What are the psychological effects of unemployment?

Employment gives us economic security, structuring of time and identity, aspects which disappear when we go to unemployment.

At first being unemployed can be seen in multiple ways. Some see it as a kind of "vacation" while others are more concerned but, with the passage of time, has serious repercussions on our vision of ourselves and our Health.

Next we will delve into the subject of the psychological effects of unemployment, the phases in which they appear and what we can do to counteract it.

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The main psychological effects of unemployment, and its symptoms

Work is a fundamental part of our lives. Not only does it provide us with economic security, but it is also considered on many occasions a source of well-being and psychological and social balance. It is true that many people see working as something negative, but employment is actually an important protective factor for our health, since gives us identity, economic stability and helps us to 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 experience professional or it may also happen that we have been fired from our previous job, introducing us to uncertainty from the stoppage.

Regardless of how the unemployment situation has been reached, if it extends over time the person without work will begin to undergo a series of emotional, psychological and social transformations that should not be despised. In fact, the health of unemployed people is more fragile than that of people with a job, having twice the risk of suffering psychological problems such as depression, anxiety disorders and psychosomatization, in addition to seeing their psychological well-being and self-esteem reduced.

Naturally, each person can experience the unemployment situation differently. Each one is unique in their way of relating to the world, having different resources and their circumstances being varied, in addition to the fact that social and family support can also vary. Even so, if an unemployed person cannot find a job for a long time, sooner or later his 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 the reduction of self-esteem, stress, anxiety and negative feelings in general 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.

Phase 1. The enthusiasm

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, believing in their chances of finding a new job and seeing this stage as a period of holidays. 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 his new unemployed state, this new condition is not fully assumed, much less introduced as a characteristic of her 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 such as changing mood, anguish, worry about the future, irritation and insomnia can be manifested.

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Phase 2. Stagnation

This stage is between six and 18 months after the person lost his 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 will evaluate your expectations trying to see if they were unrealistic. As demotivation and disenchantment appear for the new situation, it is normal that the active job searches and career preferences are changed, desperately looking for something else.

This is where the symptoms of seizures that may have appeared in the first stage begin to worsen. In addition, many people begin to feel ashamed or guilty for not finding a job, and as a result they feel very irritable and nervous, sometimes even aggressive.

Phase 3. Reluctance

This third stage lasts 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 because they cannot find a job or because no one wants to hire them.

Phase 4. Total resignation

This stage would begin about 24 months after losing their job. The person has not found anything new for more than two years and has lost all hope of going back to work, he completely resigns himself to it. You are no longer looking for a job since you consider it a waste of timeIn addition to the fact that he even feels anxious to search and that they will reject him again in an interview or do not call him directly despite having delivered resumes throughout the city.

The unemployed person has a great emptiness inside, seeing themselves as less valuable than the people who do work and, Also, like his old professional status, that is, the name with which he defined himself in relation to his profession (p. eg, doctor, butcher, teacher ...) no longer defines you. He is no longer any of that, now he is "Pedro the unemployed" or "Maria the jobless." This leaves them chronically frustrated.

What's more, the more time passes, the less you feel that you will be able to do the old job with the same effort. One has the impression that faculties are being lost, that the practice that had been improving over time has been lost, that it would have than to try again as when he started when he was young... and other more impressions that make the person back down even more and not want to look job.

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Psychological characteristics of unemployment

Having seen how unemployment involves 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 do not see them, as if they are invisible and cut off from the economic and social system, since in their belief system who does not work does not contribute to society.

Another characteristic of unemployment, which can occur as soon as the news of the dismissal is received, is the confusion and disorganization of time. Work imposes schedules on us that, although we don't like them, end up giving us structure in our day-to-day life. We get up to go to work, we go, we work and we return at a certain time, having daily guidelines of what to do. The moment we become unemployed, these patterns are lost and we become disoriented, running the risk that the days will fly by without doing anything at all.

Another very worrying phenomenon that can occur associated with unemployment is that the person gradually reduces their social interaction. When we work we have to interact with our colleagues and boss, which, although 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 vent and interact with your family. When a person loses their job they can feel so ashamed that they leave their friendships, in addition to not wanting to talk to his family because he is very dissatisfied with their situation, which ends up hurting their ties.

To do?

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. In the event of these problems, you should go to a psychologist and also to a professional to help us find work and manage unemployment. We must not give up and we must keep looking because, although it may be done to beg, 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 wandering, 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 look, the more likely we are to find something. While we are looking for something we can take the opportunity to expand our training and recycle, making us more competitive in the job market.

Unemployment is a fleeting 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 “unemployed” identity 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 ask ourselves what other work options we have.

Finally, and as an almost more important aspect than the previous ones, we must organize our time. As we said, losing our job makes us have 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, doing our hobbies, practicing sports, taking care of ourselves and training. It is especially useful to assign a time slot to search for job offers on a daily basis.

Bibliographic references:

• Paul, Karsten & Moser, Klaus. (2009). Unemployment Impairs Mental Health: Meta-Analyzes. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 74. 264-282. 10.1016 / j.jvb.2009.01.001.