The rescue of the drowning…
A recent epidemiological
study has found “job loss linked with higher
incidence of depression in Americans compared with Europeans.” The
authors attribute this difference in mental health outcomes to the more
generous benefits extended to the unemployed in West European countries. Part
of the explanation, though, could lie in the stronger emotional and economic
support the unemployed tend to receive from friends and family this side of the
channel. The press release does not say if the authors think they have a
solution – or “intervention” – up their sleeve to could help alleviate the
plight of the laid-off. One colleague who commented on the study did venture a
remedy, though.
Dr Lisa F.
Berkman, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and of Epidemiology,
Harvard School of Public Health, made the following
suggestion: “Job
loss is a profoundly disruptive experience. As economies become more globalized
and job transitions more common, the identification and implementation of
policies that enable both societal as well as personal resilience will becomes
increasingly important. This new piece of research points us in the right
direction.” Yes, as a slogan made famous by Soviet satirists
Ilf & Petrov once proclaimed, “the rescue of the drowning lies in the hands of the drowning themselves.” Or, as Ulrich Beck put it back in the 1990s, we are all reduced to seeking "biographical solutions" to systemic problems – and
the sooner everyone gets used to this, the better.