Impact of Unemployment on Mental Health

Posted On October 1, 2021January 25, 2022

Posted By Alex Perez - Mental Health Writer, B.A.

Article written in collaboration with Nancy Diaz, MSW. Mental health counselor and the founder of Global Citizen Therapy

Unemployment and Mental Health

It is well known that unemployed people have worse mental health than their employed counterparts (Kasl SV, Jones BA, 2000). During economic crises, suicide rates usually rise, and unemployment is associated with unhappiness, depression, substance abuse, and a long list of impacts on people. (1)

Those at the most risk for mental health challenges after a job loss are those for whom unemployment is an immediate threat to survival. People with fewer financial resources and those who perceive more financial strain from unemployment are less satisfied with their lives, according to a meta-analysis led by Frances McKee-Ryan, Ph.D., a professor of management at the University of Nevada, Reno (Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 90, No. 1, 2005).

Unemployment

Population below poverty line

Age-standardized suicide rates

10 Countries with the highest crude suicide rate

Overview

COUNTRY	% POP. BELOW POVERTY LINE	UNEMPLOYMENT %	CRUDE SUICIDE RATE PER 100,000	DEPRESSION %	ANXIETY %
Lesotho	57	24,4	92,4021	4,8%	3,1%
Guyana	35	13,46	37,3274	4,5%	5,7%
Eswatini	58,9	23,44	35,0677	N/A	N/A
Lithuania	22,2	9,12	34,8585	5,6%	3,2%
Russian Federation	13,3	5,57	32,0482	5,5%	3,1%
Kiribati	25	9,3	29,7283	3,1%	3,2%
South Korea	14,4	4,77	28	4,10%	3,80%
Suriname	70	7,22	24,7617	4,8%	5,8%
South Africa	16,6	25,15	24,522	4,6%	3,4%
Belarus	5,7	5,91	24,3313	5,6%	3,2%
Kazakhstan	2,6	4,93	23,2447	4,4%	3,3%
Ukraine	3,8	9,14	21,6212	6,3%	3,2%
Latvia	25,5	9,87	21,5967	4,9%	3,2%
Slovenia	13,9	8,96	21,0407	5,1%	3,8%
Montenegro	8,6	17,54	20,7151	4,8%	3,8%
Mongolia	29,6	4,86	20,0053	4,2%	3,3%
Hungary	14,9	6,81	19,9425	5,1%	3,9%
Japan	16,1	3,4	19,1336	4,2%	3,1%
Botswana	19,3	17,71	19,045	4,7%	3,1%
Uruguay	9,7	7,49	18,6431	5,0%	6,4%
Belgium	15,1	8,48	18,5986	4,8%	4,7%
Vanuatu	12,7	1,81	18,1658	3,1%	3,2%
Zimbabwe	72,3	5,29	17,9558	4,0%	2,8%
Croatia	19,5	16,18	17,6053	5,1%	3,8%
Serbia	8,9	17,66	16,3555	5,0%	3,8%
Austria	3	5,72	15,9957	5,1%	4,9%
Estonia	21,1	6,19	15,8892	5,9%	3,2%
Poland	17,6	7,5	15,8531	5,1%	3,9%
France	14,2	10,35	15,8383	4,8%	6,2%
Sweden	15	7,43	15,7318	4,9%	4,8%
Sri Lanka	6,7	4,52	15,1616	4,1%	3,4%
Switzerland	6,6	4,8	14,9638	5,0%	4,9%
Central African Republic	62	4,3	14,4431	4,2%	3,0%
