Unemployment and Depression

Record levels of unemployment continue to plague America. More and more individuals are finding that their job search is taking far longer than they could have ever imagined. The stock market continues to vacillate with each passing day and every bit of new information. Financial markets seem to be on the upswing and some analysts say the end of the recession is in sight, yet employment continues to lose ground.

If you, or a friend, are currently experiencing unemployment, you know that one of the major dangers of prolonged unemployment is emotional depression. Today to make it worse, many of the unemployed are people who are simply not accustomed to being unemployed. They are people who have held jobs for as long as they can remember, and are unemployed through no fault of their own. Yet despite their most diligent efforts, very little opportunity is presenting itself.

It's no wonder that more and more of these job seekers are simply dropping out of the job market full of discouragement and depression. It's no wonder that they begin to question their own abilities. They begin to question themselves at their most fundamental level, because as we know, in American society we are what we do.

Are you one of those people, or do you know one of those people? iVillage.com has a quick quiz to find out whether or not you're suffering from unemployment depression. Click the link to find out.

This isn't a column about how to search for a job; I'll save that for later. Today I'm writing about how to keep from becoming so depressed you can't do the things you need to do to find a job. So if you took the quiz and scored that you were bad or even slightly bad because of unemployment, you need to think about what to do to keep from becoming more depressed or perhaps even to pull yourself out of it. It certainly sounds easier than it is, I know that.

But sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective. Esther November in her column entitled "Unemployment Depression" has five suggestions of things to do to keep yourself from being too preoccupied with being unemployed. "Avoiding the unemployment blues" as she says. Mostly her ideas, and those of other experts, center around focusing on activities other than your job search. It's all too easy, when times get rough, to get focused too intensely on your job search and make yourself crazy.

For some people, it's more than simply feeling bad. Prolonged unemployment for some people can be a long and downhill road to clinical depression. Clinical depression can have physical symptoms as well as emotional symptoms. If you know someone clinically depressed it's important that you encourage them to seek professional assistance from a psychotherapist. Click here for a more formal questionnaire about clinical depression and resources for psychotherapy.

More important than anything else, all experts agree, is to not become discouraged. One way to keep your courage and your spirits up is not to be alone. In addition to reaching out to family and friends as November suggests, many people are finding job clubs, or other types of support groups, to be invaluable. The clubs and groups are helping them avoid the isolation that can come with prolonged unemployment and to maintain their enthusiasm and motivation for their job search and their life in general. Click here to learn more.

If you know someone who's experiencing prolonged unemployment, perhaps for the first time in their life, the best way to be a friend is to keep them occupied in activities that distract them from the difficulties of their job search. By all means support their search efforts, but do your part to provide the other side of the picture to help keep them sane.

If you your self are in danger of succumbing to depression while being unemployed, make your best efforts not to be alone. Whether by support group or by the company of your friends, keep yourself sane. And don't forget a personal coach can keep you motivated, too busy to be depressed, and assist you with your job search strategies.

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