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We already know that unemployment, whether long-term or short-term, can have a negative impact on the mental and physical health of those who are faced with it. But according to a new study, this observation must also be linked to the previous professional experiences of job seekers.
The observation is already more or less known. Beyond the impact on physical health, experiencing a period of unemployment can be the cause of psychological disorders such as loss of self-confidence, anxiety, and even depressive states. Many studies have indeed already sought to analyze the impact of unemployment on mental health. Thus, according to a 2012 OECD report devoted to unhappiness at work, on average, “We observe among the unemployed a prevalence of mental health problems almost twice that observed among employed people and slightly higher than that observed among the inactive”.
But the conclusions of these different studies are not always «agreements» and some “empirical limits” may appear, underline three experts (Antoine Duarte, lecturer in psychopathology of work at the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Stéphane Le Lay, associate sociologist and Fabien Lemozy, sociologist), members of the Institute of Psychodynamics of Work, in a study published on August 13 by Dares*. These researchers have therefore adopted a different approach, which is based mainly on the discourse of individuals and their subjective experience, not only during their period of unemployment but also in the context of their professional activity. Because “Unemployment (and the discomfort felt during this period of inactivity, Editor’s note) can be a consequence of the deterioration of health in previous work experience”they write.
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Improvement in health status during the first days of unemployment
The authors of the study thus conducted several waves of surveys with 24 people in a situation of forced unemployment (82 clinical interviews were conducted with these people, lasting from 1 to 2 hours, and were systematically conducted by two occupational clinicians, a psychopathologist and a sociologist or two psychopathologists), as well as 12 job seekers in a precarious situation, coming from a “particularly impoverished area” from a large French city.
From 24 “clinical cases”the three experts therefore tried to identify “exemplary situations from which (…) it is possible to contribute to the deepening of the understanding of the relationships between mental health and unemployment”they write in their study. Among the first 24 job seekers interviewed, the trend is clear: “The unemployment situation is above all characterized by suffering experienced in the previous work situation.” Thus, the unemployment situation causes “quickly” and “relief of the suffering experienced and, in many cases, an improvement in health in the weeks following the termination of the employment contract” and registration with France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi). This can take the form of a reduction in somatic pain or an improvement in sleep and mood.
This trend affects job seekers, regardless of their previous sector of activity: this is the case, among those interviewed, of a socio-cultural facilitator, a senior executive in an association in the medical-social sector, an executive in the financial department of a large television group, a saleswoman in a cheese factory, a communications officer in a higher research establishment, a lawyer in a public institution, a nurse, a telephone advisor, or even an executive assistant in an art school.
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The authors of the study detail the situation of “Mrs. S.”, 27 years old, a recent graduate of a business school and previously a project manager for a caterer (she sold and organized events for institutions). After having experienced a “massive anxiety attack” due to the pressures of her work and an overload of work, during which she had a “feeling of emptiness” and remained “prostrated for almost an hour in her vehicle”her doctor gave her a sick note. She has not returned to the site since and was dismissed for incapacity. And once unemployed, “as we see in many people we met as part of this research, but also more generally in most subjects faced with similar difficulties in their professional activity, Mrs. S., once freed from the pathogenic constraints of work organization, experiences an initial period of relief”describe the three sociologists.
A feeling of blockage and the development of phobic behaviors
But it is at a later stage that a new difficulty appears: the impossibility of “get back on track” and therefore actively seek a new job because she feels “blocked”. A situation which is “significantly increased” by the events experienced in the context of her professional experience. Thus, “Mrs. S.” explains that she sleeps “many hours” every day and that she “begins to develop phobic behaviors when she opens her computer”. Now for job seekers in this situation, “It is the tragic experience of getting bogged down that is setting in” then, warn the researchers.
In the same vein, “Madame A.”, 55 years old, was previously assistant to the educational director of a private art school. After four years which ended “went very well”the school was bought out. In this context, the witness worked directly with the new CEO and was faced with an overload of work. Disagreements with her new boss reached a “conflict dimension” and he regularly insulted him. “After a few months in this particularly complicated situation, Mrs. A. attempted suicide.”the authors of the study report. After a week of hospitalization, she was signed off work and did not return to work either. She was dismissed after a declaration of unfitness made by the occupational physician.
Now unemployed, “she is afraid to go out” and esteem “no longer having a place in society”. For her, in fact, work has allowed her to “to make accepted” and to be recognized as a person “intelligent”. Or “Today, my intelligence, nobody cares about it”she said.
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For the “precarious” unemployed, a link with the previous work situation is even stronger
For the 12 unemployed women in precarious situations, the question of health has also “a special importance”this having been addressed from the first interview with the authors of the study. And here again, if it is mainly physical health problems that are cited by the witnesses, “Clinical knowledge suggests that these illnesses also have to do with psychological suffering experienced intensely over the years of work”the researchers specify. For example, a musculoskeletal disorder (carpal tunnel), described in occupational psychopathology as an “overload pathology”, can become established over the long term due to psychosocial risks (PSR) at work. Thus, the person may be afraid to stop working (risk of losing their pay, or even their job) while they begin to feel small discomforts, which end up becoming unbearable pain.
Thus, the 12 people interviewed believe that they have been confronted with “seriously degraded situations” as part of their professional experience, causing (among other things) burnout, lower back pain, or carpal tunnel syndrome. “This deterioration concerns employment conditions (access to fixed-term contracts or internships, low salaries), working conditions (carrying heavy loads, repetitive movements, understaffing), and social relations (conflicts, discrimination in hiring and promotions, lack of networks allowing for “piston”).”they explain.
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Facing the precariousness of their jobs and their working conditions has significant long-term effects. “Repeatedly experiencing failure when applying for jobs, having to accept low salaries or shift work are all situations that attack self-confidence and self-esteem. Participants reported experiences of humiliation during job interviews (for example, a recruiter tearing up a participant’s CV in front of her).”depict the three sociologists. And add: “They stressed the fear that could grip them when they thought about their future and that of their children.”
* This study received a financial contribution from Dares as part of a call for research projects on the consequences on mental health of changes in the conditions and organization of work, new forms of employment, precarious employment and unemployment. It therefore only commits its authors and does not represent the position of Dares or the Ministry of Labor, Health and Solidarity.
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