[Unemployment and psychiatric disorders: etiologic hypotheses and empiric evidence of the psychopathologic effects of the suspension of employment].

Many European countries have been affected by mass-unemployment, which in Italy has reached an incidence of 13% of the population. Although the social and economic costs of unemployment are common knowledge, we still know little about its effects on mental health. This seems to be due more to the lack of interest in this aspect among physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists than to the lack of meaningful results. This paper is a critical review of the scientific literature on the topic since 1945 and is proposed as a basis for further discussion and investigation. The results and methodology used in field studies are analysed, as well as the most widely accepted theories on stress coping mechanisms.