5 Tips on Coping with Being Over 50 Unemployed and Depressed
Unemployment doesn’t just have a financial strain on a person – it impacts just about every facet of a person’s life, from their emotional well being to their relationships.
Learning how to cope with being over 50 unemployed and depressed can help a person deal more effectively with these knock-on effects and potentially assist them back onto the road to employment.
Establish a Routine and Stick to It
When a person loses their job, it’s easy for them to slip into a sort of unemployed haze where days tend to merge into one another and there’s no real reason for a person to get out of their pyjamas.
This sort of lifestyle might be appealing at first, but it can actually have a negative impact on a person’s wellbeing. Keep in mind that there are many benefits to being over 50
Structure and routine is even more important to a person that’s just lost their job because it helps to maintain their feelings of self worth and gives them a reason to get out of bed in the day.
Get Moving When You’re Over 50 Unemployed and Depressed
It is well documented that exercise helps to combat depression and for those who are over 50 unemployed and depressed, it is even more important because it comes with the added benefit of giving the person a reason to leave the house.
Joblessness can be very isolating and depression can only increase the desire a person has to lock themselves away from the world.
Exercise doesn’t only flood the body with endorphins, it brings people into contact with other people, allowing them to socialize and this has added benefits for someone with a low mood.
Don’t Keep it to Yourself
Many people find losing their job to be shameful or embarrassing, but this shouldn’t be the case.
Many people find themselves without work at some stage of their lives and shutting themselves off from everyone around them not only isolates an individual when they need support the most, but it actually could prevent them from being offered certain opportunities. Your metal health is very important as you hit middle age and there is help out there
In today’s world, networking is everything and a person never knows whether the next individual they reach out to might have a job on offer.
Seek Out Group Support
Support is especially important during a time of unemployment. Any over 50 unemployed and depressed individual will likely admit that this was one of the hardest times of their lives.
The good news is that there are support groups out there to help people cope with these periods.
In some areas, the support groups might be very specific – such as those for unemployed executives – but in other areas, just about everyone and anyone might be welcome.
One of the best things to come from this sort of interaction might just be the knowledge that this sort of thing can happen to anyone. These groups have not only been known to improve low mood, but also to raise self esteem.
Try Something You’ve Never Done Before
Unemployment can make a person feel very uninspired, but those activities that make a person feel passionate, inspired and alive can often help them to cope and overcome the challenges of joblessness.
Trying something new is a great way for a person to remind themselves that life still has new and exciting things to offer, and more importantly, that it still has something to offer them.
Being unemployed can be a full time job in itself because it can take a lot of time and energy to overcome this challenging period in a person’s life.
The good news is that being over fifty unemployed and depressed isn’t the end of the line and with a bit of support, it is possible to rise to the challenge.
I am over 60 and have been unemployed for over 3 years after 40 years of full employment. It has become noticeable in my lengthy job searches that ageism is alive and well in the workplace. Interviewers are asking me whether I think this job would be too ‘demanding’ for me! I live alone and have no-one to lean on for moral support or practical help. The Job Centre say it is my responsibility to find work. So saying that it isn’t the end of the line is wrong and I have yet to find anyone who can provide me with help or support to find work. Sorry to sound defeatist, but that is my experience. I am sure I cannot be the only one experiencing this.