Unemployment and Mental Health: Understanding the Connection
When life enters unprecedented territory, things start to feel a little… wild. For most people, losing or leaving their jobs can set their whole life off balance. Money may become tight, the job market is even tighter, and with the rising costs of living, being unemployed can put your mind in a really tough place.
At Chenal Family Therapy, we’re here to help you unravel tough thoughts and feelings, and to understand how to put one foot in front of the other when it comes to mental health. Unemployment and mental health can go hand in hand. Understanding the connection between them can help you regain control over finances and your mental health.
How Unemployment Can Affect You Psychologically
It’s understandable that if steady income is suddenly cut off, or expectantly so, it can cause a huge strain on your mental health. Many people worry about their financial situation even while steadily and securely employed. The American Psychological Association found in a study that 72% of Americans have felt stressed about money for at least some part of their life.
Possibly now more than ever, with inflation costs and tight job markets, finances are on everyone’s mind in some way, shape, or form.
Whether or not your loss of employment was expected, loss of work can lead to escalating debt and unexpected expenses. Subsequently, this can put stress on your mental and physical health, relationships, and overall quality of life. This stress can start to affect both your mind and body.
You may begin to feel that your sleep is being impacted, your self esteem is changing, and your energy levels are lowering. You may feel heightened emotions like anger and sadness. Life may begin to feel a bit rocky.
Financial uncertainty coupled with strain on your personal life can result in psychological manifestations. Depression, insomnia, and anxiety may start to become a daily or chronic event in your life. Because of this mental stress, physical ailments may follow. Weight gain or loss, headaches, gastrointestinal problems, and high blood pressure may begin to affect you.
The Cycle
Once both the mind and body are affected, it’s possible that you can enter a cycle of poor financial stability and mental health. Many studies have found a cyclical link between financial stress and mental health problems.
This is because financial problems impact your mental health. Financial insecurity can lead to chronic anxiety and depression, which in turn makes it harder to manage money due to a lack of energy or stacking debt. Eventually, if the cycle isn’t broken, even more financial problems can emerge, causing an increase in money problems, and declining mental health.
No matter how bad a financial situation can get, there is a way out of the cycle.
Talking to someone about your finances is a good way to start. It might feel awkward to openly discuss your finances at first, but once you’re honest with someone and you’re able to get it off your chest, you may begin to feel like a weight has just come off 0f your shoulders.
Whomever you choose to open up to does not have to be a financial advisor. However, try to find someone whom you trust with this information. Allow yourself to feel whatever emotions may surround this subject.
Professional financial advice is a great way to start to break the cycle. Often, there are free resources available to those who are struggling financially. Start by looking into what your community offers.
Chenal Family Therapy is here to help. If you feel that you’re ready to open up about how unemployment has affected you, don’t wait. Both in person and online therapy are available at a variety of locations here in Arkansas. Visit our services and online therapy pages to learn more about what options are available to you.
SPP is a subset of Chenal Family Therapy, PLC, ACEP Provider Number: 7233