Some reasons for other-than-usual levels of anxiety are temporary jobs; major shifts at work; financial issues due to your firm’s troubles; and poor economic conditions. Unlike the case of an abrupt termination, the uncertainty associated with these types of concerns persists indefinitely. Although you are employed, you continue to be plagued with an ongoing concern regarding the possibility of losing that employment.
One primary effect? High levels of stress. While our brains have been designed to deal with emergency situations, the events related to the current crisis have lasted much longer than most emergency situations. There is no obvious end in sight; every day we wait with no resolution feels like we are simply waiting for the “other shoe” to fall. This continued state of uncertainty causes stress reactions, ultimately resulting in mental fatigue, irritability, and emotional exhaustion.
There are also studies that show people who are currently experiencing employment insecurity experience considerable amounts of distress (both psychologically and physically). Unlike short periods of stress that help you to become more productive, this long-term stress is actually considered to drain you of your energy and thus hinder your ability to concentrate and make decisions.
Part of the anxiety experienced by people in this situation is related to the possibility of not having enough money to be able to provide themselves and/or their families with the necessities in the near future. In most cases, the ruminating thoughts of these fears are meant to provide individuals with some sense of control, however, in most cases, they actually end up creating additional anxiety.
Thinking about these worst-case scenarios leads to a never-ending cycle of restlessness, sleeplessness, and continuous tension. Ultimately, because of how debilitating the fear associated with the current situation has become; people are likely to see their entire lives as huge crises waiting to happen at any point in time.
Work is deeply connected to who we are for lots of folks. It gives us structure, a reason to get up in the morning, and makes us feel like we’re making a difference. But when job security becomes shaky, it can really mess with how we perceive ourselves.
Individuals might second-guess their worth, even when there’s no sign of doing a bad job. Doubts like “Am I good enough?” or “Will they find someone else to do this?” creep in. These kinds of thoughts slowly chip away at confidence and create this feeling of not measuring up.
Studies in occupational health psychology show that job insecurity often goes hand-in-hand with lower job satisfaction and reduced self-esteem. It’s important to note, this isn’t due to actual poor performance but because uncertainty fosters an ongoing cycle of doubt.
In the long run, this can cause people to emotionally withdraw or disengage from their work. They may even lose that sense of accomplishment from things that used to feel meaningful.
A big part of the emotional exhaustion that comes with job insecurity is the fact that your brain is constantly keeping a lookout for potential issues. This keeps your brain in a constant state of worry, leaving much less room for resting and recovering, and even when outside of work, it’s difficult to switch off, as there are always those pesky what-ifs floating around in your mind.
This creates a vicious cycle of stress and burnout, particularly for those individuals who have to deal with a lot of tasks or have extensive to-do lists. Many people are so committed to their jobs that they work harder than they normally would to prove their worth to their companies, resulting in more and longer working hours, and erasing the boundaries between work and personal time.
Tension runs rampant within this environment.
Ultimately, the cycle will continue — job worry — hard work — fatigue — more anxiety — (and repeat) until everything surrounding job insecurity is creating a snowball effect based on the worry. Simply put, a small event, such as a missed call from your supervisor or an ambiguous email about changes at the office, can trigger panic attacks that are not directly related to any real life event but are caused by all the little worries piling onto your plate and increasing your anxiety level, even though no bad event actually occurs.
Leave a Reply