Unemployment Leads to Depression

Being unemployed can lead to depression. I remember being concerned that when my husband became unemployed he would become depressed. Once you become unemployed several things could go through your mind:
1) you could think it was your fault you no longer have a job;
2) you are worthless;
3) you are causing your family to incur debt;
4) think no one will hire you; and
5) you have no motivation to go and look for a job.

You sit at home and these thoughts bombard your mind over and over. The more you focus on these thoughts; it can lead you to become depressed. What can you do to pull yourself out of this depression?
1) look at your accomplishments prior to losing your job;
2) believe that you can do better than before you lost your job;
3) research your local paper, contact colleagues and find out if there are in leads on jobs in your field;
4) begin networking which might be new for you. I remember I had not really experienced networking in one particular job I had because of the nature of the job. One I lost that job and had to start over, I learned all about networking.

You have to change your mind set about your situation. See it as an opportunity to do something different as well as putting new foundations in place. While you are unemployed put some systems in place that will lead to success.

One of the areas that you will have to adjust is your finances. How do you spend your money? Are there items you can cut out in order to save money? When people work outside of the home, they eat out a lot for lunches. Now that you are unemployed, develop a menu plan. This will reduce the amount of times you go out to eat on a weekly basis. Maybe you and your family were eating out a lot. Once you develop this menu plan, you could see the benefits of doing this long term. The additional bonus to this is once you return to work, you will see how much you have saved and could potentially continue to do this.

Another item that could save you money is reducing the number of times you go out to the movies. Going to the movies can be expensive for two people as well as a family of four. It would be cheaper to buy a DVD once the movie comes out or rent the movie. It is not necessary to see it when it first comes out. Could you take that money and put it towards something else that you need.

Earlier I mentioned networking. Try to plan to network on one day and maximize your time. For example, if you see several groups on one day then that will save you time and reduce the amount you are spending on gas. Little ways of saving money adds up to a lot over a period of time.

Do not let your situation cause you to be depressed. Begin making healthy decisions and seek opportunities to fill your mind with the possibilities of new employment, whether you work for someone else or start your own business. Here is your chance to have a fresh start and make better decisions.

Dr. Taffy W. Wagner is the author of Debt Dilemma, Discharged Into Debt and Homebuyer's Helper. She is the Unemployment Editor for Bellaonline.com She is the Financial Coach for Christianladies.net Debt Dilemma can be purchased at amazon.com Discharged Into Debt and Homebuyer's Helper can be purchased from http://www.paidoff.net.