Idle Hands Are The Devil's Playground.

Today I want to talk about the effects of not having a job (not just an occupation, but anything that occupies your time, i.e. volunteering, working, school, etc.) on people with depression. As some of you may know, I've been unemployed for the past nine months. Applying for jobs was a long, grueling process. I must have applied for over a hundred jobs, although I lost track after about 60. I had almost thirty interviews, but none of them got me a job. Feeling exasperated, I finally went to my counselor for advice on how to interview. He quickly figured out that it was a lack of confidence that was keeping me from getting a job. After an hour of roleplaying, I was interview-ready! Two days later, I interviewed and was hired on the spot to work at a local restaurant in the Gift Shop! Oh how I love having a purpose in life again. Something I can wake up and go do. Something that I know will benefit the world in some small way.

When I was unemployed, I didn't have anything to occupy my time. I crocheted, sewed, read books, and watched TV, but didn't do anything concrete. And it did not help my depression at all. My problem was that depression makes it very difficult to want to have a reason to get up everyday. Everything within me said, "You're worthless. You have no purpose in life," and so I didn't desire something that would give my life more meaning. Don't get me wrong; I don't think that working is the thing you should put your hope in or something that will somehow take away the depression, but I do think it makes it harder to believe your life has no value when you have a job. A job isn't what defines you or what gives your life meaning. Instead, it is something that you can feel good about as a way to contribute to society and make the world just a little bit better.

In a study done by the American Journal of Community Psychology, scholars found that "of employed respondents not diagnosed with major depression at first interview, those who became unemployed had over twice the risk of increased depressive symptoms and of becoming clinically depressed than those who continued to be employed" (Dooley, Catalano, Wilson 745). That means that there is a correlation between being depressed and being unemployed. People who didn't even have depression were twice as likely to become clinically depressed when unemployed! Another study had unemployed blue-collar workers over 45 years of age fill out a questionnaire over a two year period and found that "prolonged unemployment or re-unemployment leads to depression [and] reduced hope... Being employed or retired leads to a reduction of depression" (Frese and Mohr 173-178). Ok, so it's clear that being unemployed leads to depression, but what do we do with this information?

I would suggest that the best thing to do for someone with depression is to make sure they're getting up and doing something at least every other day. One of the most important things that got me through the past nine months was my mother telling me to get up and go do something everyday. We would go for walks, go shopping, find an ice cream shop, or even just fill her gas tank. It was so important for me to keep moving and doing things, even if they seemed insignificant, to get me out of bed and into the world. She also had me apply for at least five jobs a week, which really helped me reach my goal of getting a job. So, if someone you know is depressed, you can help them by doing something with them--take them to a park or a baseball game, walk a dog with them or drive them around town--anything to get them up and out of their own little world of depression long enough to see that there's more to life than being depressed. You may experience some resistance, but keep trying. My mom never gave up on me even when I was stubborn and didn't want to get up. She just patiently coaxed me until I would go with her on an outing.

Another thing you can do for a friend or family member who is feeling depressed and is unemployed is to challenge them to apply for jobs everyday. Make applying for a job a full-time job (or at the very least, part-time). Set goals for them to apply for a certain number of jobs everyday or every week. Set concrete, attainable goals and give them some kind of reward in return (a candy bar is always very good incentive!). This will help them get a job, which will instill confidence and self-sufficiency within them and can make them feel less depressed. These small steps can really make a big difference in the life of someone with depression. That's all I got for now. More to come in my next post.

Dooley, David, Ralph Catalano, and Georjeanna Wilson. "Depression and unemployment: Panel findings from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study."American Journal of Community Psychology. 22.6 (1994): 745-765. Web. 16 Sep. 2013. <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02521557>.

Frese, Michael, and Gisela Mohr. "Prolonged unemployment and depression in older workers: A longitudinal study of intervening variables."Social Science and Medicine. 25.2 (1987): 173-178. Web. 16 Sep. 2013. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0277953687903856>.

Yes, I did cite my sources. I miss college. Stop judging me.