Unemployment is a harsh reality that you cannot avoid. It is something that everyone faces at one point in their life. Though you are not going to be under the spell of unemployment forever, it still causes several physical and mental health problems.
Sometimes the unemployment phase gets extended longer than expected, and this causes a lot of worry in people. You stress out a lot from foreboding that you would ever land a job to financial stress because of shrinking savings.
Anxiety creeps up, blood pressure hikes, and negative thoughts flood your mind. Soon stress takes the form of depression. It may cause poor memory, forgetfulness, hallucination, confusion, and the like. According to a survey, unemployment has caused millions of people to stress and depression.
In order to divert your mind from negative thoughts, you keep binging on potato chips and wafers. Taking in empty calories means storing more fat cells. This causes obesity and a higher risk of heart attack and diabetes.
Stress and depression caused due to unemployment can invite several other medical conditions. Therefore, it is crucial to get a job as soon as possible. You first need to look for a relevant job relevant t your field. It is not essential that you will get your dream job.
There are various factors that play a role in getting a job, like your skills, how you perform in the interview and above all, your luck. While you are unemployed, you need to ensure you do not take on stress. Keep putting in your effort, and do not forget that things will take their own course.
How can you prevent yourself from taking stress due to unemployment?
Unemployment is unavoidable, but you can prevent yourself from taking too much stress about it. According to a survey, more than 60% of people are depressed as they are unable to land a good job. They are taking out loans for the unemployed with bad credit to get by.
This is adding to their complications. This increases the risk of falling into debt. In other words, financial stress is one of the biggest reasons why people go into the phase of depression. Well, this blog discusses some of the ways to avoid stress and depression:
1. Exercise daily
If you are living a sedentary lifestyle, it is also one of the reasons to worsen your mental health. You should exercise regularly as it will help improve your mental health. If you are suffering from stress and depression, exercising regularly will help prevent it.
This is because it increases your body temperature, which will have a calming effect on your nervous system. It releases endorphins in your brain that make you feel happy. When you stress out, immune cells that protect you against pathogens, viruses, bacteria, and allergies are destroyed. You can protect your immune cells by exercising regularly.
This will help boost your mood and prevent your mind from being attacked by negative thoughts. There is no particular kind of exercise that you should or should not do to boost your mood. In fact, running, jogging, and walking can help improve symptoms.
Try to be active as much as possible. For instance, you should use stairs instead of elevators. Walk if the supermarket is not too far from your home. Make a habit of exercising as it shows results when you do it regularly. It is not an overnight process.
2. Face your fears
You do not need to panic because you are out of work. Even though it takes a bit longer to land a new job, you should not feel negative. Most of the people start self-criticising themselves and doubt their abilities. They think that they cannot do it, they cannot do that, they are useless, and they are losers.
Do not let these thoughts come across your mind. As long as you are putting in the best possible effort, you should take too much stress. Life is not always positive. Negative phases will keep coming. You will have to face them bravely. If you feel like you have lost your confidence in doing something, just make yourself believe that you can do it. Unless you face reality, you cannot win over it.
3. Do not dwell on problems
It is good to talk about your negative feelings with people who care about you, but it does not mean that you have no other subject to talk about other than them. You will certainly feel good when you get it off your chest, and you will probably get a solution, but there are certain problems that do not have a solution, and it is a good idea not to think about that.
Depression creeps into your mind when you complain, blame, rehash problems, and, above all, just think about past events. It can be quite difficult to deal with and get rid of bad habits. Make sure you do not get into the habit of just thinking about the past that annoys or upsets you.
You should also think about some positive things in your life. Talk about positive subjects with your friends. Try to resist thinking about something negative. Instead, you should think positive. A positive outlook on life will certainly improve your mood.
You will be less likely to keep focusing on negative aspects or problems of your life. Notice good things as well. Studies have found that people with depression always focus on negative things.
They do not want to think or look at the positive sides. You can prevent depression by changing your negative thinking patterns.
4. Eat a healthy diet
A diet plays an intrinsic role in maintaining the health of your body. The food you eat can affect your mood and energy. For instance, when you just keep binging on processed food, you do not feel fuller, and this affects your mood.
However, you feel a lot happier when you have a full nutritious meal. Therefore, you should eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Eating whole fruits gives you some antioxidants, which are supposed to improve your brain cells and central nervous system.
Drink plenty of water. Keep your body hydrated. Do not consume a lot of sugar. Try to have a balanced diet and proper meals. It is always suggested not to skip meals because it will make you more frustrated.
5. Alcohol use
Studies have reported that alcohol is highly linked to an increased risk of depression. It can be quite tricky to give up alcohol, but you should minimise its intake slowly and surely.
For instance, avoid gathering with friends when the plan is to enjoy alcohol. If it is necessary to join a party where it is central, you should not shy of having a glass of juice instead of a glass of wine or whisky.
The final word
Unemployment is actually a challenging phase, and dealing with it may not be possible for everyone, but you are too. It is taking a toll on the mental health of a lot of people and increasing the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular problems and so on. You can tackle stress and depression by having a healthy diet, avoiding dwelling on problems and consumption of alcohol.
