Employment and mental health
Mental health — the positive and negative effects of employment and unemployment
The positive effects on mental health from employment are the same positive effects that come from any purpose in life. I don’t think there are any direct effects on mental health from unemployment, either. But before I try to justify those claims, some background.
So when I left school and wanted a job before university it surprised me how difficult it was to get a job. Any job. Office work, warehouse work, shop work, factory work; I was not selected for three months and twenty-odd interviews until a quango (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation) gave me some very basic admin work. The quango, in hindsight, was run by some definitely autism-leaning people and so saw a kindred spirit in me.
Future unemployment was the same — lots of interviews, but never picked In those fir