In Part One of our series on ageism, we spoke to Aucklander Jacqueline Freeman, one of the most prominent figures globally speaking about ageism. Here we pick up the conversation about living with ageism and the toll it can take on mental health
When you think of discrimination in terms of employment, ageism may not be the first word that springs to mind. However, ageism is one of the most pervasive and least addressed forms of discrimination globally. And it can really affect mental health. The U.K. Mental Health Foundation found that one in three adults reports a direct link between work security, and deteriorating mental health.
Ageism isn’t something we can or should ignore. And Jacqueline Freeman is speaking up about it.
A self-employed media strategist who herself encountered ageism in her early 50s, Jacqueline has, over the last year, emerged as one of the most prominent figures globally speaking to ageism. On LinkedIn, her movement #58andUnapologetic has, over 11 months, grown to more than 20,000 followers. For a period, her work became the single largest organic presence on LinkedIn on any subject in the Southern Hemisphere. Across LinkedIn, television, print and digital media, her voice has reached seven million people.
58 & Unapologetic is now a movement. Read more about it and Jacqueline in our first article in this series. We spoke about people being sidelined at the point when their professional experience, judgement and maturity are at their peak.
Now we’re discussing the impact of ageism on mental health.
A Quiet Emergency
When Jacqueline began posting on LinkedIn about the issue of ageism, the response was immediate.
People wrote in comments under her posts about the impact of being out of work, the frustration of applying for roles and hearing nothing back, and the growing sense of being excluded from a system they had once been part of.
Behind those public responses, a second layer of communication began to build.
Jacqueline’s direct messages filled quickly – not with the same comments repeated, but with accounts people didn’t feel able to share publicly. The nature of these messages was something she didn’t expect. “People were describing not simply what had happened to them professionally, but how those experiences were beginning to affect them over time.”
Jacqueline received thousands of messages and made a deliberate effort to respond to them all, aware that many of those writing to her had already encountered long periods of silence from the systems they were trying to re-enter.
“I felt I had to. A lot of these people had already been ignored. I didn’t want to do the same.”
“I remember sitting there with tears rolling down my face. Because this isn’t abstract. These are people in my DMs pouring out their hearts to someone they don’t even know, desperate to be heard by someone.”
For example, Jacqueline is in touch with a single mum (raising a disabled child) who can’t find a job. “She is about to lose her house. She feels desperate.” Jacqueline is helping with her CV, LinkedIn, and what questions she might be asked in an upcoming interview.
The Mental Health Impact
Alongside accounts of job loss and stalled careers were descriptions of the consequences that followed. People spoke about the strain on relationships, the loss of homes and, in some cases, periods of acute mental distress.
Some described reaching a point where they had considered ending their lives.
Understandably, these weren’t things people were prepared to say publicly.
“Across those messages, a consistent pattern began to emerge. Confidence eroded over time. Identities shifted. The loss of work extended into a loss of structure, purpose and connection.”
For many, work had been central to how they understood themselves.
“You don’t just lose a job. You lose structure. You lose connection. You start to question yourself.”
The weight of that experience was often carried privately, even from friends in some cases, Jacqueline says. “People withdrew from networks, avoided conversations about work and, in many cases, stopped telling others they were even looking.” As in, they steered the question away from their situation, and no longer asked people for help. “You think there must be something wrong with you because you’d be picked up if you were any good.”
Jacqueline says the volume and consistency of the messages she received made it impossible to treat the issue as anecdotal.
“I’ve had thousands of people contact me from right across the world. I had to honour that. I had to be their voice.”
She’s since focused on this theme through her 58 & Unapologetic podcast (open.spotify.com/show/06dYjQsdnz7JbFkuLTTsD8), examining the scale of what’s being reported and the patterns that continue to emerge.
“What becomes clear is that what begins as an employment issue can develop into a mental-health issue, particularly when exclusion is prolonged and unexplained.”
