In the modern world, anyone can lose their job, regardless of their position or qualifications. Such an unpredictable and, as a rule, unexpected phenomenon confronts a person with the question of what to do. Often people develop depression during periods of temporary lack of demand.
Despite such crisis conditions, people can influence events in their lives on a psychological level - they can protect themselves from excessive worries, regrets, and prepare for such a course of circumstances. People with rich life experience clearly define for themselves what to do in such situations so that the negative burden does not interfere with focusing on further steps in finding a job.
Ways to overcome depression
The first step of the Word of hopelessness is that I can’t find a job, depression caused by such experiences greatly affects the course of life. As a result of this arrangement of events, each person experiences several stages of emotional state.
A stressful state caused by emotional shock is experienced by people who unexpectedly lost their jobs, leaving them with a burden of financial obligations. This path of development of events very often leads to bad results - to crime, illness, and unwillingness to live.
The most difficult indicator at this stage is the very expectation that a person thinks: “I can lose everything by losing my income.”
We need to look at all the blows of fate from a philosophical point of view. Sooner or later, every person has to look for a job, so almost everyone finds themselves in this situation.
Second step
The second stage of the period when a person cannot find a place of employment (2-3 months) is characterized by the onset of relief and adaptation to the current situation. It is not possible to choose a job, but the consciousness somehow moves away from the problem and enters the stage of escapism - escape, self-elimination. Increasingly, the person who has lost his job comes to reassuring thoughts that he can take his time with the search, “I can afford to rest,” etc.
Some categories of people even begin to experience a state of relief. Everyone is looking for some positive in this: “I don’t have to get up early and don’t rush to work that’s boring me, I have the opportunity to spend more time with my loved ones.”
A person begins to realize himself in some useful activities for the family - cleaning, completing unfinished repairs, etc. At this stage of overcoming depression, he begins to experience psychological satisfaction from being free, despite the fact that he was unable to find a new source of income.
This condition is inherent only to those who have savings.
Forced rest helps such people find an opportunity to relax and improve their health. After regaining his strength, the unemployed is looking for a job, the conditions of which he is able to evaluate from a different point of view. At an interview, such a person can make a good impression with his healthy appearance. The biggest winner is the one who, having lost his job, was able to choose the time for self-education.
Mask of Courage
Survey participants were asked to choose topics that they were ready to discuss openly at work: 36% of respondents said they were ready to talk with colleagues about physical illness or injury, 26% about lack of money, another 18% were ready to discuss sex, but were ready to talk about psychological problems only 13%.
At the same time, 58% of respondents said that if they noticed signs of psychological stress or distress in a colleague, they would be willing to discuss it openly, and another 16% said they would tell their boss.
Image caption
Natalie was afraid to talk about her problems at work
According to Natalie, it seemed logical to her to pretend that everything was fine and not talk about depression.
“At work, I tried not to show it because I didn’t want to give up, I didn’t want to feel defeated, and I was ashamed because people don’t talk about it,” she says.
“I was afraid that if I said, ‘I have depression and anxiety,’ it would affect my career and future prospects.”
“Am I going to get fired? Will I be considered incompetent? Will they think that I am incapable of making rational decisions, that I cannot be trusted? I may be pushed into the background.”
Over time, Natalie's psychological problems progressed to such an extent that she had to see a doctor and take sick leave.
She is now back at work, thanks in large part to a gradual onboarding process and a supportive new boss. At the same time, her colleagues, according to her, did not know how to communicate with her.
“Don't get me wrong, some colleagues were supportive, but no one knew what to tell me or how to help me.”
“I didn’t tell anyone because I was still ashamed. I felt like a complete failure and just gave up. I stopped participating in office activities, joking and communicating. I just put my head behind the monitor, hid behind it and waited for another day to pass.”
Negative sides
There are times when it is difficult for a person, after losing his main income, to decide what to do next. And this condition causes persistent stress that does not disappear for a long time.
As a result, many begin to exaggerate their plight and associate it with all sorts of consequences caused by financial instability, loss of love, family, and housing.
People who failed to make a financial reserve feel depressed, weakened both physically and psychologically a few months after losing their job. At this moment, weak individuals begin to feel useless, self-esteem drops, and ultimately this is reflected in their behavior during interviews.
