Job Loss Anxiety: How to Take Care of Your Mental Health During Career Transitions
Last Updated on April 24, 2025 by Prath
Reviewed by April Justice, LICSW
- Published on 24 April 2025
Job loss can make you feel like a rug was pulled out from under you. It hurts.
Lack of employment can cause financial, relationship, family, and other daily stressors. Talking to friends can be a lot harder.
What do you even say when everyone’s discussing their work life? How do you handle conversations with people who want to know your role and experience? It’s all frustrating and can make you feel hopeless.
Yet, job loss doesn’t have to spell the end. Think of your life as a saga; the story is still ongoing, and your spin-off tale has yet to be written.
In the brief pause between your previous and future work roles, you can feel an endless number of thoughts and beliefs about yourself. We’re here to write an article to help you process the experience in a healthy way.
The article also explores tips for protecting your mental health during unemployment and job hunting.
This Article Contains:
5 Ways to Protect Your Mental Health When You’re Unemployed
Our lives are intricately tied to work. Nearly every social conversation begins with, ‘What do you do?’ ‘What is your passion?’ and ‘Do you like your work?’
Time and time again, our values and self-worth are linked to the work we do. This is why job loss can disrupt a person’s life, deprive them of stability, and cut them off from most of their peers.
With so much work stress, job loss, and burnout in the corner, this is a good time to ask: How does all of this affect our mental health? And what can we do to counter the negative emotional impact?
The Negative Emotional Impact of Retrenchment
A job loss can cause a lot of grief from losing:
- A stable income
- Friends and good acquaintances from the company
- A sense of familiarity and emotional safety
- Status and stability
- Our sense of purpose and passion
- Trust and belief in people
A recent study found that a loss of collective purpose had a direct and negative effect on a person’s mental health after a job loss.
While working, we know what to do with ourselves. A daily routine keeps us active and motivated to get through the day.
Sometimes, a work schedule may also have positive effects on our physical health — Have you ever travelled longer than 1 hour to reach your workplace? The small things you notice about the world and your surroundings during travel can also make you happy.
With all this eliminated from your life, unexpectedly or planned, it can make you feel:
- Moody and irritable without knowing how to spend your day
- Envious of people who seem to have a stable career
- Low, depressed, or hopeless
But guess what? Feeling anxious or moody due to unemployment is a normal response to a stressful situation. This is usually how we’re supposed to feel when things take a turn for the worse.
Therefore, rather than feeling like something is wrong with you, you may find it helpful to focus on coping with these emotions.
5 Tips to Cope With Unemployment
While self-care tools may not land you a job automatically, they may make you resilient enough to handle some of the most difficult times of your life.
The tips shared here may seem obvious, but people struggling with unemployment are also struggling with some of the most basic human needs.
Anne from the show ‘Anne With an E’ says, ‘I’m in the depths of despair. Can you eat when you are in the depths of despair?’
When we’re feeling the lowest, we tend to deny ourselves basic care. Do you feel like eating when you’re angry? The answer is probably no. The common reaction would be to walk away from the food. Our emotions at times like these demand our full attention.
Hence, these are the times we may need to hold extra space for self-compassion.
So, let’s break down some of the ways you can take care of yourself during a job loss.
1) Move Your Body
Think of any basic movements you can incorporate into your day. For example, if you’ve been sitting for more than an hour, simply stand up. Stretch your arms, do some jumping jacks, or rotate your head.
Movements can be as simple as moving away from your desk or bed and walking to another location.
If you can’t go to the gym, try going to a park. If you can’t walk or run, try playing on the swings or slides.
Do you struggle to even step out of the house? Take on some household tasks like washing utensils.
When you start to move after a long rest, your body and mind may resist. Hence, you may need to find compelling ways to motivate yourself.
For some people, listening to music while cleaning the house can be a great form of movement. For others, talking on the phone and strolling inside the room can do the job.
This form of movement is essential for maintaining your mental health.
2) Move Your Mind
‘Move your mind’ may sound funny, but it means working your cognitions.
Keeping your brain alert and entertained is a great way to find joy and happiness in your life. Here are some ideas that may help:
- Read a book
- Play a video game or watch documentaries on topics you’re interested in
- Learn a new skill like painting or baking
- Get yourself a crossword or riddle book and complete a page daily
Remember that the above tasks do not have to be strenuous. For example, you can read articles, newspapers, transcripts, or even recipes. Reading, in any form, can positively change your brain.
Research also shows that readers are more open-minded, empathetic, and self-compassionate.
3) Eat Right
It’s so easy to grab instant noodles or avoid eating when unemployed.
