DEAR READER: If you’ve been impacted by job loss, how can you manage stress so it doesn’t manage you?
According to new data from stress and energy management app Welltory, after analyzing 1.2 million users across every date, unemployment is the top stress-linked factor in 20 states. It even surpasses income inequality, debt or cost of living. When unemployment strikes, in addition to being a financial blow, it’s a major hit to your identity, routines and immediate termination of your work family when you enjoyed their camaraderie and trust.
Anna Elitzur, M.D., mental health expert at Welltory, said in a statement, “Stress doesn’t hit all states the same. Where unemployment spikes, uncertainty hijacks the brain’s stress circuits, amplifying anxiety and reducing resilience. In regions with high inequality or crushing debt, constant financial pressure reshapes daily behavior, disrupts sleep, and keeps stress chronically elevated, creating a feedback loop that affects both mental and physical health.”
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health offers strategies for well-being during job loss and job insecurity on their website: Stay connected, stay active and stay motivated. Staying connected involves seeking social support from friends, family or support groups. These connections can help diminish stress and isolation. Boost physical activity during this time to help ease your anxiety and stay motivated by creating a strategy, networking and making valuable connections.
Another way to alleviate the stress includes allowing yourself to grieve. In fact, according to HelpGuide.org, it’s the number one tip when it comes to coping with job loss stress. “Grief is a natural response to loss, and that includes the loss of a job. As well as the loss of income, being out of work also comes with other major losses, some of which may be just as difficult to face.”
In addition, something we don’t talk about enough is your kids’ reaction to your job loss. This can further compound your stress when you’re concerned about their well-being too. HelpGuide’s site indicated, “Children can be deeply affected by a parent’s unemployment. It is important for them to know what has happened and how it will affect the family. However, try not to overburden them with too many emotional or financial details.”
Other tips include keeping an open dialogue with your children, making sure they know it’s not anybody’s fault and allowing them to help. The site indicated, “Children need to feel as if they are helping. They want to help and allowing them to contribute in ways such as taking a cut in allowance, deferring expensive purchases, or getting an after-school job can make them feel as if they are part of the team.”
