Unemployment affects more than your bank account

For the unemployed or under-employed, there is more to worry about than how rent and utilities will be paid. As if that isn't enough to worry about. On top of the frightening prospect of not having electricity, gas, health insurance, or God-forbid a home, there are worries about networking, keeping skills and knowledge in check, and finding things to do to fill up the eight plus hours a day once spent at work.

Combine that with all of the conflicting news reports on the economy - depending on which day it is, it's either getting better or worse. Jobs are up? Nah, never mind, they're down. Fact is, people are still getting laid off, the housing market is still in the toilet, and the competition is brutal. Top that with a recent report about prescription drug overdoses increasing, use of alcohol increasing, and it's enough to make the most zen person go ballistic.

Even those who are still employed are feeling the stress - it isn't easy to watch co-workers walk out with a brown box, do the work of several people, and to constantly wonder if your job will be there tomorrow, or even at the end of the day.

So how can you survive? We're not going to pretend to have answers. We're going through it here, at YoLadies, too. Some have quit working by choice, some laid off, some crossing their fingers that they will have a job tomorrow. There are some people who are able to look at unemployment as an opportunity, and others who can't. The comments in this article are telling, as to the different attitudes in dealing with having no work.

The initial idea of YoLadies was born out of frustration of working while others were being walked out, increased corporate BS, and the idea that even in this economy (or maybe because of it), now might be a great time to dive in and start a business we love. Although it feels great to put our skills to the test, it is scary to think of getting sick, having a broken car, or savings drying up.

So what about you? How are you feeling unemployment - how are you dealing with it? Do you have advice for anyone else out there?