The Psychological Effects Of Unemployment

Work, in addition to providing us with economic or salary status, can also be considered a source of well-being and psychological and / or social balance, in the majority of cases. So, when he is absent from our lives, a series of changes take place: it is for this reason that it is worth dedicating an article to the psychology surrounding unemployment.

When a person is looking for a job for the first time or has worked for years and suddenly finds himself unemployed, he can go through a series of emotional, psychological and social transformations. The American Psychological Association (APA) states that ”  unemployed people are twice as likely as working people to suffer from psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, poor well-being. and low self-confidence ” (Paul & Moser, 2009)

But it should be borne in mind that  the situation of unemployment is an experience which transcends the objectivity of the lack of employment,  since it is experienced and interpreted in different ways according to a series of individual circumstances, which include the psychological resources of which benefit the affected person and those around him.

According to the various studies and the opinion of professional experts, we find a series of phases and common factors linked to the psychological effects that can occur in a situation of unemployment. In the rest of this article, we will try to identify them.

Phases of job loss

Usually  the first reaction to the onset of unemployment is bewilderment, with a mixture of skepticism and fear. It is a feeling similar to that of a situation of “shock” in which one finds feelings of disorientation and confusion, accompanied by a feeling of failure and inability to make plans for the future.

Later,  this phase is followed by a phase of recovery, characterized by unreal optimism, a feeling of being “on vacation”,  which implies that the person does not yet consider themselves to be unemployed. Thus, the loss of employment is seen as something temporary.

But if the situation does not reverse, there comes a time when the person can no longer continue to experience this situation as a vacation and is beset by the fear that his absence from work will be prolonged in time. This is where she begins to take further steps to find work, living her first real experiences of rejection.

When all the efforts do not lead to any results, the individual feels pessimistic and may present with symptoms of anxiety, with periods of melancholy and irritability  and very often with the onset of psychophysiological disturbances. During this phase, family and social support is crucial, as well as the person’s ability to cope.

Later the recognition of the own identity of unemployment takes place with all its psychological characteristics. Fatalistic ideas crop up as job search activity is reduced, with no prospect of success. The individual therefore sees unemployment as a personal failure instead of a social failure, which leads him to isolate himself.

Over time,  the social experience is impoverished,  due to the change in the structure of daily life and the tendency to move away from all social life, since one feels ashamed and insecure. . A situation that often worsens because of the indifference and contempt of others who see us as weak. Thus, it is not uncommon for the person to enter a spiral of depression, in which the outbursts of active confrontation are increasingly rare and where the probability of succumbing to different temptations such as drugs increases.

Psychological characteristics of unemployment

Therefore,  one of the first impacts of unemployment is the painful experience of invisibility syndrome,  as stated by the professor of psychopathology at the University of Murcia, José Buendía. The person who suffers from it has the impression that he is “not seen”, that he is lost in the middle of the crowd and considers himself totally outside the economic and social system.

In addition, unemployment causes a feeling of tension in many individuals who cannot find work for the first time or who, after having carried out some professional activity, can no longer do so. This situation represents for the person  a change in the social structure to which they were used because they have lost their professional identity.

“Unemployment can lead to feelings of personal helplessness and self-guilt. We see an increase in critical comments towards someone and blame, leading to greater stress and a decrease or even loss of self-esteem. “

The person gradually isolates himself from others, leading to a deterioration of family and social relationships. In addition, depressive symptoms, such as feelings of sadness or listlessness, may increase. While in other cases, feelings of irritability, fear, worry and / or anxious symptoms appear. A link has also been made between unemployment and the appearance of psychophysiological disorders.

Unemployment thus causes psychological discomfort which requires  specialized and targeted attention,  not for the job search but  for the reconstruction of the person who has weakened along the way. This person also needs social empathy and for us to stop seeing the unemployed as being guilty of the situation they find themselves in, thinking that what makes their situation different from ours is something different from luck, then that most of the time it’s not like that.

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