Cabo Verde	30	11,9	14,4129	4,9%	3,1%
United States	15,1	5,28	14,3991	5,9%	6,3%
Iceland	9	3,98	14,2571	4,1%	4,9%
Finland	12,3	9,38	14,0316	5,6%	3,2%
Cuba	26	2,4	14,0314	5,5%	6,1%
Mozambique	46,1	3,43	13,9092	4,1%	3,0%
Czech Republic	9,7	5,05	13,5699	5,2%	3,8%
Germany	16,7	4,62	13,2667	5,2%	5,8%
Australia	13,2	6,05	13,2249	5,9%	7,0%
Portugal	19	12,44	13,2074	5,7%	4,9%
Canada	9,4	6,91	12,9932	4,7%	4,9%
Samoa	18,8	8,66	12,6575	3,2%	3,3%
Norway	0,5	4,3	12,4583	4,7%	7,4%
Slovak Republic	12,3	11,48	12,4112	5,1%	3,9%
India	21,9	5,56	12,2715	4,5%	3,0%
Luxembourg	18,3	6,67	12,1749	5,0%	4,9%
Netherlands	8,8	6,87	11,7818	4,7%	6,4%
New Zealand	15	5,35	11,7202	5,4%	7,3%
Eritrea	50	6,66	11,6475	4,3%	3,1%
Namibia	28,7	20,89	11,6421	4,4%	3,1%
Romania	22,4	6,81	11,5138	5,0%	3,7%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	16,9	27,69	10,7107	5,1%	3,8%
Georgia	9,2	16,51	10,5303	5,0%	3,5%
Korea, Dem. People’s Rep.	60	2,83	10,5014	3,7%	3,7%
Trinidad and Tobago	20	2,43	10,2001	5,2%	6,1%
Haiti	58,5	13,95	10,0373	4,3%	5,5%
Cote d’Ivoire	39,5	3,1	10,0022	3,8%	2,7%
Chile	14,4	6,51	9,97	5,0%	6,5%
Kyrgyz Republic	32,1	7,56	9,89	4,1%	3,2%
Bulgaria	23,4	9,14	9,83	5,2%	4,0%
Equatorial Guinea	44	8,31	9,78	4,2%	2,9%
Togo	55,1	2,2	9,71	3,9%	2,8%
Gabon	34,3	20,22	9,64	4,3%	3,0%
Cameroon	30	3,51	9,46	3,9%	2,7%
Fiji	31	4,36	9,39	3,5%	3,3%
Ireland	8,2	9,91	9,31	4,8%	6,3%
North Macedonia	21,5	26,07	9,17	5,0%	3,9%
Uzbekistan	14	5,2	9,16	4,2%	3,3%
Djibouti	23	11,39	9,02	5,1%	3,3%
Singapore	N/A	3,79	8,99	4,6%	3,6%
Pakistan	29,5	3,57	8,97	4,2%	3,5%
United Kingdom	15	5,3	8,82	4,5%	4,2%
Ecuador	21,5	3,62	8,79	4,6%	5,6%
Zambia	54,4	10,1	8,72	4,0%	3,0%
St. Lucia	20,3	20,67	8,65	4,9%	5,9%
Nepal	25,2	3,1	8,52	3,2%	3,6%
Argentina	25,7	7,61	8,3	4,7%	6,3%
China	3,3	4,6	8,13	4,2%	3,1%
Benin	36,2	2,57	8,06	3,9%	2,7%
Thailand	7,2	0,6	8,04	4,4%	3,5%
Solomon Islands	12,7	0,67	8,02	2,9%	3,1%
Somalia	73	13,25	7,99	4,0%	2,9%
Burkina Faso	40,1	6,04	7,96	3,6%	2,7%
Mauritius	8	7,41	7,94	4,4%	3,5%
Spain	21,1	22,06	7,9	5,2%	4,1%
Vietnam	8	1,85	7,66	4,0%	2,2%
Morocco	15	9,46	7,4	4,5%	4,5%
Bahrain	N/A	1,32	7,39	4,8%	4,3%
Ghana	24,2	6,81	7,31	4,2%	2,8%
Guinea-Bissau	67	3,01	7,25	4,0%	2,8%
Malta	16,3	5,38	7,18	5,1%	4,9%
Guinea	47	4,38	7,17	3,9%	2,7%
Italy	29,9	11,9	7,13	5,1%	5,0%
El Salvador	32,7	4	6,94	4,4%	4,6%
Congo, Dem. Rep.	63	9,9	6,79	3,8%	2,8%
Chad	46,7	1,87	6,78	3,5%	2,6%
Costa Rica	21,7	9	6,73	4,7%	4,6%
Congo, Rep.	46,5	4,4	6,61	3,9%	2,8%
Angola	36,6	7,26	6,47	3,6%	2,8%
United Arab Emirates	19,5	1,74	6,47	5,1%	4,1%
Burundi	64,6	1,55	6,44	4,2%	3,0%
