NYT: Unemployment May Be Hazardous to Your Health

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/health/09sick.html

By RONI CARYN RABIN
Published: May 8, 2009

Even as the U.S. Labor Department released figures showing that the economy lost more than half a million jobs in April, researchers on Friday made public a large study with an unsettling finding: Losing your job may make you sick.

A researcher at the Harvard School of Public analyzed detailed employment and health data from 8,125 individuals surveyed in 1999, 2001 and 2003 by the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics.

Workers who lost a job through no fault of their own, she found, were twice as likely to report developing a new ailment like high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease over the next year and a half, compared to people who were continuously employed.

Interestingly, the risk was just as high for those who found new jobs quickly as it was for those who remained unemployed.

Though it’s long been known that poor health and unemployment often go together, questions have lingered about whether unemployment triggers illness, or whether people in ill health are more likely to leave a job, be fired or laid off.

In an attempt to sort out this chicken-or-egg problem, the new study looked specifically at people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own — for example, because of a plant or business closure.

FULL story at link.

[ananda]

1. Poverty and stress are hazardous to health.

Worry.. anxiety.. lack of ability to
afford healthcare...

... and unemployment can certainly be
a factor.

Low wages, denial of benefits, and other
problems can be factors as well.

[enlightenment]

2. I want her job -

so I can get paid for coming up with 'and water is wet' findings like this . . .

[virgogal]

3. I hope they didn't spend much money for this "study". Anyone

with a grain of good common sense could have figured that out.

[steven johnson]

4. Involuntary unemployment is associated with increased heart attacks and suicide

People who lose their jobs are twice as likely to suffer a stroke or myocardial infarction than those who remain employed and three times more likely to commit suicide, according to several studies suggest.

Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2006;63:683-687
Copyright © 2006 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

The impact of late career job loss on myocardial infarction and stroke: a 10 year follow up using the health and retirement survey

W T Gallo1, H M Teng1, T A Falba1, S V Kasl1, H M Krumholz2 and E H Bradley1

Objective: To assess the 10 year risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke associated with involuntary job loss among workers over 50 years of age.

Methods: Analysing data from the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to estimate whether workers who suffered involuntary job loss were at higher risk for subsequent MI and stroke than individuals who continued to work. The sample included 4301 individuals who were employed at the 1992 study baseline.

Results: Over the 10 year study frame, 582 individuals (13.5% of the sample) experienced involuntary job loss. After controlling for established predictors of the outcomes, displaced workers had a more than twofold increase in the risk of subsequent MI (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.48; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.49 to 4.14) and stroke (HR = 2.43; 95% CI = 1.18 to 4.98) relative to working persons.

Conclusion: Results suggest that the true costs of late career unemployment exceed financial deprivation, and include substantial health consequences. Physicians who treat individuals who lose jobs as they near retirement should consider the loss of employment a potential risk factor for adverse vascular health changes. Policy makers and programme planners should also be aware of the risks of job loss, so that programmatic interventions can be designed and implemented to ease the multiple burdens of joblessness.

http://oem.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/63/10/683

************************************************

Unemployment increases a person's risk of suicide by up the three times, researchers have found.

They say the link remains even when other risk factors such as household income, education and marital status are taken into account.

Experts say the findings reinforce the importance of unemployed people ensuring they keep busy, and talk to people about their problems.

Men and women aged 25 to 44, and men who were aged 45 to 64 who were unemployed were two to three times as likely to commit suicide as their employed peers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3102933.stm

[Earth Bound Misfit]

5. Good post, thanks for the info & links! n/t

[steven johnson]

6. Men 'suffering recession blues'

Depression is a major health risk factor. Heart disease is more common in depressed individuals and depression worsens the prognosis for established heart disease.
Depression as a risk factor for coronary artery disease

So the current increase in unemployment has significant physical and mental health implications.

Men are struggling to cope with the emotional impact of the recession, a mental health charity has warned.

Almost 40% of men admit to feeling low at the moment with job security, work and money playing on their minds, a Mind survey of 2,000 adults found.

And 5% of men said they had experienced suicidal thoughts compared with 2% of women.

The recession could make the situation much worse, with research showing one in seven men develop depression within six months of losing their jobs.


Men 'suffering recession blues'

[billyoc]

7. Being trained from birth that you're a fucking failure if you're not successful can't help.