Unemployment and Your Health

Unemployment among young people is a serious problem in the western world, claims Dr. Anne Hammarstrom of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. The British Medical Journal, reports her findings, that young unemployed men tend to lapse into unhealthy behavior, such as heavy drinking and crime. Young unemployed women are affected differently, developing physical illnesses, as well as feelings of guilt, worring that they are a burden. Men get significantly more attention from the public, since their reaction is more obvious. Hammarstrom, recommends that "the health care sector should be more alert to the effects on women." The Journal concludes that "the only effective remedy is meaningful employment."