Dear Editor,
(Or rather to whom this may concern,)
I’ve been thinking about the men and women who have become unemployed as a result of the slump in oil prices. The impact for those people, I believe, can be life altering. What happens in the weeks or months after a layoff could be incredibly significant, perhaps one of the most significant things they could ever be involved in. When you lose your job, an important part of who you are, and have been for many years, is put somewhere on a shelf not to be touched or looked at for a while.
All kinds of feeling are generated by the loss of a job, whether it’s disappointment, anger or sadness. As days move into weeks or months, your personal sense of worth and your feelings of adequacy or confidence might wear pretty thin. Your work connections are not there anymore and social connections that come from work could have disappeared. The people from your job are likely still around, but work is no longer the glue that keeps the group together. Even though you’re aware that some of those people are still around and in the same situation you’re in, there might be a reluctance to call each other, even for a coffee. Of course, there’s still the coffee shops to go to, if you can pry yourself away from home, not always an easy task. Just to talk to someone makes a difference – we’re more social than we think.
Things might become heavy and difficult though – you might start thinking things you’ve never thought of before without recognizing that there’s a limit to what you can think through all by yourself. You need other people to filter your feelings and your thoughts.
What happens when there is no one you can talk to about something difficult and important? The thought of suicide might have crossed your mind. Your emotions and your thinking at times might be all over the place and you can’t settle on anything that relaxes you. If you’re connected to a church, or even if you’re not, call a pastor, an emergency support or distress line or a hospital or even go to a hospital - hopefully the people there are smart enough, empathetic enough and informed enough to listen and help you. At times, you might be put on hold if you call or shuffled to another number. When you’re anxious and upset that’s often not a lot of help. If this happens often enough, you might be tempted not to try to get help. When you get to that point, you might get out a pencil and paper and write about what’s happening to you- describe what your day’s been like. It might slow you down. To write, you’d have to organize your thoughts and begin to focus. You’ll be surprised how relaxing that can become just using pencil and paper. When you’re relaxed enough try another phone call . You might feel embarrassed or uncomfortable when you start talking about what’s happening to you but if the person on the line is patient they will help you through it.
Hang in there. It might be one of the most important occasions of your life.
George Jason