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Why do most people feel bored and depressed without a job?

  • 15-05-2013 10:19PM
    #1
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 86 ✭✭BlimpGaz


    Years ago, when I worked for the Social Welfare Office, I remember that when the unemployed would come in for an assessment, I would often overhear them tell our staff:

    “I would much rather be working than collecting the dole. When I’m working, I have pride and purpose. I earn my money. And my weekends mean something. But when I’m unemployed, my weekends have no value. I don’t enjoy them.”

    Frankly, I never understood this mentality that most Irish people have.

    I remember during my periods of unemployment, people would occasionally ask me “Aren’t you bored?” which would bewilder me, since how can one be bored when they have freedom to do what they want, get up whenever they want, eat whenever they want, etc.? Isn’t it far more boring and mind numbing to be under constant surveillance as a slave 8 to 9 hours a day, against your will, doing something you don’t want (most people’s jobs are not aligned with their interests after all), just for the money and because you “have to”? So I never understood this logic that said that your life is boring without a job and exciting with one.

    Obviously, society conditions you to believe that your life is boring, meaningless, devoid of purpose, and ultimately depressing if you don’t have a JOB or regular employment, as if you were only half a man without one.

    But for me, nothing could be further from the truth. With a million interests, I can always find something to do when I’m not working. Here is a list of examples off the top of my head:

    - There are an unlimited amount of good interesting books I can read, in all areas of interest.
    - There are an unlimited number of great films to watch that I’m interested in.
    - There is a unlimited variety of music I can listen to.
    - With the advent of the internet of course, there is an unlimited endless number of things I can do online, more than I could ever have time for.
    - There are many hobbies I can indulge in – writing books and articles, learning to draw or paint, or learning any new skill or craft, etc.
    - Outdoor activities, parks, hiking, swimming, sports, boating, etc. And if you live near a park, all the better.
    - Travel the world or around the country.
    - There are an unlimited number of interesting people out there to meet and spend time with too (unless they are all working), especially if you are in a country where people are more open, communal, inclusive and less isolated.
    - I can go shopping.
    - I can learn to cook and prepare meals, or bake cookies
    - I can call my many friends on the phone from all over the world

    The list is endless as you can see. And the above can never be completely exhausted either. So how the hell can you have nothing to do if you’re unemployed? That makes no sense and seems like a cheap brainwashing tactic of society. I also don’t see why I have to feel “guilty” for doing what I want if I’m unemployed. In fact, even if I did nothing during my free time except sit around and daydream with my active rich imagination, I’d still be far more entertained than working a typical job of drudgery.

    In my last job when I was eventually laid off due to budget cuts, my co-workers felt pity for me and expected me to feel bad and take it hard. But in reality, I was in a state of euphoria, as though I were being released from jail (much like how I felt when I got out of secondary school) and about to regain my freedom again. My time and life would again be mine, and it was something to look forward to and be excited about, especially since I had plans to go overseas that summer to Bulgaria and now had an excuse to extend my trip. This perplexed my co-workers, who believed that your job was your life and reason for living. Unlike me, they all “lived to work” and assumed that everyone else did too.


«13

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,764 ✭✭✭✭Mr.Crinklewood


    I'll employ someone to read all that.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,443 ✭✭✭Bipolar Joe


    People get depressed because people working piss all over them about being a "dole scrounger".


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    For someone so concerned with boredom and depression your threads don't do an awful lot to alleviate them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,846 ✭✭✭Fromthetrees


    Money buys you real freedom.

    The dole is never going to give you real freedom, unless you sell drugs or your ass for extra cash.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,889 ✭✭✭✭For Forks Sake


    Popcorn. Check.
    Beer. Check.
    Chair at relaxed angle. Check.

    As you were people.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,300 ✭✭✭HazDanz


    Try the dole for an extended period of time. It is mind crushingly boring and the sheer amount of time to think will leave you feeling like sh*t.

    Massive sympathy to people who are stuck on it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,221 ✭✭✭NuckingFacker


    I'd be with you OP. I care less if there's work or not, I'd be busy doing my own stuff anyway. Perversly, being like that almost guarantees you are never anything but busy.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,915 ✭✭✭cursai


    I feel bored and depressed working!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,788 ✭✭✭✭krudler


    I was off work for a few months ill and only found it boring occasionally, between movies, books and t'internet I could keep myself entertained, being sick was a pain obviously and the lack of money to do much else was too but if I could afford to I'd never work a day job or for someone else.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 38 Potentially Toxic


    Excellent post op. don't forget that you are free to learn languages and excercise as well. Then you can educate yourself in numerous areas of interest at your local library.


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  • Posts: 25,909 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Because people have been conditioned that having to do things is a good thing. I include myself in that to some degree unfortunately but at least I know it's stupid.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,572 ✭✭✭✭brummytom


    I only finished Uni a few weeks ago, and I'm already dying of boredom. I can't get a job, and all my friends work full time. Because I can't get a job, I don't have money to even pay off my overdraft, let alone spend anything.