Bolivia	38,6	3,07	6,38	4,4%	5,4%
Dominican Republic	30,5	7,61	6,37	4,7%	5,7%
Senegal	46,7	6,76	6,36	3,9%	2,7%
Saudi Arabia	12,7	5,59	6,34	4,5%	4,3%
Iran, Islamic Rep.	18,7	11,06	6,32	4,9%	4,6%
Turkmenistan	0,2	3,94	6,29	4,2%	3,4%
Malawi	50,7	5,85	6,19	4,1%	3,0%
Armenia	32	18,26	6,15	5,0%	3,5%
Qatar	0	0,17	6,11	5,1%	4,2%
Belize	41	7,58	5,97	4,4%	5,7%
Sierra Leone	70,2	4,64	5,88	3,9%	2,8%
Brazil	4,2	8,43	5,87	5,8%	9,3%
Guatemala	59,3	2,51	5,83	3,7%	4,2%
Paraguay	22,2	4,56	5,73	5,2%	7,6%
Rwanda	39,1	1,14	5,72	3,8%	3,2%
Lao PDR	22	0,69	5,59	3,2%	3,1%
Mexico	46,2	4,31	5,56	4,2%	3,6%
Libya	33	18,87	5,56	4,5%	4,5%
Ethiopia	29,6	2,2	5,52	4,7%	3,3%
Yemen, Rep.	54	13,4	5,51	3,6%	4,1%
Comoros	44,8	8,09	5,51	4,4%	3,1%
Madagascar	70,7	1,79	5,48	4,4%	3,1%
Kenya	36,1	2,8	5,46	4,4%	3,1%
Niger	45,4	0,52	5,37	3,4%	2,5%
Gambia, The	48,4	9,3	5,07	3,9%	2,7%
Cambodia	16,5	0,39	5,06	3,4%	3,2%
Greece	36	24,9	5,04	5,7%	4,9%
Oman	N/A	3,32	5,02	4,7%	4,1%
Malaysia	3,8	3,1	4,83	3,8%	4,9%
Albania	14,3	17,19	4,76	4,8%	3,8%
Cyprus	N/A	14,91	4,7	5,1%	5,1%
Uganda	21,4	1,86	4,67	4,6%	2,8%
Tonga	22,5	2,64	4,6	3,2%	3,3%
Israel	22	5,25	4,54	4,6%	2,8%
Liberia	54,1	2,08	4,49	3,5%	2,7%
Bhutan	12	2,45	4,49	4,2%	3,7%
Mali	36,1	7,73	4,28	3,6%	2,6%
Nicaragua	29,6	4,7	4,23	4,2%	4,5%
Tanzania	22,8	2,1	4,16	4,1%	3,0%
Tajikistan	31,5	7,53	4,13	3,8%	3,1%
Colombia	28	8,3	4,13	4,7%	5,8%
Iraq	23	10,72	4,07	3,7%	4,5%
Azerbaijan	4,9	4,96	4,07	4,6%	3,4%
Honduras	29,6	6,15	4,02	4,0%	4,3%
Afghanistan	54,5	11,39	3,97	3,3%	4,0%
Sudan	46,5	17,29	3,88	3,6%	4,1%
Nigeria	70	4,31	3,69	3,9%	2,7%
South Sudan	66	12,45	3,59	4,4%	3,1%
Timor-Leste	41,8	4,45	3,51	3,0%	2,9%
Bahamas, The	9,3	12	3,46	5,2%	6,2%
Bangladesh	24,3	4,38	3,41	4,1%	4,4%
Egypt, Arab Rep.	27,8	13,05	3,28	3,5%	4,2%
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	30,2	19,16	3,25	4,9%	5,8%
Myanmar	25,6	0,77	3,18	3,7%	3,3%
Tunisia	15,5	15,16	3,14	4,9%	4,6%
Mauritania	31	10,22	3,03	4,1%	2,8%
Papua New Guinea	37	2,56	2,95	3,0%	3,2%
Panama	23	3	2,9	4,4%	4,5%
Lebanon	28,6	6,31	2,79	4,7%	5,5%
Maldives	15	5,67	2,79	3,7%	3,3%
Peru	22,7	2,92	2,71	4,8%	5,7%
Algeria	23	11,21	2,68	4,5%	4,5%
Kuwait	N/A	2,2	2,56	5,0%	4,6%
Indonesia	10,9	4,51	2,36	3,7%	3,3%
Philippines	21,6	3,07	2,27	3,3%	3,1%
Turkey	21,9	10,24	2,26	4,4%	4,0%
Venezuela, RB	19,7	7,44	2,25	4,2%	4,4%
Jamaica	17,1	13,51	2,2	4,8%	5,7%
Brunei Darussalam	5	7,69	1,88	4,0%	3,6%
Syrian Arab Republic	82,5	8,5	1,74	3,9%	4,3%
Sao Tome and Principe	66,2	13,46	1,46	3,9%	2,7%
Jordan	14,2	13,08	1,46	4,0%	4,3%
Barbados	13,9	11,35	0,601	5,4%	6,1%

