Avoid Joining the Mass Depression

Avoid Joining the Mass DepressionAvoid Joining the Mass DepressionExcerpted from Youre Better Than Your Job SearchBy Marc Cenedella and Matthew RothenbergCoping with the feelings that go along with a job loss is challenging under any circumstances, but job seekers find themselves dealing with negative group-think and perhaps even a mass depression.Kathryn J. Fraser, a psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque, takes the notion a step further, saying that too much exposure to television and the Internet - regardless of the program - can have mental as well as physical consequences.I think its important that people limit their time watching the TV, she says. There are actual studies that show that too much TV goes along with increased depression. And part of it is, physically, people are just sitting there, watching something, and our bodies were not meant to do that. Again, back to evolutionary psychology, we need to be running around and doing physical exercise.In fact, experts tell Ladders time and again that regular exercise and eating right are key to maintaining the healthy mind and body that will be required for an arduous job search. We all sweat from anxiety, says Elizabeth Friedman, a clinical psychologist in New York. It is way better to sweat from a good workout. There is all kinds of evidence that exercise releases all kinds of good stuff in your brain and makes you more positive.Indeed, people will have to work hard to overcome the repeated rejection that can come with an extended job search. The mind has to change to the concept of, Its going to take me a while to find a job, says Kevin Skinner, a marriage and family therapist who also shares his expert advice at MyExpertSolution.com.Think, Its not a matter of if, but a matter of when I get that new job. And until then, Im going to be hitting up against a lot of rejection. And we dont deal with rejection very well as huma n beings, especially when it has to do with our finances and being able to provide for our families.Michael Jolkovski, Ph.D., a psychologist and psychoanalyst in Falls Church, Va., agrees. Its sort of like the entrepreneurs mentality, where people are doing something and the success is uncertain, he says. Just like certain salespeople - if they get a 1 percent response rate, then theyre doing well. They have to have the mentality to make 99 calls and say, Well, theres one more down, instead of saying, Oh, Ive been rejected 99 times. Now available in e-book fasson from online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes Noble.From Youre Better Than Your Job Search by Marc Cenedella and Matthew Rothenberg.