    I'd much rather be doing something constructive (and getting paid!).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,506 ✭✭✭✭castletownman


    BlimpGaz wrote: »
    - I can call my many friends on the phone from all over the world

    .

    Aren't you Mr.Popular


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 86 ✭✭BlimpGaz


    Money buys you real freedom.

    The dole is never going to give you real freedom, unless you sell drugs or your ass for extra cash.

    What more could you want more than the bare minimum? The internet keeps me perfectly entertained and is cost efficient. Do you really need a bunch of "status symbols" such as fancy clothes, a big house, nice car etc.?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,306 ✭✭✭BobbyPropane


    Believe it or not it is quite difficult to do these things. Some people need something to keep themselves occupied, a sense of normality and routine. Without it they begin to analysis ourselves which can lead to obsession over small things and hence depression.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,943 ✭✭✭smcgiff


    Just looking at your list of activities OP.

    How much is YOUR dole?


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 38 Potentially Toxic


    Believe it or not it is quite difficult to do these things. People need something to keep themselves occupied, a sense of normality and routine. Without it we begin to analysis ourselves which can lead to obsession over small things and hence depression.

    Speak for yourself


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 750 ✭✭✭Tisserand


    HazDanz wrote: »
    Try the dole for an extended period of time. It is mind crushingly boring and the sheer amount of time to think will leave you feeling like sh*t.

    Massive sympathy to people who are stuck on it.

    100% agree after being unemployed for almost 3 years now. It was a great novelty at first, having worked continuously for 27 years - being able to have lie-ins in the morning, not having to be somewhere five days a week etc. Then the hope fades the longer it goes on with getting no job interviews. You need a certain amount of money to really enjoy your time off, the dole only offers subsistence and rightly so otherwise nobody would work, they would be on the dole. For me it's not necessarily that I would prefer to be working, it's that I would prefer to have more money so I could afford the things I enjoy doing.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,443 ✭✭✭Bipolar Joe


    BlimpGaz wrote: »
    What more could you want more than the bare minimum? The internet keeps me perfectly entertained and is cost efficient. Do you really need a bunch of "status symbols" such as fancy clothes, a big house, nice car etc.?

    Maybe they want to learn music, start a band. I'm lucky to have gotten all the things I need for that stuff before I became unemployed, there's no way I could afford it now. There's more hobbies than having "fancy clothes." That's a really dumb thing to say.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,306 ✭✭✭BobbyPropane


    Speak for yourself

    Woops, probably did generalise a bit too much


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,881 ✭✭✭JohnMarston


    BlimpGaz wrote: »
    Obviously, society conditions you to believe that your life is boring, meaningless, devoid of purpose, and ultimately depressing if you don’t have a JOB or regular employment, as if you were only half a man without one.

    To be honest, i'd rather feel that i earned my money than handed it. Its easy for your self-worth to be tied up in the fact that you are working a job for wages, in fact you almost do it without thinking. Your pride and self-esteem can be adversely affected if you're let go, whether or not you have other endeavours outside of your 9 to 5 grind.
    Im far from being bored, but you can get fed up big time just knowing that you're less productive than you could be


  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 35,948 Mod ✭✭✭✭dr.bollocko


    If we got everyone on AH to endorse everyone else on AH on LinkedIn then we'd be the most employed forum on boards.

    When you're of a certain age it becomes enticing to take time off. Youth and freedom are attractive mistresses. There are merits to indulging your hobbies and passions. Over time this can change to a point where your career and not your personal endeavours will becomes a source of self esteem. Eventually one or the other has to pay the bills.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,443 ✭✭✭Bipolar Joe


    If we got everyone on AH to endorse everyone else on AH on LinkedIn then we'd be the most employed forum on boards.

    When you're of a certain age it becomes enticing to take time off. Youth and freedom are attractive mistresses. There are merits to indulging your hobbies and passions. Over time this can change to a point where your career and not your personal endeavours will becomes a source of self esteem. Eventually one or the other has to pay the bills.

    Pretty much this, and having turned two of my passions into jobs in the past, I learned that I want to keep the two separate. Relying on the things I love doing to pay the bills guarantees me that I'll never move beyond where I am now, financially.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,846 ✭✭✭Fromthetrees


    BlimpGaz wrote: »
    What more could you want more than the bare minimum? The internet keeps me perfectly entertained and is cost efficient. Do you really need a bunch of "status symbols" such as fancy clothes, a big house, nice car etc.?

    No, not at all, it's just that money buys you freedom, the more money you have the more freedom you have. The internet can keep you perfectly entertained all you want, it's outside your home that costs money.

    It's great that the dole affords people a certain standard of living but lets call a spade a spade here, more money = more freedom.