Unsuccessful searches give rise to certain complexes in a person’s mind; he stops actively searching for a new source of income, which leads to complete financial collapse. Not knowing what to do, a person becomes aggressive in his relationships with others and stops taking care of his appearance. Such people end up losing everything and sinking to lower social levels.
Causes
The main reason is lack of sleep.
Instead of the required 7–9 hours of sleep, a person sleeps about 4–5. He doesn’t understand that it’s not worth working if you’re depressed. Because of this, he becomes irritable and angry, often showing aggression towards colleagues. Thoughts get confused in your head, making it impossible to make the right decision. The result is poor performance at work. Other causes of depression:
- Quarrels with colleagues. It happens that the team initially does not want to accept a newcomer. Or one person wants to “survive” from the work of another. An abnormal work climate forces you to be under constant stress.
- Poor relationships with superiors are often the result of misunderstandings or unwillingness to compromise. The person is under constant pressure and cannot concentrate on work. His productivity drops, which makes the director angry.
- Unstable financial situation. A person is looking for permanent employment. The essence of the work is not important to him. Because of this, he is forced to take an unloved, completely uninteresting vacancy for the sake of a high salary. At first, he is able to endure it. But over time, hatred for work increases, and complete disgust for it appears.
- Combination of several professions. The patient has too much responsibility. Doesn't cope with all tasks, submits work after deadlines, doesn't get anything done. This really depresses and demotivates him.
- Irregular schedule. Frequent and unforeseen business trips and late-night delays at work irritate a person. The goals set for him are too high. To achieve them, you need to sacrifice free time. Young mothers and family men especially don’t like this.
Lack of sleep is a common cause of depression
Another popular reason is lack of progress. A person works, earns a lot, but does not notice career and personal growth. He seems to be standing still, but at the same time he is afraid of losing his job. Creative people become depressed if they are tried to be limited or forced to work according to a pattern. These are free people who do not want to obey others. Urgent orders, deadlines, limited format cause severe irritation and fatigue.
Serious changes in life also negatively affect a person’s condition. Frequent moves, the birth of a small child, long-term illness, changes in professional activity, caring for parents and other situations force us to live in stress.
Reluctance to work may appear after the end of the vacation. It is difficult for the employee to get into the usual routine, which is why he experiences stress. He wants to relax, travel, do things he loves, but not professional activities.
How to help yourself
In the social sphere, there are certain categories of people who fall into the so-called risk group when looking for a new place of employment. These are young mothers, disabled people, students without professional experience. Unemployment has its own growth trends, but it is not fatal. You just have to follow some simple rules and everything will work out:
- You must always have a neat appearance and maintain your physical shape;
- take the initiative, show activity, enthusiasm;
- do not hesitate to seek help from psychologists, social services, and recruitment agencies;
- you should look for a new use for yourself;
- You always need to stay up to date with developments related to finding your business.
Advanced training, training in a new specialty, the opportunity to temporarily switch to seasonal work - this is what can be allowed in a modern rule-of-law state. Employment centers are a social service that can open up such prospects for those who wish. But the main thing is to do something for this, not to give up and not to be lazy.
By improving one’s qualifications and retraining, a person can find himself in something new. Even if it doesn’t immediately bring in a lot of income, it doesn’t matter. Things don't always start out quickly and smoothly.
Life is structured in such a way that all crises occur in the same way:
- recession - depression, fear of the new unknown, fear of losses;
- rise - search for other sources of income, gaining new knowledge, self-improvement;
- reaching new levels of well-being.
Conflicts with colleagues
You have found the job you have been dreaming about for so long. You enjoy working there, and you enthusiastically carry out all the instructions of your superiors. However, despite this, you don’t get up in the morning in a good mood, and thoughts about work kill any mood in you. Perhaps it's all about the people with whom you share your workspace? Frequent conflicts with employees, disputes, disagreements, and sometimes scandals best moisten the soil on which feelings of depression grow.
