Social isolation may be your most formidable foe. Here are a few ideas on defeating it.

Human beings, like all primates, are social creatures. We need contact with other members of our own species, the more, the merrier in general. Unemployment can make you feel like that poor monkey in the zoo, alone in his cage with nobody to pick the bugs off his back.

The good news is that the cage is self-imposed, and there are no bugs on your back. The bad news is that you may find yourself feeling alone.

I have to use the computers at the library right now until we can afford internet at home. While in Orlando, Florida - I was able to bring home a laptop as I did work at home. Of course you know some "personal" stuff got done too (lol). But my boss did not mind as I was available to her 24 hours 7 days a week for the 6 months I supported her. Only God knows how I made it. Now I am getting back my "personal" life and taking some time to relax. Of course I have to still look for another source of income - but not feeling guilty about finally finishing up in Orlando.

Seems like a stupid question but worth pondering. It's hard to imagine a diligent person made lazy by a period of unemployment, but happy people are made depressed by it, right?

Does having the luxury of taking a nap make you lazy? In my case, I would say no. Much as I love naps, I hardly ever take them, and I usually only take them when I have a ton of work to do and stay up late doing it.

Anger can motivate you if you direct it that way.

On this issue, I am an expert. If you've surfed around my blog at all, you've probably noticed a pattern of optimism punctuated by periods of searing rage, or maybe it's the other way around. All I know is, unemployment pisses me off sometimes.

Toward the end of this post, I'm going to tell you how I deal with it and even use it to my advantage, but first I want to address the issue of anger itself.

...when unemployment freaks you out

[Disclaimer: The following should not be construed as professional advice. If you suffer from panic attacks or severe anxiety, please seek professional help. If you are having thoughts of suicide, don't read this post! Go here or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) IMMEDIATELY.]

I don't want to seem like some kind of know-it-all. The stress and tragedy (so much of it internal) of being unemployed ties me in knots every single day. That being said, I am an old pro at this joblessness thing, having been in various states of it for the past 2.5 years and also having endured it during the recession of the early 1990s, when I was a strapping young buck fresh out of college.