Mental Health of the Unemployed

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It is well-known that unemployment has serious effects on mental and physical health. A recent study indicates that the severity of the effect depends on the level of stress resulting from job loss and the social support available to the unemployed person. Three hundred men were followed for five years; they were examined every six months and their psychological and physical functioning were measured by a variety of methods. A group of 30 men who became unemployed were compared with 30 who remained employed but were otherwise very similar.

The first time their health was rated after losing a job, the men had more depression, anxiety, and hypochondriacal complaints. Employed men spent an average of one day confined to bed during the six month period and unemployed men spent an average of five days. They also visited doctors five times more often and took twice as many drugs, although they did not have more diagnosed illnesses. The more stress an unemployed man felt himself to be under, the more likely he was to visit a doctor and the less likely he was to consider himself healthy. Correlations between social support and physical and mental health were less strong. On the average, men who had become unemployed did not have lower self-esteem than men who were still employed, but the range of self-esteem despite joblessness had more support from their families and friends and felt the loss of work had caused less stress.

Source: Margaret W. Linn, Richard Sandifer, and Shayna Stein. Effects of unemployment on mental and physical health. American Journal of Public Health 75:502-506 (May 1985). Via Harvard Medical School Mental Health Letter, November 1985.

Sue Meyers
University of Minnesota Extension Service

Originally published January 1986

College of Human Ecology in cooperation with the University of Minnesota Extension Service

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