Unemployment, especially sudden or unexpected unemployment, can throw people into survival mode. Once in survival mode, our instincts are to fight, flee, freeze, or fawn.

As you can imagine, fighting in this situation is a way of not giving up. This could look like dealing with the bureaucracy of the unemployment system, looking for another job, starting a business, or trying to get an old job back.

Fleeing in this case could look like avoidance through denial, alcoholism or substance abuse, or ignoring bills.

Freezing when dealing with unemployment could show up as depressive states where you might lie in bed for days without wanting to move.

Fawning is a strategy of doing everything we can to please someone who does not have our best interests at heart. This can present in your relationship with a loved one where you overcompensate for being unemployed by leaving the house spotless and receiving no appreciation or you do favors for a toxic ex-boss even if you no longer work for the company.

What to do about it

Don’t be so hard on yourself.

Forgive yourself if you made a mistake that led to you being fired. If you were simply laid off, remind yourself that it was not your fault.

Shift your mindset.

One way to do this is by beginning to focus on gratitude. Once you are able to see everything you still have in front of you to be grateful for, it will be easier to find your strengths, motivation, and self worth again. Embrace the gift of time you have been given. Most of us spend the majority of our days working. This is why you may be uncomfortable with all of the free time you have. Learn to make the most of it.

Establish a healthy routine

Build strong healthy habits by setting up a routine for yourself. Think about what it is that you enjoy doing that you possibly have not had time for when you were working. Try including things in your routine that will boost your mental wellbeing such as exercise, nature walks, journaling, meditating, and eating balanced meals.

Do not focus only on securing employment

This is the hardest part when you are in survival mode and it will be really tempting to focus all of your time on applying for jobs or securing income. Of course, you should spend time doing this. However, you need to be careful to balance your days with other self care activities that will allow you to take a break and come back to the task fresh. If you do not do this, you will be more likely to burn out.

Be mindful of screen time

In this day and age, a lot of job applications and unemployment forms are all online. This makes it easy for us to spend hours in front of the computer or scrolling through jobs on social media. Make sure to schedule in screen breaks even if it means just resting your eyes for a few minutes to step away and stretch.

Conclusion

“The bottom line is people need to eat. They need to have shelter. They need to have health care,” says David Blustein, PhD, a professor of counseling, developmental and educational psychology at Boston College. (2)

Unemployment can have a negative impact and may lead to impaired mental health of the working-age population. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs tells us that without being able to meet these basic needs, we are not able to focus on self improvement and achieve self actualization.So again, do not be too hard on yourself if your mental health has taken a dip since being unemployed. Follow the tips above and let us know in the comments if they are helpful.