But there are no problems for which there is no solution. Sometimes this kind of trouble forces good specialists to leave their workplace and go in search of a new one, which turns out to be very disastrous for the entire enterprise. However, changing jobs is the last thing you should resort to if depression and apathy have overtaken you. The most appropriate thing to do in this case would be to try to eliminate constant conflicts by finding out the reasons for their occurrence. You always have the opportunity to sincerely talk with the person who is interfering with your work, clarify grievances, come to a consensus, or contact your superiors and present them with a fait accompli.
Whatever the reasons for depression at work, the best advice is always a vacation. By taking a short break, you have the opportunity to relax, and then, with a fresh mind and sound thoughts, take the correct and only, in your opinion, solution to the problem.
Post navigation 10 most depressing professionsWhy women cheat
Strategies for success
Many people associate the crisis not only with job loss, depression and financial collapse. This economic phenomenon helps people find new ways and solutions. Active, goal-oriented people are not afraid of a crisis, they simply adapt to it.
There are two categories of behavior of people who have lost their place of employment. They have two behavioral strategies - successful and unsuccessful. A person is able to make his own choice: which one he chooses.
Unemployed people with a successful behavioral strategy have in their arsenal a great initiative potential, a desire to get out of a state of temporary financial lull as soon as possible. They do not make it a priority to find exactly the job they were doing before the crisis. They are able to retrain under any conditions. This category of people has a huge optimistic charge and a willingness to move forward towards the future.
An unsuccessful behavior strategy is characteristic of people who expect someone else to do everything for them. They are able to passively wait for help, refuse to take responsibility for decisions, and are constantly looking for a reason to refuse the employer.
Their complexes about their professional unsuitability do not give them the opportunity to present their skills in a way that is favorable to them. Even financial instability does not stimulate them to new searches for self-realization. These people are not ready for changes in life and the crisis eliminates them from the labor market.
Don't Make It Worse For Yourself
I gave a couple of examples of how this happens above. But there are many more scenarios of self-destruction (and self-harm).
Depression will try to use the best in you against you. Your love, craving for justice, kindness, pity - it will poison everything. She will become part of everything. And the best in you will become the worst. In every thought, in every action, she will be invisibly present everywhere.
...and better things will come
Now I think depression is the best thing that happened to me. No one but her will be able to so skillfully find out all your weak points. Face a choice: either you protect your weakness, which makes you vulnerable to depression, or you change. And, to be honest, the changes can be so great that sometimes you feel like you have been given another - and completely different - life to live. And you are grateful for that...
I realize that some of what I said above is not what a depressed person would want to hear. Not something he can accept. Now I want you to remember this when you are ready. And so that the thought that you and your depression are not the same thing does not leave you. I know that depressed people are very strong people. But even the strongest needs an opponent to win, and as long as you identify yourself with depression, you will defeat yourself. Including making yourself worse...
You are likely to have breakdowns and sometimes make your situation worse. This is fine. The way out of depression is not a straight path. Rather, it is a winding, sometimes disappearing, path
And it’s important to notice when you stumble or wander in circles, but more on that later
The essence of the problem
Depression has reached the second place in prevalence after CVD; it is least of all like a cold, which you can lie down, take pills, and everything will go away. We need to work with it, look for its cause, eliminate it. It can last quite a long time, from several weeks to 2-3 years.
To these symptoms you can add despondency, aching melancholy, decreased ability to concentrate, libido, low self-esteem, a tendency to self-flagellation, pessimism, and lethargy in everything. Work-related depression is a type of social maladjustment. I don’t want to see my colleagues, apathy, fatigue, disappointment, excess weight gain, blood pressure fluctuations, blurred vision, incredible fatigue in the evenings, insomnia, lack of appetite, absent-mindedness, decreased efficiency. A person has thoughts that there is no meaning in life, that he is worthless, that everything is wrong and will remain the same. Depression as a pathology has 3 symptoms: inability to experience joy (anhedonia), motor retardation and depressed mood. It occurs when a person does not live the way he wants, has unresolved problems, stressful situations, and suppresses his desires.
Previously, it was believed that “work depression” was primarily affected by teachers, doctors, and service workers; now it has spread to the office. Women, being more emotional by nature, fall into it more often.
There is also the concept of post-vacation depression, when any vacation is not enough and you don’t want to go to work. This often happens when holidays are split up; it is difficult for the body to switch to another mode, and it perceives this as violence, repaying the owner with an exacerbation of chronic diseases. Temperament also matters; choleric, sanguine, severely phlegmatic and melancholic people switch easily.
