Mental health resources for jobseekers (and everyone else)

(Image: Naassom Azevedo)

With everything happening in the world, and all we know about the effects of stress, it’s clear that we all must prioritize our mental well-being. That's especially true if you're seeking a job, which can often be a taxing and unpredictable process – but even those in stable positions can be at risk for issues like burnout, particularly in the purpose-driven sector.

In fact, recent research shows that 4 in 10 U.S. workers report that their mental health is in decline and that they are putting off health care measures for it. If that’s you, we hope you’ll gain a better understanding of your condition, and some tactics for bettering it, in the list of resources below.

Please bookmark this page so you can return to it as needed; we also plan to update this list in the future with new resources and more targeted assistance. You can also check our jobseeker resources page for both general and demographic-specific help.

For jobseekers

Work for Good and our content contributors Job-Hunt have a number of resources focused on mental health challenges specific to jobseekers. Here are a few:

• Beating the Job Search Blues for Job Search Success / Job-Hunt
• How to Beat Job Search Depression / StudyCorgi
• Tips to Manage Job Search Stress and Anxiety / Job-Hunt
• 4 Ways to Have a Positive Attitude During Your Job Search / Job-Hunt
• Reclaiming Your Career Prosperity to Recover From Your Job Loss / Job-Hunt
• Coming to Terms with Change / Job-Hunt
• Addressing burnout in your resume, cover letter, and career / Work for Good

To build understanding and support

Information on mental health issues common among workers, and resources for getting ahead of potential stressors: 

• 4 Things to Know About Burnout / Thrive Global
• Pressure drop: How to understand and overcome stress / Work for Good
• The work-life balance formula that actually works / Work for Good
• We All Need Help Sometimes / Job-Hunt / How to build a mental health support network for your professional life.
• ”Ugh fields,” or why you can't even bear to think about that task / Medium / How to overcome the urge to put certain things off.
• A Mental Health Podcast Directory / Effective Altruism
• M-Health Index and Navigation Database / Harvard Medical School / Find an app to support your specific mental health needs: Over 400 apps you can filter by function, supported conditions, cost, and more.

To find relief

Techniques for dealing with stress and other mental health challenges, both in the moment and as they accumulate: 

• How to Cope With an Unpredictable Workday / Thrive Global
• How to Make Your Break Feel Like a Mini-vacation / Thrive Global
• 4 Tips to Help You Quickly Calm Down After a Stressful Interaction / Thrive Global
• Stress: Effective ways to reduce it / Effective Altruism
• Letting Go Technique / The Sedona Method / A simple process for releasing unwanted emotions.
• 7 ways to stay motivated while working from home / Work for Good
• 4 ways to find balance in your nonprofit career / Work for Good
• Mindful news consumption for nonprofit pros / Work for Good

We'd also like to extend an opportunity to pick up valuable insight and tools for managing your mental health through Nonprofit University, the training center housed by Work for Good's parent company, the Georgia Center for Nonprofits. In Managing Pressure and Maintaining Balance – a live, online, interactive training session – you'll identify your personal pressure points and practical strategies for working through them.

Marc Schultz is content editor at Work for Good.