Some people struggle to eat due to feelings of worthlessness. However, remember that your worth does not matter only when you work. Your existence has immense value regardless of your occupation, financial, or economic status.
Food has a significant impact on your lives. It is not only fuel for our body but also for our brain.
Eating poorly or avoiding food can affect your mood, emotions, and cognitive abilities and may even lead to conditions such as depression.
Below are some tips if you’re struggling to eat right:
- Request your family or friends to cook you food for the time being
- Try to join your loved ones for meals
- If having a full meal is hard on your stomach, split it into several mini-meals throughout the day
- When you can, meet your friends in a restaurant or cafe where you can eat good food
4) Talk to People
This goes without saying: Nothing is more important than connecting with your community.
Decades of research show that talking to other people during times of distress can lead to happiness and resilience.
When you’re stuck in a difficult situation, it can be hard to find solutions.
On the one hand, if your brain is thinking about all the negatives of your current situation, you may spiral more and more into its depths – this is why introspection is strongly discouraged when people are unhappy.
On the other hand, your loved ones may:
- Support you back to shape mentally
- Encourage you to eat properly
- Motivate you to keep going when things seem bleak
- Give you hope and a sense of purpose to keep going
5) Find Yourself a Purpose
The first four points focused on self-care. Interestingly, the last thing, finding a purpose, should focus on the care of other people.
That’s because purpose and values are different from goals. A goal can help you achieve your purpose, while a purpose can shape your life.
For example, reducing your weight might be your goal. But why do you want to reduce it? What difference would it make? Imagine you’re a parent, and your child sees you growing old and weak too quickly. Your purpose, then, might be to stay healthy and joyful for longer — to be there for your children, present both mentally and physically.
Try to find your purpose in life again. Why do you want a job? What difference can you make in the world, however small it may be? What makes you get up in the morning? What do you think about when you go to sleep?
Your answers to these questions help you define your purpose in life.
3 Tips to Maintain Mental Health While Job Hunting
Maintaining your mental health while hunting for career opportunities is a job unto itself.
The process of attending multiple interviews, writing hundreds of different types of assignments, and being rejected can make you feel exhausted and burned out.
Hence, it’s important to follow some simple methods to ensure that you stay healthy and resilient during this time.
1) Switch Tasks
It can be hard to do other things during the job search. You may apply to positions throughout the day, but this stress can negatively affect your health.
Writing about yourself, writing about the company, and finishing assignments constantly is mentally draining. Hence, it’s important to switch tasks every now and then.
When you feel yourself hitting a wall, pause and do something completely unrelated to work. Try a new recipe, go out for a walk, talk to a friend, or watch some TV.
Focus on physical sensations that can help ground you. Try meditating or deep breathing exercises, do art, stretch your body, or listen to music.
Sometimes, focusing away from the important task at hand can help you come up with a fresh perspective.
2) Avoid Comparison
It is easy to look at your friends and talk down about yourself. However, remember that they’re living completely different lives and may also have shortcomings you may not have known.
This is also the best time to log out of LinkedIn or other social media apps. People online may only show aspects or snippets of their accomplishments. The effects of social media on your mental health during such times can be harmful.
Remind yourself that life is not a race. There is no competition to be won. Your process of finding your career should be rooted in peace and self-compassion.
3) Release Your Emotions
Therapists often suggest finding healthy ways to release your emotions. If you feel your throat stuffed up or despair in your gut, take a break to sit with those emotions.
Try not to resist the urge to cry. Crying can help release the good chemicals in your brain and may even make you feel better afterwards.
If you’re feeling frustrated, scream into your pillows or talk to a friend. Sometimes, going for a run can also release your pent-up emotions.
All feelings are meant to be felt and released. If suppressed, they may lead to physical issues like gut irritation, headaches, or muscle pain. Research shows that trauma or distress has a direct connection to physical illness.
Key Takeaways
Finding a job is one of the hardest things anyone can do. It’s scary not to have a stable income, demoralising to be rejected time and again, and terrifying not to know what the future holds for you.
But remember that you are not alone in this process.
Talking to a qualified Therapist at TYHO can help you cope and regulate your emotions. Personalised therapeutic care is scientifically shown to improve resilience.
If you’re unemployed, it’s important to:
- Move your body and mind
- Eat right
- Talk to your loved ones for support
- Find a sense of purpose in life
If you’re in the process of looking for a job, remember to:
- Switch tasks and take breaks
- Avoid comparing yourself to others
- Feel and release your emotions as they appear
Talk to a Therapist today for professional support, or explore our EAP services.
