Posts Tagged ‘unemployment stress’
Blog Talk Radio Show: Are you unemployed and stressed?
Dr. John Deri’s next Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will be on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 from 8-8:30 PM PST.
The topic of the episode will be: How to Cope with the Stress of Unemployment
Unemployed people tend to withdraw from others – social isolation results in depression and anxiety. Unemployment is not simply experienced as an adverse outcome of a weakened economy, but rather is felt to be a sign of personal inadequacy. Shame is a further complicating factor. It tends to cause a person to hide from others. Social withdrawal compounds the stress of unemployment, resulting in worsening depression and anxiety. A downward spiral happens: progressive loss of energy and demoralization can develop into near total paralysis.
During the show Dr. Deri will share how the following steps can help you to cope with the stress of unemployment:
➢ Maintain your social life
➢ Schedule your time wisely
➢ Be flexible – relax your grip on your “identity”
➢ Deepen your spiritual life
➢ Ask for help if you need it
To listen to the show you can:
1. Dial the phone in telephone number at (347) 989-0560
OR
2. Tune in to our online channel at http://tinyurl.com/DrJohnDeriBlogTalkRadioShow
How to Cope with the Stress of Unemployment
We are living in an era of a rate of unemployment that is persistently high. Nearly unprecedented numbers of people have been without work for six months or more. In our highly mobile society, families are often widely scattered geographically. People who have been laid off, and have not been able to find work, are experiencing a potentially toxic combination of survival fear and separation anxiety. There is a simultaneous lack of financial resources and social support
Unemployed people tend to withdraw from others – social isolation results in depression and anxiety
Unemployment is not simply experienced as an adverse outcome of a weakened economy, but rather is felt to be a sign of personal inadequacy. Shame is a further complicating factor. It tends to cause a person to hide from others. Social withdrawal compounds the stress of unemployment, resulting in worsening depression and anxiety. These emotional states further compromise an individual’s capacity to cope adaptively with their situation. A downward spiral happens: progressive loss of energy and demoralization can develop into near total paralysis.
Six steps to implement to cope with unemployment:
➢ Devise a program of regular physical activity
Spend at least 30 minutes per day engaged in vigorous aerobic exercise. Physical activity has numerous physiological effects, including but not limited to the release of endorphins, all of which are potent mood elevators, anxiety reducers and energy enhancers. You will find that physical movement stimulates movement in your mind. You will see possibilities and create opportunities that you would never have had the energy to envision while in a state of inactivity. Moreover, daily physical activity will promote sound sleep, so essential for effective functioning.
➢ Maintain your social life
Fight the impulse to withdraw into seclusion. On a practical level, remaining in touch with others is necessary for networking. On an emotional level, contact with others provides a vital experience of nurturance. You will feel held in the literal and figurative embrace of your friends and family. Your needs, physical, emotional and spiritual, will not be met unless you express them to others. “Ask, and ye shall receive.”
➢ Schedule your time
Without the built in structure of regular employment, there are two dangers: succumbing to total paralysis on the one hand, or engaging in ceaseless, frantic activity on the other. Neither of these modes of living will serve you. Schedule defined blocks of time each day for activities related to your job search. Equally importantly, schedule “down time” each day for rest, relaxation and recreation. Feeling guilty about taking time off from your job hunt can cause you to run your engines at full thrust throughout each day. This is a sure prescription for burn out and exhaustion.
➢ Be flexible
In our society, we tend to cling to an occupationally defined identity: “I am a doctor, lawyer, etc.” Relax your grip on your “identity.” Reflect more broadly on your values, your ideals and your purpose in life. How might you manifest these in new ways? What is your underlying motivation in living your life? How might you express this in the world?
➢ Deepen your spiritual life
Do you find your spiritual home in an organized religion? If not there, then where? Find or create your own spiritual practice. This can be a form of meditation, body or energy work, service to others, communion with nature: the possibilities are endless. Experiencing a connection with a reality larger than yourself will help you to transcend the illusion of a unitary “self.” Achieving this transcendent state of being will dissolve your tension and anxieties, freeing you to live your live to your full potential. Faith will displace despair. Inspiration will replace paralysis.
➢ Ask for help if you need it
The stressor of unemployment has the potential to trigger and to amplify anxieties of days gone by. This amplification phenomenon can result in levels of anxiety or depression that may not respond fully to the coping strategies that have been described. If you are troubled by your life circumstances, and want to find your rightful place in the “infinity of being,” I would be delighted to communicate with you.