Mindfulness For The Unemployed: Fighting Discouragement

We have been living with very high levels of unemployment for almost a decade, which has generated multiple damages for the people who suffer from it, finding themselves in situations of vulnerability.

Mindfulness for the unemployed, among other things, is an effective treatment to combat the discouragement that is installed in the lives of unemployed people, which makes any attempt to get out of that situation even more difficult.  Some of the problems that are tried to alleviate through mindfulness for the unemployed are:

• Personal insecurity.
• The dissatisfaction of basic needs.
• Frustration in life expectancy.
• And, ultimately, the attitude with which they face this difficult situation.

Thus, as a consequence of all these setbacks, from the unemployed group various options are proposed to carry out, in order to be able to acquire an adequate quality of life, despite these handicaps.

Mindfulness for the unemployed: a door ajar where before there were only bricks

One of the first, and most difficult, alternatives that people who do not find employment choose is to leave their regions or countries in order to find work and thus increase their well-being, their economic and social security and their personal fulfillment. .

However, the process involved in the transition from the time the person leaves their home and social environment, family, friends, neighbors …, until it is established, is a truly arduous process. People who migrate looking for a job may achieve economic stability but their emotional stability may be threatened.

The lack of support and affection, as well as possible problems for integration and adaptation open a door to the need to train the mind to ensure adequate emotional balance. 

Unemployed people who, for various reasons, cannot afford to emigrate to seek a better life live in a precarious situation. This group has a minimal income and a limited lifestyle, which serves as the basis for entering a spiral of despair, demotivation and frustration, circumstances that can easily lead to a mental imbalance. Therefore, this group demands and requires training in strategies that favor new horizons and exits from an interpersonal approach.

Work is one of the tools with which people define and project themselves, as well as being the vehicle to satisfy subsistence needs. It is a sign of identity, since it encompasses us in a social status, and favors the feeling of usefulness, by having our basic needs satisfied and facilitating community participation within society.

Rather,  unemployment often leads to social isolation and feelings of insecurity and worthlessness. These emotions undermine and destroy self-esteem and can lead to such dangerous disorders as depression or anxiety. Which, if it occurs, will undoubtedly negatively affect the personality and family relationships, creating situations of tension.

Why use mindfulness for the unemployed?

For all that is stated in the previous paragraph, it is more than advisable to use mindfulness techniques for the unemployed, in order to achieve and maintain good mental health and adequate emotional balance in a population so punished at these levels.

For this, it is necessary to use three defined strategies, differentiating psychotherapy, medication and lifestyle modification. 

•  Regarding medication, indicate that it is of little use if it is not accompanied by psychotherapy. It is wrong to medicate a person who does nothing to change his situation. In this case, the drugs serve as an anesthetic, and that is not what is sought with the medication, but just the opposite. Drugs should act as a motivator in new behaviors allowing people, together with their effort, to get out of the emotional situation in which they find themselves.

• In relation to psychotherapy, it should be noted that acceptance therapy based on mindfulness or mindfulness can be as effective as medications to help train mental health problems. Mindfulness-based acceptance therapy was developed as an alternative to confrontation to help people recognize, accept, and respond constructively to inappropriate thoughts and feelings. Hence, mindfulness for the unemployed is being so successful, because it does not fight against the external, which is beyond our control, but against the internal.
• Regarding the modification of the lifestyle, indicate that the person himself has to be conscious and consistent since this point is intentional. To achieve the desired success, the person must acquire a high knowledge of himself, provided through meditation and reflection. Mindfulness for the unemployed should not be understood as therapy, but as a lifestyle.

Finally, we leave you a story to reflect on.

The rock on the road

In a distant kingdom,  a king  placed a large rock in the middle of the main  entrance path to the kingdom, blocking the way. Then he hid to see if someone would remove it.

The wealthiest merchants in the kingdom and some passing courtiers simply circled the rock. Many of them stood for a while in front of the rock complaining, and blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but  none did anything to remove the obstacle.

Then a peasant arrived carrying a load of vegetables. He set it down and studied the rock on the way, observing it. He tried to move the rock by pushing it and prying it off with a wooden branch that he found on the side of the road,  after pushing and getting very fatigued, he finally managed to push the rock away. While gathering his load, he found a bag, right where the rock had been. The bag contained a good quantity of gold coins and a note from the king, indicating that this was the reward for whoever cleared the way.

The peasant learned what the others never learned:

Each obstacle overcome is an opportunity to improve one’s condition.