There are a lot of resources that explain the difference between a recession and a depression – you can see them here (here’s a good one from about.com).
I got an email recently that explained it really succinctly:
RECESSION: when someone else has lost their job.
DEPRESSION: when YOU have lost your job.
Pretty funny… before I lost my job I didn’t have a clue what a job seeker went through. I had friends who were unemployed but they seemed to be okay. Now I realize they were not okay. Having gone through it, I realize that I should have done more to help them, and even asked them different questions (instead of “how’s the job search going?”).
I don’t know if they were depressed, but I knew they were in a very serious, scary situation that weighed on them day and night… it was their personal “depression.” Meanwhile, my life continued fine, and I just thought they were in a “recession.”
I’ll never underestimate the needs of someone in a job search again, even if everything in my life seems to be in order.
What can you do for a job seeker TODAY? (even if you are in a job search, you can do something for another job seeker)
