health suffers. Depressive symptoms, anxiety, irritability and feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness may appear. If these problems occur, we should go to a psychologist and also to a professional who can help us find work and manage unemployment. We must not give up and we must continue searching because, although it may take some asking, sooner or later we will find something.
The first thing is to take an active attitude from the beginning of unemployment. We can see the new situation as a kind of vacation but not in the sense of lazing around, but as a rest. Even so, we must take a more positive and active attitude, avoiding making a negative interpretation of our unemployment and being clear that the more we search, the more likely we will be to find something. While we are looking for something, we can take advantage of it to expand our training and retrain ourselves, making us more competitive in the labor market.
Unemployment is a temporary and temporary situation. It is true that the economic crises have not helped to find jobs quickly, and that age is not a factor that helps either, but still We must not give up and make the identity “unemployed” take root in our minds.. The more we move, the more we will shorten this situation and, if we are not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, we can always consider what other work options we have.
Finally, and as an aspect almost more important than the previous ones, we must organize our time. As we said, losing our job leaves us with many empty hours throughout the day, which is a bitter situation but now that we have free time we can take advantage of it. The time has come to dedicate ourselves to ourselves, doing our hobbies, playing sports, taking care of ourselves and training ourselves. It is especially useful to allocate a time slot to search for job offers daily.
