Working in adulthood, in addition to being a source of income and retributing the effort made, promotes social relations, becoming an instrument for the construction of personal identity. So when a person can’t work, their life is affected in many areas. In addition to the social and psychological consequences, there is a strong relationship between health and unemployment.
For years, there has been a great debate in the scientific community about the health-unemployment relationship; on the one hand, there were doubts as to whether unemployment affected health; on the other hand, there were doubts about whether those who are in worse health are more likely to end up unemployed and/or find a new job.
- A major study on the subject has found that unemployment has a direct effect on people’s physical and mental health; in turn.
- Less relevant evidence was found that health influences job search.
- So we can conclude that this is a two-way.
- Relationship.
There is no doubt that unemployment acts as a major stressor in life, as it is an uncontrollable situation over time, and can also be caused by an external agent and compromise access to multiple boosters.
As if that were not enough, the person must put in place a series of personal resources to adapt and change their situation.
Some of the stressors associated with unemployment are lack of financial resources, family problems, partner problems, job search, seeking help and resources, potential negatives, etc.
When we live in a stressful situation, especially when we stay there for a long time, there are changes in our bodies so that we can deal with the problem in the best way possible.
The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) then causes the release of the hormone cortisol. This reaction is natural; however, repeated activation results in changes in cortisol activity and levels.
These changes have been linked to many diseases, as well as unemployment has been associated with abnormal patterns of cortisol secretion. Moreover, these trends differ by age and gender, indicating that while unemployment affects everyone, it does not affect everyone equally.
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Unemployment has been linked to a deterioration in overall health, although in some societies this relates to the lack of health insurance or economic resources, these effects are independent of the medical care received.
The unemployed also have a much worse subjective state of health than employees.
As for physical problems, it is not surprising that changes in physical health related to unemployment are related to chronic stress, as well as the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity or diabetes. Another associated consequence is the use of addictive substances, such as alcohol. drugs.
In addition, there are many consequences for psychological health, decreased well-being, self-esteem, mood, increased anxiety levels and even personality changes.
Studies have also focused on the influence of mental health on the ability to get a job. Since unemployment leads to a number of mental health damage, the unemployed are in a very difficult vicious cycle to leave.
In other words, a person with worse mental health would be more likely to lose their job and also harder to find work. In addition, there would be countless opportunities for your health to deteriorate between events.
Thus, a high level of discomfort is associated with an increased risk of job loss, just as childhood discomfort has been linked to unemployment in adulthood.
It was also observed that people with lower levels of depression were more likely to find employment, especially for men. A national survey in Australia found that men’s mental health was related to the duration of future employment, but did not increase or decrease that likelihood.
Despite this, most studies used samples from the clinical population, so it would be necessary to compare this information with samples from the general population.