    I wouldn't call having new clothes, a car, big tv with a package, holidays, nice food or health insurance ect. "status symbols", it just makes your life more comfortable, more 'free'. And btw way I haven't left Ireland on a holiday for a couple of years, I'm just saying these things are just what most people want.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 86 ✭✭BlimpGaz


    I was going to start another thread with this question, but I guess I can simply ask it here:

    Why don't more females in developed nations sell their bodies for cash? The average prostitute ears €200 not per week, not even per day (which itself would be great enough) but per hour. And even more, it's 100% tax free. You'd think at least half the population of females in our country would take up this wonderful opportunity (at least those of appropriate age and attractiveness) but alas most of the prostitutes here are foreign.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,443 ✭✭✭Bipolar Joe


    Your troll skin is showing, Gaz.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 857 ✭✭✭Muff_Daddy


    BlimpGaz wrote: »
    What more could you want more than the bare minimum? The internet keeps me perfectly entertained and is cost efficient. Do you really need a bunch of "status symbols" such as fancy clothes, a big house, nice car etc.?

    The 'bare minimum' for most people in this country costs a lot more than the social welfare pays, think of a family of 5 struggling with a mortgage.

    This feeling of not being able to provide without a job is what can lead people to depression.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,681 ✭✭✭✭P_1


    BlimpGaz wrote: »
    I was going to start another thread with this question, but I guess I can simply ask it here:

    Why don't more females in developed nations sell their bodies for cash? The average prostitute ears €200 not per week, not even per day (which itself would be great enough) BUT PER HOUR!! And even more, IT'S 100% TAX FREE!!! AND THEY GET IT BY SIMPLY RECEIVING SEXUAL PLEASURE!!!!!!!!!

    Sorry for my over-enthusiasm, I'm just baffled by this issue. You'd think at least half the population of females in our country would take up this wonderful opportunity (at least those of appropriate age and attractiveness) but alas most of the prostitutes here are foreign.

    Probably social norms would have turned most people off such an idea I would have guessed


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,506 ✭✭✭✭castletownman


    Maybe his username should be edited to PimpGaz


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,433 ✭✭✭✭Mr Benevolent


    BlimpGaz wrote: »
    Years ago, when I worked for the Social Welfare Office, I remember that when the unemployed would come in for an assessment, I would often overhear them tell our staff:

    “I would much rather be working than collecting the dole. When I’m working, I have pride and purpose. I earn my money. And my weekends mean something. But when I’m unemployed, my weekends have no value. I don’t enjoy them.”

    Frankly, I never understood this mentality that most Irish people have.

    I remember during my periods of unemployment, people would occasionally ask me “Aren’t you bored?” which would bewilder me, since how can one be bored when they have freedom to do what they want, get up whenever they want, eat whenever they want, etc.? Isn’t it far more boring and mind numbing to be under constant surveillance as a slave 8 to 9 hours a day, against your will, doing something you don’t want (most people’s jobs are not aligned with their interests after all), just for the money and because you “have to”? So I never understood this logic that said that your life is boring without a job and exciting with one.

    Obviously, society conditions you to believe that your life is boring, meaningless, devoid of purpose, and ultimately depressing if you don’t have a JOB or regular employment, as if you were only half a man without one.

    But for me, nothing could be further from the truth. With a million interests, I can always find something to do when I’m not working. Here is a list of examples off the top of my head:

    - There are an unlimited amount of good interesting books I can read, in all areas of interest.
    - There are an unlimited number of great films to watch that I’m interested in.
    - There is a unlimited variety of music I can listen to.
    - With the advent of the internet of course, there is an unlimited endless number of things I can do online, more than I could ever have time for.
    - There are many hobbies I can indulge in – writing books and articles, learning to draw or paint, or learning any new skill or craft, etc.
    - Outdoor activities, parks, hiking, swimming, sports, boating, etc. And if you live near a park, all the better.
    - Travel the world or around the country.
    - There are an unlimited number of interesting people out there to meet and spend time with too (unless they are all working), especially if you are in a country where people are more open, communal, inclusive and less isolated.
    - I can go shopping.
    - I can learn to cook and prepare meals, or bake cookies
    - I can call my many friends on the phone from all over the world

    The list is endless as you can see. And the above can never be completely exhausted either. So how the hell can you have nothing to do if you’re unemployed? That makes no sense and seems like a cheap brainwashing tactic of society. I also don’t see why I have to feel “guilty” for doing what I want if I’m unemployed. In fact, even if I did nothing during my free time except sit around and daydream with my active rich imagination, I’d still be far more entertained than working a typical job of drudgery.

    In my last job when I was eventually laid off due to budget cuts, my co-workers felt pity for me and expected me to feel bad and take it hard. But in reality, I was in a state of euphoria, as though I were being released from jail (much like how I felt when I got out of secondary school) and about to regain my freedom again. My time and life would again be mine, and it was something to look forward to and be excited about, especially since I had plans to go overseas that summer to Bulgaria and now had an excuse to extend my trip. This perplexed my co-workers, who believed that your job was your life and reason for living. Unlike me, they all “lived to work” and assumed that everyone else did too.

    Ahem. NO. MONEY.

    Get it?


This discussion has been closed.
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