Depression often occurs after dismissal. Most people depend on work, it gives status, is a source of self-affirmation, significance, and suddenly everything stops; after losing a job, a person falls out of the general “clip” and feels crushed.
This is interesting: How to determine depression: we describe it in order
Accept yourself in the state you are in now
There is no need to avoid a bad condition and fight it, this worsens your well-being even more.
You struggle and thereby harm yourself and your social skills.
If you resist feeling bad and try to avoid it, it only gets worse.
You must live it!
Depression is normal.
Especially for people who are engaged in self-development, work, do not get enough sleep, for all men and women - this is part of your growth, your path.
And she leaves as quickly as she comes.
Tell yourself: It is what it is. It may be unpleasant, but it’s all temporary and will pass! I'll move on.
And you no longer need any help from a psychologist for depression.
When you don't need anything
In the modern world, psychology diagnoses depression for many people. Above we were talking specifically about those conditions that can be called depression, but which in fact are not such. All severe conditions due to shortages that can be compensated for by the possibilities of the material world - changing jobs, starting a family, improving relationships, increasing income, etc., are not real depression.
If social status, money issues, the presence or absence of a family do not arouse interest, any business a person undertakes does not give him a sense of satisfaction, and people with their “base needs” make him hate all of humanity, then with a high probability we are dealing with with the owner of the sound vector in depression. This state can only arise in them due to the characteristics of their psyche and desires, which are all about the intangible.
These are people with questions embedded in their psyche: “Who am I?”, “What is all this for?”, “Where is it all going?” Sometimes such people find answers to their questions, this allows them to slightly level out their mental state. But often the lifespan of a new theory of existence has a limited lifespan. Having outlived itself, it again leaves a person alone with depression.
The abstract intelligence of carriers of the sound vector requires a constant depth of invention, comprehension of the essence of things, the root causes of everything, the plan. These sound needs are the most difficult to satisfy - as a result, prolonged depression is not uncommon. If there is not enough load on the intellect of a sound artist, insomnia may occur. At the training on System-Vector Psychology by Yuri Burlan, the value systems of all eight vectors are revealed. The ability to understand yourself and understand your difference from other people will allow you to bring certainty and awareness of what is happening to you into your life.
Author Evgeniy Belykh Proofreader Zifa Akhatova
The article was written using materials from Yuri Burlan’s online training “System-vector psychology”
VN:F
please wait...
Rating: 10.0/10 (4 votes cast)
VN:F
Rating: +3 (from 3 votes)
Depression due to work, 10.0 out of 10 based on 4 ratings
Introspection
Many people attach too much importance to their own work investments; they believe that they work more than a colleague, and they invest more effort in their home and family than other family members. Gradually, resentment and laziness develop, the person stops wanting evening walks or simple conversations at the end of the day, and he imagines to himself that he has become depressed. In this case, psychologists recommend looking at things more simply. No matter how simple and easy this advice may sound, we often oppress ourselves by envying our neighbor, paying attention to other people’s successes, or starting a whole scandal over a mere trifle. And then we suffer in search of a way to get out of depression.
What to do when you're depressed? When conducting self-analysis, it is important to honestly answer the question - what bad happened in your life? Why don't you want anything? After all, if you look around, there are people who have much more problems, but they do not despair and try to change their lives. Do you think this is useless? This is what every depressed patient says, exaggerating their own difficulties.
If you don’t know people who have faced real troubles, they can easily be found on forums on the Internet. Just become familiar with their fates, and the feeling that everything is bad will quickly leave you.
The second part of self-analysis should be devoted to the reasons found - here we need to ask the question, who is to blame for this? There are circumstances that do not depend on the patient, but there are situations in which he is the main character. For example, if a mistake occurred at work due to your fault, then you need to undergo additional training, improve your qualifications, and not make any more mistakes. Coping with depression means taking a step forward by increasing the level of knowledge, both professional and psychological. Sitting around and suffering will not lead to good results.
How to overcome depression and learn to enjoy life without the intervention of specialists? Having analyzed the reasons and their culprits, a person himself will come to the answer. But in most cases, patients do without the help of psychologists.
