For some people who have a mental illness/psychiatric diagnosis, the very thought of having to go back to work is a stressful thought. To others the desire to stay working or to go back to work quickly is really important to them. To them, being unemployed is stressful. For anyone trying to find work in today's economy, stress is happening. It can be hard to find out if there are any jobs available, and hard to get employment with hundreds of people applying for the same job.

Many employers are only interested in hiring part-time employees in order to save money. This means that people who have a mental illnesses/psychiatric diagnosis may be caught without the benefits that they need to buy needed medications or to get the therapy they need to continue working.

Some people end up having to work as contractors, instead of either full-time or part-time employees. This means that people have to figure out how to pay their full taxes, and what things are business expenses and what aren't. They may have to keep track of mileage, project costs, and bill for work after projects are completed.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 99-101, (1999) highlights knowledge about the causes of stress at work, and outlines steps that can be taken to prevent job stress. This publication defines job stress as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of a job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury. It also identifies a combination of organizational change and stress management as the most useful approach to preventing stress at work.

It's an interesting definition. It states that you can be stressed if your emotional or psychological needs are not met. It also states that you can be stressed even if you are fully trained and able to do the job, but there are needs that you have that are not met; and you may end up with job stress.

It covers why people who work as dishwashers in a restaurant might get stress when the capabilities and needs of the worker are not a good fit for the job. It covers things like jobs where the work is too physically demanding for someone, and it covers if the work is not demanding enough mentally. Both of these situations are situations that people who happen to have a mental illness/psychiatric diagnosis run into repeatedly. It is hard to work at a job or to look for work and only be offered jobs that people feel will be good for you, when you know that they don't meet your needs; what you need is a job that is a good fit for you.

When you find employment; the stress doesn't end there. You must deal with work situations: whether accommodations are needed for you to remain employed, if you are losing money by working, and many other things that may occur. If you are losing money by working, your emotional needs will cause stress. People seldom want to work only to lose money.

Here are 5 ways to manage job stress that may be helpful for you:

1. Learn to recognize when you are becoming stressed out, and have a plan for how you are going to deal with that stress.
2. Take care of yourself. Make your physical and mental health a priority. If you’re not well, you can't work and take care of others (if that is what you need to do).
3. Work on developing healthy habits. Exercise, eat well, get enough sleep, and try to limit things like caffeine, alcohol and cigarettes.
4. Don't think you have to be perfect in your job. Perfection is unattainable. Trying to do so makes many people miserable.
5. Don't try to control something that you have no control over. Instead, take some time to think things through, and make a conscious decision to let go, if you have little or no control over the situation.

Stress levels at work, and while looking for work, are not things you can ignore, if you want to remain healthy. Being proactive, when dealing with stress, will help your life run more smoothly.