Unemployment Amidst Pandemic: Its Implications to Mental Health
COVID-19 has not only caused sickness and death, but it has also disrupted most people’s means of survival – their jobs. While everyone is threatened with losing their lives due to the virus, there are also many who are scraping up to their very last cents to pay the bills and feed their families. People are trying their hardest to make ends meet just to survive until everything returns to normal.
This is a heartbreaking tale that many of us refuse to face as we continue to live and cope with the reality as unemployment and mental health are in reciprocity during this pandemic.
How does unemployment affect a person’s mental health?
As lockdown continued for months, it dawned on many that their unemployment is just the first phase of this adversity. It is a man’s instinct to survive even how difficult the situation is, however, when there are slim or zero chances of getting opportunities, man may succumb to breakdown and may be a threat to one’s mental health.
Unemployment and mental health were significantly linked especially in this pandemic.
The unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 13.3% (around 21 million people) in May 2020 from 3.5% (around 5.8 million people) in February of the same year. This statistic showed that more and more Americans are experiencing detrimental financial loss while the pandemic was happening.
The unemployment rate is far higher than the Great Recession which happened from December 2007 to June 2009 which peaked at 10.8%. This is how serious the impact of COVID-19 is to the job sector.
The essential needs such as food and shelter could never be delayed and the absence of ways to earn added problems and frustrations. Everything was on pause as business closures, furloughing and laying off employees and cutting down salaries became the norm in the working sector.
With everything that is going on in a flash, those who have lost their jobs fail to take notice of the extensive effects of unemployment to their mental health. All they are thriving is to constantly provide a comfortable way of living for their families.
Research found out that even those who are not financially strained during the pandemic were likewise experiencing anxiety and depression. Employers and company owners, for example, were having a hard time looking for solutions to salvage their businesses or whatever was left of them just to ensure that their employees would not be tormented with the ongoing strife.
However, with the weakening of the economy they were forced to resort to retrenchment and shutdown. Many take pride in their positive relationships and treatments with their employees but it all went downhill in a blink of an eye.
How does employment shape the mental health of a person?
In hindsight, having a job gives a person an identity, a purpose and a security. It also becomes an avenue to meet people and develop one’s aptitude and skills. The idea of having a job makes a person feel important, fulfilled and proud. It simply makes a person happy and grateful. Being in a place where one serves a purpose makes life easier to bear.
Life, especially amidst COVID-19, is somewhat empty and pointless where everyone is expected to stay at home. But having a job tremendously abets in easing one’s mind to stay optimistic in spite of all the fear and worries.
Being unemployed causes man to become dissatisfied and futile. The thought of finding another job or starting a new business and the unabating payment dues for bills and rents have piled up one after the other causing anxiety and depression.
Job loss and financial instability during the pandemic created psychological trauma because the ability of a person to provide basic needs for the family defined their sense of responsibility and diligence. It seems that staying employed during a pandemic, even if the workplace can be difficult at times, is a blessing.
Overall, employment nourishes one’s mental health and boosts one’s confidence in dealing with life’s turmoil.
How to cope up with unemployment during the pandemic?
One comforting thing about being unemployed in this pandemic is that people become more hardworking and innovative in finding ways to survive. There are those who open up small businesses at home or in their community to have a steady flow of income – enough to compensate for their daily needs.
Because there is so much job loss, support and camaraderie are offered left and right to build a stronger alliance. This is also to show that no one is alone in this pandemic and people are willing to lend a helping hand any time.
However, there are those who take their unemployment as a sign of hopelessness. It is something that many do not understand but it should never be taken for granted.
Before it gets out of hand, these people need to seek professional help. They need experts that can explain to them the validity of their emotions and behaviors during the pandemic. It is not simply giving a friend advice but it is giving them a safe place to talk about their thoughts and feelings to lessen distress.
Mindshift Psychological Services near me provides mental health services such as Group Therapy and Individual therapy near me. It aids and guides on how to cope with the changes brought upon by COVID-19 for people in Riverside, California, Corona, California and Los Angeles, California.
Contact us at (714) 584 9700 or schedule an appointment today! Each therapy near me services is suited to one’s needs and comfort.
There is no need to feel alienated in discussing one’s mental health because there is a perfect place to be. Choose the right therapy near me and start facing the world as a place full of possibilities.