Study: unemployed feel 'traumatized' by recession

The longer people are unemployed the more problems they will develop and the more severe the problems will become. They will withdraw, they will experience social and marital problems, psychological and physical problems, financial and support problems, and they will develop feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, helplessness, and hopelessness. They will also require more in the way of social services, financial aid, housing assistance and medical care to return to productive lives, if they ever do. Many will fall victim to alcohol, drugs, gambling, prostitution, or crime. Unemployment is the poison pill in a recession. These people will require an army of relief workers and years of rehabilitation at a time when resources are most limited but sorely needed for recovery. Will they be lost to indifference or will they get another chance at life?

I've been unemployed for a couple of years now. Previously I was self-employed as a metal salvage worker/seller, or "junker" as most folks call it. While I barely earned a living, as most people do when starting their own business from scratch (pun intended), I LOVED working for myself. For the first time in my life, I actually enjoyed what I did for a living! Even when the metal prices went down, I just kept at it at least 6 days a week. Then reality kicked me in the teeth w/ a vengence and I was forced to sell my minivan/work vehicle for chump change. On top of that, I had to move back home with my mother and due to a series of psychological problems, I haven't been able to get back to doing the only kind of honest work I was ever willing to do (some fellow junkers tried turning me into a theif, but I was raised better than that). Anyways, once this Recession kicked into high gear, folks like myself who had a hard enough time finding a half-decent job (much less a career)in the past have become a burden on friends, family and society as a whole. The only people I feel comfortable being around are other outcasts such as myself, most of whom have all but lost hope in rejoining a dwindling work force. Which, as oneforall pointed out, "Many will fall victim to alcohol, drugs, gambling, prostitution, or crime." The only positive outcome is learning who's really on your side, and even they will look down on you in the long run.

Meanwhile, I've come to notice that the already painfully obvious dividers between the "haves" and the "have nots" are growing like poison ivy between property lines. It seems like folks are not just becoming even more greedy and selfish than ever, but they actually enjoy showing off their material excess to those of us who have nothing. Then they have the audacity to further humiliate you by berating you to their peers loud enough for everyone in earshot to hear, but refuse to take you aside and offer some advice (like a civilized human being) and instead just avoid any direct contact with you, whatsoever. Unless, of course they're intoxicated enough to initiate a hostile confrontation and yada, yada. Even though the reality is they're simply scared to death of what you might be capable of, if you lost control of your emotions and even so much as verbally retaliated against them. And to make matters worse, every time some type of crime is committed in the neighborhood, regardless of your true character, everyone points in your direction. Even though the real career criminals come and go as they please, day or night, usually in cars that cost more than most the average working person's house!(when your unemployed you have plenty of time to observe what most working folks miss out on) But they're often cold-blooded killers who those same judgemental neighbors welcome with open arms and smiles all around, never once speaking a single word against in the open. And the whole time you're doing your best to stick to the morals you were raised with, keep your sanity, look for work (online if you have access, no paycheck=no transportation funds), survive day-to-day on pocket change and pity (if you can manage to swallow your pride, that is) and still do your best to avoid becoming either a victim or a perpetrator of the growing crime rate.

To be honest, the only thing stopping me from throwing my life away right now is the fact that I have two housecats I've raised since they were nursing and leaving them to fend for themselves just isn't part of my DNA.

Jobless is a big problem.