Could A Retail Job Have Mental Health Benefits?

Retail jobs. Not exactly what springs to mind when you think of therapeutic activities.

Yes, working bank holidays suck and the pay is often laughable, not to mention the rude and ungrateful customers. But could a retail job actually have a positive effect on your mental health?

I spoke to 3 people from across the UK, who each suffer from social anxiety and/or depression, about the impact their part time job has had on them. I also spoke to the CEO of the mental health charity CLASP to find out more about mental health and the work CLASP does.

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So, how common are anxiety and depression?

“Everybody has anxiety about something”

"It would be highly surprising to say that somebody doesn’t have some form of anxiety or depression. What it comes down to is naming all those symptoms of anxiety and depression. When it comes down to it, anxiety could be also known as stress. Depression can also be known in some terms as sadness. Those are lesser ways of describing anxiety and depression and therefore show that everybody has it”, says Kenny, CEO of CLASP.

4.4% or about 195,000 young people have an anxiety disorder

One in Four (26%) young people in the UK experience suicidal thoughts

1 in 10 suicides in the UK are by those aged 15-24

How mental health issues affect every day life

For many sufferers, anxiety and/or depression affects many aspect of their daily life. Things ordinary people don’t even think about. It's the apprehension and fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. It's feeling like you don't quite fit in with the rest of the world, and the paralysing stress that someone will notice. It's feeling hopeless and worthless. It's caring about everything and nothing at the same time.

What are some of the signs/symptoms of anxiety and depression?

“Signs are numerous. From somebody feeling anxious or suffering from anxiety, it could be tapping their fingers, not sleeping, eating difficulties, not having any appetite, to being quite elusive, highly strung, quite emotional. It varies so much. To put a key point on what is a sign/symptom, it’s how long is a piece of string, to be quite fair with you.”, Kenny tells me.

One in 5 long term unemployed young people feel they have nothing to live for

1 in 4 long term unemployed young people have been prescribed antidepressants

1 in 4 long term unemployed young people have self-harmed

“Poor mental health” is positively associated with the probability of being “not in education, employment or training”

Sense of purpose

Anxiety and depression often lead a sufferer to believing their life is pointless or without real value. Getting into work can provide a sense of self worth and purpose, giving them something to do, something to work towards, potentially something to live for.

*Danielle (19), has suffered from social anxiety for over a year. “Would it be cringe-y to say my job saved me? It sounds so dramatic but it did. I’d had a really bad summer. My home life wasn’t great. I just felt worthless. The anxiety just took over. Once I’d started work, it gave me a reason to get out of bed every day. I wouldn’t just lie in bed all the time and feel like crap."

“The anxiety just took over.”

Camaraderie

“I’d basically alienated all of my friends because I was worried they didn’t like me anyway. I didn’t see the point in trying.”

*Sophie (22), has suffered from social anxiety and depression for 2 years. “When you have anxiety or depression all you can think about is whether people are judging you, or convincing yourself that they are. That something bad is going to happen. I got to the point where I couldn’t go anywhere, do anything. I’d basically alienated all of my friends because I was worried they didn’t like me anyway. I didn’t see the point in trying."

“They restored my faith in my ability to talk to people.”

She started work thinking it was impossible for her to make friends again, “I basically forgot how to talk to people”, but slowly, she began to share conversations with her coworkers and now considers them some of her best friends. “At first, it was just hi, you okay? That kind of thing. Then we would roll our eyes about the managers and share jokes. Without even realising, I’d made 5 or 6 friends. I do still panic that they’re just not that into me, haha! But I try to put it to the back of my mind. They’re good friends. They restored my faith in my ability to talk to people.”

*Danielle also found her work friends to be huge help. “I think it’s the fact that we’re all in it together, so to speak. We have that mutual understanding that we’re all part of a team. We support each other. And I really need that.”

“We support each other. And I really need that.”

Increased confidence

“Every shift made me more comfortable in my own skin.”

*Luke (21), has suffered from social anxiety for 2 years. “I had literally no confidence. I was always so shy and awkward at school and it got worse at uni. I found it hard to ask for help. But now that I’ve got a job, it made talking to people unavoidable. I HAD to ask questions, or help customers. And I realised it’s not so scary. It wasn’t like a complete switch the minute I put on my uniform, but every shift made me more comfortable in my own skin.”

“If you compared my self confidence from before my job to now, it’s crazy. I’m not saying I’m like Beyoncé level, but I’m miles better than I was. It’s obvious to everyone.” *Danielle comments.

“I used to visibly shake with the phone in my hand.”

