[NYAPRS Enews] MPR: Mental Health Stress A Concern Among The Unemployed

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Mental Health Stress A Concern Among The Unemployed

by
<http://minnesota.publicradio.org/about/people/mpr_people_display.php?au
t_id=30131> Martin Moylan, Minnesota Public Radio December 22, 2009

 

St. Paul, Minn. - Unemployment can be crippling not only financially but
also psychologically, and with the recession putting millions of people
out of work nationwide, more and more unemployed folks are struggling
with serious cases of depression. 

Back in September 2007, before the recession started, Roxanne Lange
decided to quit her job. After 30 years as an interior designer, she
felt she had to step back from her 60-hour workweeks to take care of her
seriously-ill mom and mother-in-law. 

Lange figured she would be able to return to work in a few months, but
her old company was sold. She didn't have an option to return there, and
then the economy tanked. Lange has applied for more than 50 jobs she
felt she was qualified for and has had only three interviews and no job
offers. 

"I started feeling I wasn't to be able to get a job again, no matter
what it was," Lange said. "So, the depression aspect really took over." 

Lange has worked since she was 15 years old. But now, at age 59, she's
wondering if she'll ever land another paying job, even though she's
sought positions that pay a third of what she once earned. Unemployment
has exacerbated her struggles with depression. 

"You feel you're not of value of any more," she said. 

That's how many unemployed people feel. Without a job, they feel
worthless. 

"People who are unemployed are four times more likely to say that they
have thought about harming themselves than people have full-time
employment," said David Shern, president of Mental Health America.
"These are very serious matters that can be lethal if they are not dealt
with appropriately." 

Shern's organization and the National Alliance on Mental Illness
recently surveyed unemployed adults to gauge the mental health
challenges facing them. 

Compared to people with full-time jobs, the survey found the unemployed
are twice as likely to report concerns about their mental health or
their use of alcohol or drugs. 

Karen Lloyd, senior director for behavioral health with HealthPartners,
said unemployed people often wind up blaming themselves for situations
that may be beyond their control. 

"People going through these situations are dealing with a real complex
of emotions: grief and anger and sadness, all at the same time," Lloyd
said. "And they keep saying things like, 'We did everything right. We
were good workers and hard workers.'" 

It's critical for unemployed people to seek whatever help they can get
if they're feeling depressed. Shern of Mental Health America said even
just talking with someone can make a big difference. 

"Talking to a friend, talking to a pastoral counselor or spiritual
advisor ... many people find that helpful," he said. "Clearly, talking
to a doctor or mental health professional, if people can afford that,
would be recommended as well." 

Some people who are out of work still have health insurance and mental
health services through a spouse or other means. That's the case with
Roxanne Lange. She has coverage through her husband, who's still
employed. But many of the unemployed lose their health insurance when
they lose their jobs. 

Among unemployed people who had not spoken to a health professional
about depression concerns, 42 percent cite cost or lack of insurance
coverage as the main reason. That's according to the survey by Mental
Health America and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. 

Patricia Drury, a health coach at Medica, said it's important for the
unemployed to find things that give them joy, that lift their spirits
and connect them with people. 

Drury said it's also important they redefine who they are. She said
volunteer work can help the unemployed find out who they really are. 

"Some people really identify with their job," Drury said. "And when they
lose it there's a sense in which they don't know who they are until they
start to get more grounded, get reconnected to their family, reconnected
to their community or start to define themselves as something other than
what they did for a paycheck." 

Roxanne Lange said counseling, gardening and reorganizing her home have
helped her feel better about her situation. But her biggest boost has
come from volunteering. 

Lange volunteers two days a week at the St. Joseph's Home for Children.
Seeing the effects of parental neglect on children, she's become
passionate about child advocacy. 

She also spends two mornings a week teaching first-graders to read at
the Peter Hobart elementary school St. Louis Park. 

"Those wonderful little ones, with a variety of issues and concerns and
whatever else, they gave more to me than I could ever have given to
them," she said. 

Lange has been doing some freelance interior design work, too. She said
friends and associates have noticed more of a spark in her. For now,
working for free to make things better for children is Lange's job. And
she said that's really helping keep unemployment from sapping her
spirits. 

 

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