It's not that anybody thinks getting laid off is an uplifting experience. But when University of Western Ontario researchers William Avison, Ph.D., looked at the link between losing a job and emotional problems, the not-so-surprising results were downright depressing.
Avison's study of almost 900 Canadian families found strikingly high levels of psychological problems among the unemployed--55 to 75 percent greater than in those who were working steadily. Complaints ranged from depression and substance abuse to panic attacks and anxiety.
"In the short term, layoffs benefit budgets, and that's important," says Avison, director of the Center for Health and Well-Being. "But in the long term we may demoralize our society."
And the psychic scars of unemployment are not easily healed. Folks recently employed after a period of joblessness have only slightly fewer mental problems than their still-unemployed peers. The study also found that wives of unemployed men experience dramatic mental health difficulties, although the reverse was not true.
