Depression, Part II

That must be why my mailman has the shakes.

 

Ya' know, I'm thinking that with the state of our business, the depression threads should be moved to the "Journalism Topics Only" board.

 

Just spoke with my therapist and he gave me a good idea. At the start of each of my shifts, make a daily schedule. Block out time to do x-amount of work in y-amount of time. Schedule in a five-minute coffee/tea break, 10 or 15 minutes to eat, five minutes to just get up & walk around to give your mind a break. I feel that the anxiety has already dropped already. Hopefully, this helps other people on the board, as well.

 

Can they do that? Hire you at one rate and turn around and slash your pay rate by $5k? That sounds illegal. Even if you aren't at a union shop that sounds illegal, like a hiring bait-and-switch maneuver.
I feel for you. I hope you ask around (legal opinions) about your pay being slashed.

 

I get depressed really easily at work and my reason is that I tend to take everything way to personally.
I realize that a lot of my depressions was due to my job so I made a decision, I am getting out of this industry. My main reason is I hate where I live and I don't think I am good enough to get to a paper that is in one of the two cities that I want to live in. So I am going to go back to school and get my masters degree.
Everyday since the day I made the decision to leave this place has been great because I know I am one day closer to getting out. For a long time I identified myself as a journalist but when I realized that meant that I had to vow to have just enough money to make ends meet, I said fuck it. I deserve better and my SE treats me like a son one day and then a fucking idiot the next day. The EIC thinks he is the greatest guy ever mainly because he throws my coworker and I under the bus to make himself look better.
Bottom line is sometimes the job is not worth the trouble. I love covering games and talking to the athletes and coaches but I hate the byline count at my job and the fact that if we do the 10 stories a week, we will get shit for not doing 12.
I like the fact that I am at a place in my life where I can pick up and move and start over without it having a ripple effect on a family.

 

I guess I'm going through a pretty bad time right now, with trying to pick up some freelance and day gigs. All I've heard is, "Thanks for the resume. We have it. Hang by the phone and we'll get to you soon." That's great, but I'm struggling with the depression. I'm taking the anti-depressant and seeing the therapist. Also, I've started going back to church. But it seems like nothing I do matters. It feels like no matter what I do, I can't get out of this abyss.

I sort of wish I could just disappear. No phone. No e-mail. No SJ. Nothing. Just vanish. I know that's the depression talking. But right now, it seems like that I keep plugging along and nothing comes of it.

 

Not trying to be a dick on any level, but given all of this and the state of the industry, maybe it's time to look for something in a new field...

 

Mizzou, funny that you should post that. I read yesterday that a job fair at Mizzou recently brought the most media recruiters ever to the school. When asked about it, the reps said they were looking for young talent to replace the old fogies sent packing. The industry's not dead yet.

I just finished reading Bait and Switch. Pick up a copy, and you'll see just what folks who are unemployed are facing these days. The norm now is to never get any response at all when you apply for a job. You don't even get an acknowledgment that your resume was received. Nobody follows up after interviews to tell you whether you have the job. People making hiring decisions are often incompetent and unable to make an educated decision about which person is the best candidate for a job.

There are all sorts of additional problems. For example, anyone with a gap in their unemployment is seen as a risk. I've been interviewed twice in the past three months by people who had less talent than myself. And I got neither job. People are often forced to swallow their pride and take a sales job at Best Buy, a friggin' 10-year sports journalist who has interviewed NBA All-Stars, NASCAR greats, etc. now forced to work next to some 22-year-old dude who's pestering the guy in the computer department about smoking a bong on their break.

And just what other careers do you think there are for a lifelong journalist? Insurance sales? Hell, I get e-mails about those jobs just because my resume is on Careerbuilder. Those are shit jobs. The fact is there aren't many jobs for people who come from this industry. Where am I going to work? Construction? IT? Should I apply for engineering jobs? I've filled out applications and resumes all over the place. Nobody's calling me. It's frustrating.

Of course, it will work itself out. But it's tough to tell that to the bill collectors. It's tough to breathe a sigh of relief when the government cuts me enough of a rebate check to cover my taxes, and it's even tougher to watch the guy next door carrying a new TV into his living room when you know that you're smarter than him, more dedicated than him, more professional than him, etc., etc.

 

Well, first of all, I was offering advice to someone specifically, who for whatever reason, has had his share of struggles in this industry. Knowing his situation, he has had an incredibly amount of bad luck.

I can't put a positive spin on anything in this industry anymore. The guy I considered my mentor, had to take a forced buyout last year. Apparently, he had the nerve to be in his late 40s and was drawing a decent paycheck. He's now looking for work...

The people I know who are out of the business and have found jobs elsewhere seem to be much happier. There's a lot to be said for going to work every day and knowing you'll have a job tomorrow...

I applaud your optimism, however misguided it may be...

 

Went to a going-away party for one of my colleagues last summer. Somebody came up to me and said, 'Do you see a difference between you former staffers and everyone else still working at the Sun?'
I said no, what?
He said, 'You guys who got out are actually smiling.'


Just sayin'.

 

I think the problem is that the profession is so glamorized to those outside of the business that we hear so much of "Wow, what a great job..." from people who have zero idea of what the job entails...

I'm not saying that everybody in journalism should look to get out, but if you're in your 30s and still struggling to find a gig in an industry that is showing the door to hundreds of experienced and talented writers, maybe you need to understand and realize that it may not be the way to go for you...

And to what Flash said, I don't know too many people who have gotten out who are too upset about it.

 

Well, I guess I'm glad that you're saying not everybody in journalism should look to get out. Not everyone is unhappy.

I do feel badly for the people who are having trouble. But nobody should paint the entire picture with the same brush. There ARE some places where it's still a good thing to be a sports journalist. Some of you just haven't come across them.

I know I need to make allowances, especially here, because to some of you, I'm sure it looks like there's nothing but bad things out there. That's why they call it depression.

But you NEED to know that not everything IS bad. The world's not going to hell. Plenty of people are making decent money doing what they like.

Look, I'm far from a rocket scientist. And I've got a pretty good existence. It's going to happen for a lot of you if it isn't now. Life has a way of evening out.