Lost Your Job?  Don’t Lose Your Health, Too.

Article by healthybalance.com staff
Posted on January 24, 2010

Everyday, across America, it seems like more people are losing their jobs. Experts and recent polls have found that losing a job not only hurts folks financially, it hurts their mental and physical health as well. And, losing health insurance coverage isn’t the only reason why.

A December 2009 nationwide poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News surveyed unemployed people about various concerns, including health. A whopping 69 percent of those responding reported being more stressed than usual; 55 percent said they’ve had trouble sleeping; and 48 percent had experienced anxiety or depression.

People who have been out of work for longer periods of time have an even harder time with such mental health issues. “I’ve had patients come in where that’s the first thing out of their mouth,” said Dr. John Naus, a psychiatrist, Texas Health Springwood Hospital. “They come in and they say they’ve been out of a job for a month or three months or six months.”

Losing a job impacts physical health, too. Economists Daniel Sullivan, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Till von Wachter, Columbia University, found that death records matching employment and earnings data found mortality rates for high-seniority male workers spike sharply in the year following an involuntary job loss—with a possible decrease in life expectancy of one to one and a half years. “We were convincingly able to show that if you lose your job, you die earlier,” von Wachter said.

“I’m convinced that a large shock to one’s socioeconomic status, such as job loss, negatively impacts health,” adds sociologist at the University at Albany Kate Strully, another researcher.

Psychologist Sheldon Cohen, Carnegie Mellon University, explains, “two general pathways linking stress to disease-related outcomes. One is the behavioral pathway. We know that under stress, people smoke more, drink more. They don’t sleep as well. They don’t exercise. They have poorer diets. All of these things can put people at greater risk of disease. The other is the physiological pathway. There is considerable evidence that under chronic stress, the immune system does not work the way it should.”

If you’ve lost your job, what’s the best way to maintain your health? Find positive ways to relieve your stress. These seven tips might just help:

1. Keep a normal schedule. Maintain your established eating and sleeping patterns.
2. Stay active. Use your new free time to begin or upgrade your exercise program, volunteer with a local non-profit, or meet friends for brown bag lunch dates. Did you know exercise releases stress and produces “feel good” hormones?
3. Enjoy your morning coffee at a coffee shop instead of alone in front of your TV.
4. Eat healthy. Nutrients in fresh organic fruits and vegetables help your body deal with harmful “stress chemicals.” Sugar and artificial sweeteners can further decrease immune system effectiveness.
5. Accomplish something. Tackle that household project, revisit a favorite hobby or help elderly family members with household chores around their house.
6. Meditate. Simple, daily meditation –or prayer—can help offload stress.
7. Seek help. If you experience depression or anxiety on a continuing or debilitating basis, seek help through your community’s mental health network.