A Widening Gap
Set against these accounts is a broader shift that is only beginning to be understood.
Jacqueline believes that what’s emerging points to a growing mental-health risk within Generation X – particularly as more people in their late 40s and 50s find themselves excluded from a workforce they’d expected to remain part of for much longer.
“We’re seeing the early signs of a mental-health issue at scale. Not because people are unable to contribute, but because they are no longer being given the opportunity to do so.”
This sits alongside a separate but related trend. “Research suggests that cognitive capability doesn’t decline in the way many still assume it does.” Measures of cognitive and functional wellbeing indicate that people are, on average, performing closer to 15 to 20 years younger than their biological age.
“In practical terms, that means someone in their late 50s may have the cognitive profile once associated with someone in their late 30s or early 40s.”
The gap between how people are functioning and how they are being perceived is widening.
“For those experiencing prolonged exclusion from the workforce, that disconnect can be difficult to reconcile.”
The Sound of Silence
A defining feature of many people’s experiences is not simply rejection, Jacqueline says, but the absence of response.
“Applications were submitted and never acknowledged. Or interviews were secured, sometimes across multiple stages, only to be followed by no update, no closure, and no explanation.”
“Instead of receiving notifications that we have been unsuccessful, we are greeted with silence.”
“Without feedback or clarity, individuals are left to interpret what the silence represents. Over time, that uncertainty can become internalised, shaping how people see themselves and their place in the workforce.”
Certain systems have much to answer for. Jacqueline says the CVs she has checked for people have been great. “The issue is that most CVs are filtered by ATS [Applicant Tracking Systems] and the key things that ATS look for are signs of your age.” They can work it out based on things like graduation dates, years in the workforce, and your use of older technology. “So ageism is being practiced that the applicant is not even aware of.”
This can play into ghosting – being continually ignored when applying. It has happened to some people not just dozens but hundreds of times, Jacqueline says. “Ghosting is one of the major causes of me has mental-health issues. Because the silence means you fill the gaps yourself, and with that comes, ‘I’m not good enough. I’m not worthy’.”
“I’m super hard on recruiters and employers who ghost because it has far-reaching consequences. People can actually lose their lives to it.”
The Cumulative Effect
It’s not any single moment that appears to have the greatest impact, Jacqueline says, but the accumulation of these experiences.
“Repeated silence, lack of clarity, and diminishing engagement begin to influence behaviour. Some people withdraw from professional interaction altogether, while others continue to apply for roles with increasingly limited expectation of success.”
“Confidence does not disappear suddenly, but declines gradually, as effort goes unrewarded.”
For some, this pattern continued over extended periods. “In Australia, the average time it takes someone aged 50 and over to find employment has reached 86 weeks, more than double that of younger workers.”
Numbers are likely similar in New Zealand.
Some people are out of work for years. Experienced professionals with strong track records. People who should be seriously considered for roles.
Where This Leaves Us
What Jacqueline’s inbox reveals is a pattern in how people are being treated, and how that treatment is affecting them. The effect is cumulative, and its impact appears to extend well beyond the workplace.
“The absence of response, the repeated lack of engagement, and the erosion of confidence described by so many suggest that the impact of ageism cannot be understood only through employment outcomes.”
“It’s also being carried in people’s mental health, in their identities, and in their willingness to remain visible at all.” As in, withdrawing from socialising and submitting applications.
“At some point, you have to ask a bigger question,” Jacqueline says. “If this many people are experiencing the same thing, what as a society are we going to do about it?”
*Look out for Part 3 soon, on possible solutions to ageism, including the hiring and interviewing practices that should be ditched, and some suggestions for ways forward.
*If you have a personal story to tell about experiencing ageism, please email hello@capsulenz.com!
* Follow #58andUnapologetic on LinkedIn and to follow the movement. Follow Jacqueline on Instagram here. Listen to podcast 58 & Unapologetic here. And visit 58andunapologetic.com