Anticipation of unemployment leads to health problems
29 August 2009

The current recession has made it difficult to find work in many states, but it has also made it difficult to keep work once one has landed a job. Employers are cutting back in order to save money, and those employees with less seniority are getting their pink slips handed to them. I have talked with some men and women who report having been let go from their jobs after 10-15 years of service for their companies. When the economy started "faltering," we all knew that there would be job losses, and it is this knowledge, this anticipation of losing our jobs, that can have a devastating impact on our psychological and physical health.

Editorial Director of LiveScience.com and author of Job Insecurity Worse For Your Health Than Unemployment, Robert Roy Britt, reports that the stress caused from worrying about losing one's job might have more of an adverse effect on one's health than the actual loss of one's job. Britt quotes sociologist, Sarah Burgard from the University of Michigan, who says,

people who were persistently concerned about losing their jobs reported significantly worse overall health [...] and were more depressed [...] than those who had actually lost and regained their jobs recently.

The stress that results from thinking one is going to be let go from his or her job can create a multitude of problems, ranging from stomach ailments to severe depression. Just a few of the side-effects of stress, as highlighted by the American Institute of Stress, include a rise in blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, and the incidence of clotting. These are the physical, involuntary responses to stress; our bodies set into action in order to protect us from, or help us cope with, life's stressors. However, these actions, if compiled, can take the form of heart and breathing problems, anxiety, and depression.

Think, reader, about all that we think about when we think we might lose our jobs: loss of income, loss of home, lack of food, loss of health insurance for ourselves and for our families, among others. It is no wonder the anticipation of losing one's job can cause so many health problems.

This is not to say that people who are happy in their current employment do not suffer at the hands of stress. In fact, Britt says, "other research has shown that the stress of a tough job - long hours and high pressure to perform - can also ruin your health." That ought to make you feel good.

References

American Institute of Health. (2009). "America's no. 1 health problem." Retrieved 29 August 2009 from http://www.stress.org/americas.htm.

Britt, Robert Roy. (2009). "Job insecurity worse for your health than unemployment." Retrieved 29 August 2009 from http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090828/sc_livescience/jobinsecurityworseforyourhealththanunemployment.