Unemployment is one of the social phenomena with the greatest psychological implications: its effects are noticeable in very varied areas of life, for two reasons.
First of all, a purely material aspect: The majority of people of working age spend a good part of the hours of the week dedicating themselves to their professional side so the lack of this element of daily life represents a big change that forces us to position ourselves regarding the question of how to manage that time.
Secondly, the workplace is one of the main elements that constitute the existence of civilizations, whose existence is possible thanks to the social division of labor (that is, not everyone has to be in charge of the same subsistence tasks, but rather offers goods and services to others), so that practically any area of life in society is connected to professional life.
This means that, in most cases, The longer we stay away from this reality, the more problems will arise
Now… what, specifically, are the psychological consequences of not having a job, from which unemployment anxiety is derived? Let’s see which are the most important.
1. Introduces a feeling of urgency into everyday life
Anxiety is a predisposition to the state of activation to be able to react quickly to warning signals all based on pessimistic or disturbing thoughts about what will happen in the near future.
This logic fits perfectly with the attitude that unemployed people are expected to have: always alert for the slightest sign of finding a job gap to fill with their own workforce, so that they can integrate as soon as possible into the productive machinery of the society.
On the other hand, given the lack of information about what the labor market will bring us, It is very easy to entertain catastrophic ideas about how we will end up living or working: the ambiguity of an increasingly diverse and changing economy means that fears and anguish are what we fill that knowledge gap with.
2. Affects self-esteem
In a society in which money has a powerful emotional charge and It is associated with certain lifestyles and concepts of social labeling, it is common that the fact of not having paid work undermines the self-esteem of those who do not have a job. In fact, it is not uncommon for this to happen even to those who, due to their privileged economic situation, do not even see the need to work to maintain a good standard of living.
Furthermore, this phenomenon interacts with gender roles. Normally, beyond the economic aspects of lack of work, it is men who suffer the most from not having paid work, seeing that they do not fit the masculine role of being a self-sufficient person or breadwinner for the family.
3. Alter future plans downwards
A good part of people’s emotional stability is linked to the future plans that they propose ; the projects that help to perceive a sense of continuity in what one does: studying a career, saving to buy a house, learning an art, etc.
For this reason, unemployment is usually associated with problems when setting significant goals, given that as long as we do not have a stable way to earn a living, it is not realistic to assume that in a matter of months we can be in a clearly better situation. than in the present. Which brings us to the next section.
4. It makes it difficult to find sources of motivation
With less to choose from due to a sense of urgency to find a foothold, people who suffer from unemployment anxiety They have more trouble letting their imagination run wild about what they can achieve if they do the right thing
5. It influences family dynamics
For all the above, unemployment makes it very easy to exacerbate conflicts that were already latent in the daily lives of families (distribution of tasks, work expectations, stress due to lack of resources, etc.) or it causes new sources of conflict to arise.
To do?
Here are some tips to keep in mind to deal with unemployment anxiety.
1. Establish a clear and sequential action plan
Starting to organize your ideas about what to do is the first step, and one of the most important.
Focus on these very concrete and simple goals, leaving the rest for another time, It will allow you to progress without having that feeling that you are trying too hard without achieving anything specific Once you see that you are making progress, anxiety will surely reduce, as you realize that your physical and psychological efforts can be channeled through a series of tasks that are useful to you.
2. Structure your day to day well
Create clear schedules and make the most of your time on two fronts: moments in which to work to put an end to that unsatisfactory situation in relation to your work career, on the one hand, and moments for yourself, on the other. You should not underestimate the latter, since If you are psychologically unwell due to lack of rest, that will affect your performance in your personal relationships, and in everything else.
And, of course, it’s crucial that you get enough sleep. If you don’t, you will create a snowball effect with problems and unattended responsibilities due to your physical inability to take care of them.
3. Learn relaxation techniques
Incorporate small relaxation or Mindfulness exercises into your daily life, even if it’s just a five or ten minute session before going to sleep. It will help you get rid of recurring anxious thoughts and adopt a more constructive mindset and objective about what you should do.
4. Don’t blame yourself for what you feel
Anxiety always has a component of a self-fulfilling prophecy: negative sensations make it more likely to experience negative experiences, which in turn generate more negative sensations.
So, don’t feel bad for feeling the way you feel; limit yourself to accept that for a time you are going to experience a certain level of discomfort, to which you should not give more importance than it has trying to eliminate it from your consciousness or getting frustrated because you can’t. Limit yourself to achieving objective changes in your material reality, do not try to perfectly control everything that passes through your mind.
5. Seek psychotherapeutic help
If you notice that the situation is beyond you and that you are not able to manage it on your own, do not blame yourself: It is normal that unemployment has a strong psychological impact that is difficult to manage without having a point of support Seek psychological help to have professional and personalized help.
Are you looking for psychological support?
If you are interested in having psychological therapy to learn to manage anxiety problems or to overcome any other type of emotional or behavioral alteration, we invite you to contact our team of professionals.
In Psychomaster We have a complete team of psychologists specialized in various areas of well-being, and we offer therapy both in person at our facilities in the center of Madrid and through online therapy by video call. If you are interested in knowing more about us or seeing our contact information, go to this page.
