HOW TO AVOID THE UNEMPLOYMENT DEPRESSION PART I

‘Abey tak naukri nahi hui?’, a friend or relative would exclaim. ‘Kya kar rahey ho bhei!’, the person would spew out almost accusingly. And a wave of depression would suddenly hit the person at whom these remarks were targeted.

It’s all the more worse if the person is a graduate of a top-notch university like IBA or LUMS, for then there would be an extra remark intended to rub as much salt as possible on the open wounds.

‘IBA ke to graduates ko final semester start hotay hi offers aani shroo hojati hain’. Which is the last nail in your coffin, hammered by your own near and dear ones. What this remark actually means is that all the people from your university get jobs right away, if you are still unemployed, that means there’s something terribly wrong with you.

No matter how plausible an explanation you give to these people and even if you have them convinced that the job market is down, the effect of their remark will still pierce your heart. And you will have a bout of depression, unless you have impenetrable mental shield around yourself, which chances are you won’t, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this piece.

The only thing to do is to avoid these people at all cost, no matter how good a friend or relative they may be. Isolate yourself from all such people. Avoid the social gatherings where you likely to meet such people. If it’s an important wedding or funeral, then there’s not much you can do about it. Maybe donning a burqa would help. Or maybe not. The best you can do after such an encounter is to go straight to a friend’s house with the same predicament and vent out your frustration.

Or if its too late for that, rent an outrageously raunchy comedy and see it before you hit the bed that night. But be careful which comedy movie you pick, for that can have an adverse effect on you. For instance, don’t pick Fun with Dick and Jane. Although it’s a good comedy starring Jim Carey, the movie is all about employment woes which are all exaggerated (like people out of work for so long they become desperate and start robbing banks!) for the sake of comedy.

Try to stay amongst people who understand your position and trust you to do the best for yourself rather than bothering you with negative stuff.

Research on unemployed adults has found that the length of
unemployment was less important to a person's self-esteem than
the amount of social support received from parents, family members,
and friends.
Lackovic-Grgin and Dekovic 1996


However, you shouldn’t be frustrated to begin with. Being unemployed should be a wonderful opportunity for you to get up to speed with those skills you always wanted to either acquire or hone, and now is the time to do it.

But if that’s not working, which doesn’t for many. It so happens that almost all of us spent our crucial time of the exams brooding about all the wonderful things we are going to do after this hell is over, and making exquisite plans. However when the storm has subsided, for some reason we lose the will to execute our plans. Boredom coupled with frustration sets in.

One of the first things you should do is keep yourself on the move, meaning keep doing different things each day.
The very first thing you’ll have to do is to keep yourself healthy. It’s not just about your body, but your mental being as well. The more you do something with your arms and legs, the more positive effect it has on your mental state of mind. Don’t ask me why. It’s just the way it works. So go out for a walk, jogging or anything physical.