How to Help a Depressed and Unemployed Spouse or Partner


When people lose their job and are in the process of getting a new job, it creates a little awkward situation in front of the people who are close to them. And especially when that person is a spouse, then the situation goes to a difficult level of understanding. Because consoling a depressed and unemployed spouse takes more patience and care.

Depressed and Unemployed SpouseSometimes it is possible that the unemployed spouse can behave weird, but then the family needs to understand their grief.

8 Tips to Support an Depressed and Unemployed Partner:

Everyone needs to understand that there is a possibility of facing some situation in everyone’s life which their family needs to understand very carefully. And being unemployed and waiting for the job selection can be very stressful, but it makes things more awkward when the person who is depressed about being unemployed is their spouse.

The following are some of the ways to make them feel comfortable and keep them strong.

1. Try to talk to them:

It is a common situation in every single house nowadays that two out of one family member will undergo some sort of unemployment situation. And another family member needs to understand the ways to comfort them.

The first thing that the husband needs to do is to talk to the wife about their situation. While talking about their situation, pass on the courage to be strong during this unemployment period of their life.

2. Be available to them:

After trying for so many job interviews people get exhausted from rejection and especially when the person who is so depressed about their continuous job rejection is one’s spouse.

It is very important to understand during such a difficult time for a spouse. Therefore, being available and trying to understand their situation can make things normal between themselves. Finally, all the unemployment issues will be rectified easily with the help of loved ones.

3. Be supportive:

Most of the time being unemployed for a long period can affect a person personally and professionally. So then, the family or a partner needs to be supportive of that person. Because during those times the spouse can feel a little less confident about themselves to face any kind of issue in their life.

This is why the family needs to understand what the spouse is going through and provide them all sorts of support during their tough times. Therefore, being supportive can never harm anyone in the middle of any situation.

4. Try not to blame them:

Sometimes some people have a habit of doing things in the right order, but that order of life can be based on their professional life. Some people follow a certain level of the procedure while working, but when that person loses his or her job, at that time he or she starts feeling a little unwanted. And the heights of their tolerance goes out of hand when the person gets humiliated in front of people for no job.

Therefore, it is very important to understand that when a spouse goes through the unemployment period, then the family shouldn’t make them feel unwanted or blame them.

5. Avoid nagging:

Some people have a nagging nature and they try forcing others to do something without their will. And in this nagging process, the person starts feeling irritated by the nagging person.

So it’s better to give the person space so that he or she understands their future requirement about their employment. Therefore, it is always better to be independent instead of nagging, if a person wants to comfort his or her spouse, then he or she needs to avoid nagging behavior.

6. Appreciate their decision:

Most of the time people forget that the person who is going through unemployment can also feel bad about being useless. It is the most common feeling that people or spouses experience when they lose their job or when they search for a new job.

Apparently while working a person keeps himself or herself busy with the official work, but that is not possible when that person is with no job. Most of the time an unemployed spouse starts feeling unappreciated for the work they daily provide for their family which makes them feel bad about themselves.

7. Make them think positive:

Being positive and thinking positive is the most important thing which a person needs to keep in their personal and professional life. Positivity brings new enthusiasm in one’s life. Moreover, such a level of enthusiasm can bring in confidence within themselves.

For example, A spouse who is in search of a job loses faith that she or he will get a job that can fulfill his or her. At that time people start being negative about getting a job and things around can negatively drive themselves.

8. Develop some hobbies:

Some people can encourage their spouse to start a hobby or continue their hobby which makes them happy so that they distract themselves from this unemployment issue. And developing their hobby can also give them new and creative ideas to start their own business or work through which they can pursue some sort of dream in their life.

Therefore, it is important to understand that when a spouse is going through such tension, then it is a responsibility of the family to encourage them.


Finally, the bottom line is that at the end of this discussion about how to help a depressed unemployed spouse, one can conclude that being unemployed can strongly disturb a spouse differently. And to avoid that extreme level of depression of a spouse, their family needs to support them all the time.

Moreover, this level of support can provide the confidence to face any sort of problem in their life because they will always remember that their family will support them no matter what.