Unemployment and mental health

Unemployment is a broad term that includes both voluntary, involuntary job loss and young 

individuals who have never been able to enter the labour market. 

Voluntary job loss is defined 

as employees who actively separate themselves from a job. Hence, this could be employees that 

resign by their own will. 

Involuntary job loss is defined as an employee losing their job due to factors that are beyond the individual’s control, this could be job loss due to downsizings or re-

structuring in the company 

The individual can be affected by unemployment in several ways, losing one’s job not only puts 

the individual in a position of financial insecurity. But it can also be seen as a traumatic event  that threatens the individual's self-esteem and sense of identity. 

Research has highlighted the importance of social benefits in the sense that it has an impact on mental health 

 Unemployment has proven to be detrimental to one's psychological health, and even more so if the country does not have sufficient support for the unemployed 

 Therefore, it has been established that an increased welfare benefit system works favourably on the individual’s mental health when unemployed 

Unemployment can affect social relations with friends, colleagues and family, which often is  associated with the individual's loss of self-esteem 

 Additionally, the effect of job loss tends to affect those who value their work highly in a more negative way, than those who simply refers to their job as not important  Research also show that unemployment leads to self-elected social isolation, where people who are 

unemployed tend to participate less in activities such as clubs or organizations .

Isolation and loss of self-esteem is as mentioned above, two consequences of unemployment that at a later stage can develop into an overall decline in mental health. Studies have shown that mental health 

depressive symptoms is twice as high among those who are unemployed compared to those who are in employment 

Depression according to the DSM-5 standard2

is defined as a state of mind where the patient 

suffers from a lasting condition for at least a two-week period. DSM-5 is a medical term that describes self-reported symptoms of depression . In order 

to get diagnosed with depression, the condition must have caused a change in the individual's 

living condition. The patient needs to experience a feeling of depression or have a reduced interest or joy. Additionally, the individual has to experience four or more of the following symptoms; weight loss, sleep disturbance, psychomotor retardation, loss of appetite, reduced energy, concentration difficulties, incapability of making a decision, recurring thoughts about 

death or feelings of loneliness,

weakness,worthlessness and hopelessness . 

Depression is a phenomenon that carries social stigma in today's society, which can 

consequently lead to reluctance in seeking help or talking about feelings of depression 

Unemployment is also a phenomenon that includes stigmatization, in countries where unemployment is not socially accepted discusses the term 

stigma as an interaction where stigmatization is being used in order to identify divergent factors 

in another individual or group.

An internal stigma can leave the individual feeling excluded from society, as well as their friends and family. External stigma refers to factors that are associated with being unemployed such as loss of income, ability to provide for yourself or 

your family points out the fact that social exclusion 

is problematic since it tends to lead the unemployed into a downward spiral, where the lack of 

social connections prevents the unemployed from finding a new job.

Furthermore, it could be 

argued that this puts individuals in a position where the lack of social connections, prevent them 

from finding a job at a later stage in their life 

In research, it is emphasized that women are twice as likely to experience depression in relation 

to unemployment than men This could be explained by 

stereotypical behaviour, gender roles and family wage-earning systems 

When taking gender norms into account, women are reduced to only obtain a limited amount of roles; where women might only possess role of a housewife or a mother. 

This two-sided dilemma, puts women in a position where they can increase in depressive symptoms. At 

the same time being a working mother also poses a risk for women's mental health, as it produces a conflict between the work identity and the identity as a mother 

Despite this, researchers are now suggesting that the female role is being redefined from the stereotypical stay-at-home mother to a transitional working mother

In recent years, employment among women has increased, both in part-time and full time jobs  Moreover, women’s entering the labour market has contributed to more equal gender roles. Even though research are generally seeing a development towards a more egalitarian society, both within households and in the labour market, there is still a lack of egalitarian practice