Unemployment anxiety: how does it arise, and what to do?

We explore the phenomenon of unemployment anxiety, which is very frequent in times of economic crisis.

The existence of unemployment anxiety demonstrates the extent to which mental health is linked to the social phenomena occurring around us. that occur around us.

In this article we will see why it arises frequently, and what can be done in these cases.

• Related article "Types of Anxiety Disorders and their characteristics".

Causes of unemployment anxiety

Unemployment is one of the social phenomena with the greatest psychological implications: its effects are felt in very varied areas of life, for two reasons.

First, a purely material aspect: most people of working age spend a good part of their working hours during the week in their professional life.The lack of this element of everyday life is a major change that forces us to consider the question of how to manage this time.

Secondly, the work environment is one of the main elements that constitute the existence of civilizations, whose existence is made possible by the social division of labor (i.e., not everyone has to take care of the same subsistence tasks, but offers goods and services to others), so that virtually any area of life in society is connected to professional life.

This means that, in most cases, the longer we remain on the sidelines of this reality, the more problems arise..

Now then... what are, concretely, the psychological consequences of the fact of not having a job, from which unemployment anxiety derives? Let's see which are the most important ones.

1. It introduces a sense of urgency into everyday life.

Anxiety is a predisposition to a state of arousal in order to react quickly to warning signals, all based on pessimistic or disturbing thoughts about what will happen in the near future.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 to the slightest sign of finding a job opening to fill with one's own labor force, so that they can be integrated into society's productive machinery as soon as possible.

On the other hand, in the absence of information about what the labor market has in store for us, it is very easy to feed catastrophic ideas about the future, it is very easy to feed catastrophic ideas about how we will have to end up living or working.The ambiguity of an increasingly diverse and changing economy means that fears and anguish are what we use to fill this knowledge gap.

2. Affects self-esteem

In a society in which money has a powerful emotional charge and is associated with certain lifestyles and social is associated with certain lifestyles and concepts of social labelingIn a society where money is emotionally charged and associated with certain lifestyles and concepts of social labeling, the fact of not having a paid job often erodes 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, because of their privileged economic situation, do not even need to work to maintain a good standard of living.

Moreover, this phenomenon interacts with gender roles. Normally, beyond the economic aspects of the lack of work, it is men who suffer the most from not having paid work, seeing that they do not fit the male role of a self-sufficient person or a person who brings support to the family.

• You may be interested in "6 good tips (and habits) to boost your self-esteem."

3. Alters downward plans for the future

A large part of people's emotional stability is linked to the is linked to the plans for the future that they set themselvesThe projects that help to perceive a sense of continuity in what is being done: studying a career, saving to buy a house, learning an art, etc.

This is why unemployment is often associated with problems when it comes to setting meaningful goals, given that as long as there is no stable way of making a living, it is unrealistic to assume that in a matter of months we can be in a clearly better situation than at present. This brings us to the next section

4. It makes it difficult to find sources of motivation

With less to choose from due to the sense of urgency to find a handhold, people suffering from unemployment anxiety have more problems when it comes to finding a job. have more trouble imagining what they can achieve if they do the right things..

5. Influences family dynamics

For all of the above reasons, unemployment makes it very easy to exacerbate conflicts that were already latent in the day-to-day life of families (division of tasks, work expectations, stress due to lack of resources, etc.) or it causes new sources of conflict to emerge. (distribution of tasks, work expectations, stress due to lack of resources, etc.) or else it causes new sources of conflict to emerge.

What to do?

Here are some tips to keep in mind to deal with unemployment anxiety.

1. Establish a clear and sequential plan of action.

Starting to sort out your ideas about what to do is the first step, and one of the most important.

Focusing on these very concrete and simple goals, leaving the rest for another time, will allow you to make progress without the feeling that you are trying too hard without achieving anything specific.. Once you see that you are making progress, your anxiety will surely be reduced, 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 daily life 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 career path, on the one hand, and moments for you, on the other. You should not underestimate the latter, given that if you are psychologically unwell due to lack of rest, this will have repercussions on your performance, your personal relationships, and your personal life.and your personal relationships, and everything else.

And, of course, it is crucial that you get enough sleep. If you don't, you will create a snowball effect of unattended problems and responsibilities because of your physical inability to take care of them.

3. Learn relaxation techniques

Incorporate small relaxation or Mindfulness exercises into your daily routine, even if it is 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 and objective mindset about what you need to do. and objective about what you should do.

4. Don't blame yourself for what you feel

Anxiety always has a self-fulfilling prophecy component: negative feelings make you more likely to have negative experiences, which in turn generate more negative feelings.

So don't feel bad about feeling the way you feel; just accept that for a while you are going to experience some negative feelings. accept that for a time you will 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 for not being able to do so. Limit yourself to achieve objective changes in your material reality, do not try to perfectly control everything that goes through your mind.

5. Seek psychotherapeutic help

If you feel that the situation is beyond you and that you are not able to manage it by your own means, do not blame yourself: it is normal for unemployment to have a strong psychological impact that is difficult to manage without a support point.. Seek psychological help for professional and personalized assistance.

Looking for psychological support?

If you are interested in psychological therapy to learn how 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 Psicomaster we have a complete team of psychologists specialized in various areas of wellness, 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 see our contact details, access this page.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing. pp. 189 - 195.
• Bienvenu, O.J.; Ginsburg, G.S. (2007). Prevention of anxiety disorders. International Review of Psychiatry. 19(6): pp. 647 - 654.
• Gu, R.; Huang, Y.X.; Luo, Y.J. (2010). Anxiety and feedback negativity. Psychophysiology. 47(5): 961 - 967.
• Otte, C. (2011). Cognitive behavioral therapy in anxiety disorders: current state of the evidence. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 13(4): pp. 413 - 421.
• Phillips, A.C.; Carroll, D.; Der, G. (2015). Negative life events and symptoms of depression and anxiety: stress causation and/or stress generation. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 28(4): pp. 357 - 371.
• Torpy, J.M.; Burke, A.E.; Golub, R.M. (2011). Generalized Anxiety Disorder. JAMA. 305(5): 522.