*Sophie has achieved things she couldn’t even think of doing a few years ago. “The confidence boost has helped me in real life as well as work. The other day I made a phone call, which I used to find it so hard to do. I used to visibly shake with the phone in my hand. I made an appointment the other day. On the phone. It was a big moment”, She adds

Calming effect of working with hands

Retail work often means a lot of folding, unboxing, shelf stocking and pricing. These mundane tasks might seem mind-numbingly dull but they could also be quite therapeutic.

“Standing at the folding tables for hours at a time sounds like hell but oh my god, it was so calming. It was mindless work. It kept me busy without really having to think too much. That was nice. To get out of my head, because it’s so rare to not constantly be thinking of hypothetical issues and stressing myself out,” *Sophie confides.

I did a lot of unboxing and breaking down empty boxes. A lot of manual work. The, kind of, robotic routine relaxed me. I almost didn’t have to think about it. I just got stuck in. Chatted about where to move things or bin things with my work mates. There was no time to worry. I was busy”. *Luke says it was only after he finished his shift that he realised his anxiety had been manageable for that time. “It was a bit of peace of mind. Just for a while”

What does CLASP do/aim to do?

“CLASP charity started from my own experience, 6 and a half years ago. 7 years ago. Where I suffered from anxiety and depression and due to pressure from financial institutions and the financial sector, unfortunately I attempted suicide. In the last 5 years, 25% of suicides were known to be people that suffered from mental health difficulties and had actually been in discussions with their GPs, with NHS services to sort out a system. The other 75% are individuals that unfortunately never spoke to the medical aspect or services and at the same time were known to have financial, work life, relationships, home life, and other difficulties and stresses that, such a scenario that they never talked to anybody about them and being in that scenario personally, it’s very tragic and it’s very isolating. So what clasp is doing is working behind the scenes with the likes of Business in the Community, Public Health England and the NHS, as well as working with an event that we started 4 years ago called Walking Out of Darkness, which will be this year in Birmingham, London and Weston-super-Mare, just getting people to see mental health in the same way as we look at cancer now and how people can openly talk about their concerns of having cancer or going for a test to see if they have cancer, and being supported in the same manner when something’s discovered or found out and being able to get the right assistance for their particular needs”

Money

“Money was actually a huge reason for getting a job. Obviously uni isn’t cheap, so I started looking for a part time job and I’m not gonna lie, it feels like a weight off, not having to worry so much about my bank balance. One less stress.” *Luke tells me.

“My first paycheck felt like an award to me.” *Danielle laughs. “It was like congratulations, you’ve survived! You’re doing it. You’re doing okay.”

“Congratulations, you’ve survived! You’re doing it. You’re doing okay.”

What does Kenny think of the theory that retail work may have a positive effect on mental health?

“One thing you’ve got to take into account is that people that suffer severe mental health difficulties can also develop habits that can be negative. Now from the aspect of retail work may be a positive thing, yes it engages them with other individuals, but does not necessarily mean that they’ll openly talk about their situations. From the aspect of also somebody with a mental health difficulty, anxiety, depression, they may turn around in that type of environment and feel negative working there, seeing others happy and being able to spend money, where they’re not able to. Vice versa, they made have money and may spend a lot and find themselves in debt. So I would say it would be something that I would carefully look into, I can understand in one aspect how it could be beneficial to get people to feel more positive and to talk, though, you’ve also got to take into account the scenery and potential scenarios that may be negative towards that individual as well.”

What should people do if they notice these behaviours in themselves or others?

“The most effective or convenient thing that one can do is talk about it. If they’re going through a difficult time or a situation is getting the better of them, they can converse with a family member, a friend, a confidant, or an employer and try to resolve it. From the work that I’ve done myself personally over the last few years, having myself suffered from anxiety and depression, I know where it can lead you to in a negative aspect, and I know the relief it can bring you by talking about it as well, and sometimes we forget that in this day and age, given the technology that’s about, to actually feel comfortable in ourselves to have a conversation. First and foremost, a conversation can be as simple as hey, how you doing? to then elaborate it and expand on the individual’s person emotions that they’ve been through to encourage others to speak, or on the flip side of it, letting the individual who’s going through a difficult time speak and just listening to them and see if you can assist them in finding a solution. Hence, the great work that’s been done by Time to Change and the work in getting people to confess and talk about mental health, talk about anxiety, depression."

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As helpful as a retail job might be, as evidenced above, you should always seek professional help if you suspect yourself or someone you know could be suffering from mental health issues. There are many helpful organisations such as Samaritans, MIND, Young Minds, SANE, CLASP, CALM, which you can contact for free. Also friends and family should always be considered for support if possible.

*names changed for confidentiality purposes