Depression and redundancy: 10 steps to take

It doesn’t matter how people choose to explain it away - job loss can hurt. Bosses may shrug helplessly as they break the bad news and make vague references to the “credit crunch” and “these difficult economic times”. But, after all the well-meant pats on the back and thanks for all your hard work, you still have to step out of the office and face up to the fact that you no longer have a job.

“It’s the unknown element that causes the biggest problems,” says Paula Hall, a psychotherapist with Relate who has helped many people who have experienced job loss. “Redundancy can come as a massive shock. You may not have realised the company was struggling. Or, even if you did, you maybe never thought you’d be the one chosen to go.” Even if the announcement isn’t such a shock, you may well have been facing pressures of another kind. If your company has been shedding jobs over a period of time, you may have been collecting more work - and more stress - along the way, while you waited for your turn.

Redundancy - how will it affect you?

How job loss affects you will depend on a number of factors:

• Your age. "Redundancy can make a huge difference, depending on whether you’re 25 or 45 and what your chances of reemployment are," says Hall. Your late 40s can be a difficult age to lose your job. You’re really not ready to retire yet but you may be in a line of work where it’s difficult to retrain.”
• How long you’ve been with the company.
• What your financial commitments are. “If you have a family or a mortgage, it can hit you really hard,” says Hall.
• Your hopes for the future. “For some people, redundancy is a chance to turn their life around,” says Hall. “It ends up being the best thing that ever happened to them. For others, it’s the end of the world.”
• How prepared you are. “Some people have been talking about the possibility of losing their job - or may have been through it before,” says Hall. “For others, it’s a completely new experience.”
• Whether you start to take professional feedback personally. “A friend of mine got made redundant, got another job within six months, then lost that job too,” says Hall. “You can easily feel downcast by this and start wondering, ‘Is it me?’”
• How quickly you get another job.
• How well supported you are by your family and friends.

Reactions on being made redundant

There are a number of different emotions you may experience on being made redundant. They include:

• Anger - whether at the company or the situation.
• Shock.
• Disappointment.
• A sense of loss. “If you’ve been at that company for a long time, you may find yourself experiencing feelings similar to grief - for your colleagues and for your routine,” says Hall.
• Fear and anxiety for the future.