Unemployment can be incredibly stressful, even more stressful than having a job. If you ever needed proof that life is simply not fair, there you have it.

From what I can tell, two related factors stress the unemployed and their families:

1. Financial pressure
2. Relationship pressure

It's especially hard to deal with these causes of stress because you feel like you should have control over these things, but you really don't because they involve other parties. If you were stressed about lab results, you could resolve yourself to accept the fact that you have no control over that outcome. If you were stressed because your neighbor was a jerk, you could simply move -- you have some control.

When you're stressed about money, it can seem like the more you scramble for it, the less of it you have. It feels like you should just be able to dip a scoop into the vast river of money and get enough to sate your thirst, but you can't. Sometimes the river is too high, sometimes too low, and if the water is dirty, you'll do yourself more harm than good even if you do manage to fill your vessel. It seems like you should at least have control over the money you spend, but budgets can only be cut so far; you have to eat. You have to live, and you can't do much about it if people don't pay you. It feels like your money karma should be in your own hands, but it's not. Sorry to break that to you.

When you're stressed about a relationship, after a certain point you can't do anything about the way the other person feels. It's totally out of your control, yet you feel like you should be able to modify your behavior to suit the other person, as if it should be in your hands. But it's not.

What we have at root is a situation where you're stressed about things that you feel you should be able to control but which in reality you cannot.

Therefore, unemployment demands the stress coping strategy reserved for situations over which you have no control (like waiting for test results): Resign yourself to whatever may come. Brace for the worst. Hope for the best. There is absolutely no point in stressing about things over which you have no say so don't do it. Go fly a kite in the park. Study something. Busy yourself with tidying up. Just keep moving and stop worrying.