Psychologists say something scary happens when you're unemployed for a while

[Johnboy60]

When you have a regular gig, you may occasionally fantasize about quitting or even getting laid off and the freedom that would accompany it.

In lieu of getting jostled by strangers during your daily commute and being chided by your boss for the typos in your latest project report, you could take a leisurely stroll through the park and bake a batch of your favorite cookies.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/psychologists-something-scary-happens-youre-184300337.html

 

[WolfGate]

I was out of work for 6 months one time - so not the 1-4 years they studied. However, I will say that it totally stank. Financially we were OK, we had enough funds to last another few months. But when I started working again I did find at first I was hesitant to take risks, because I had this emotional reaction that if I was wrong I might lose my job. That was truly counterproductive, as you have to take risks in my profession, and not doing so means you can only be marginal at best. So it is understood you will be wrong at time. Intellectually I knew that, and had not had problems before, but at the start of my new job I did. All that to say, intuitively what the article says makes sense.

 

[NightHawkeye]

Yep ... Being productive is what people are born to do.

Psychologists say something scary happens when you're unemployed for a while

Results showed that agreeableness, which is similar to friendliness, decreased among both men and women during long-term unemployment (one to four years).
...
The study also indicated that conscientiousness, or the tendency to be orderly and motivated, decreased among unemployed men and women.
...
A third major effect of long-term unemployment is that openness generally decreases.​

In other words, people feel bad when they're not doing anything productive. People want to contribute.

 

[KitKatMatt]

This resonates with me as well. I was out of work for about a year between jobs two times, and it really made me feel awful.

 

[keith99]

Did they do anything to try to separate out financial insecurity from everything else?

That seems the big issue to me, and it starts from the first second of job loss and keeps building.

 

[ChristsSoldier115]

I know if i stare in a woman's eyes for 10 minutes I just fall in love...

 

[TerranceL]

I've had this too, you wake up at 7 feeling like you should be getting up and going somewhere but having nowhere to go.

And the constant worry about money ugh.