The gig economy has now received so much attention, specifically over the past few decades. With more and more individuals or business corporations providing freelance platforms, remote work opportunities, and the overall relaxing of work rules, more people are quitting their 9 - 5 jobs to be phone sex workers or even freelancers. In fact, it is estimated that the value of the gig economy will reach $455 billion worldwide by 2024. 

However, while there are many who appreciate the independence and self-discipline that entail working on one’s own, it is becoming more evident that there are trade-offs to such liberty. Mental health issues among many freelancers are as a result of job loss anxiety, financial pressures, and loneliness. In the end, more gig workers are seeking therapy for the stress and demands associated with the new working environment.

Many freelancers however juggle with the contrary scenario as they can easily obtain projects through the gig economy, which allows them to tailor their time as per the projects they are working on as well as eschewing the corporate life. For a great number of people, it serves to achieve a new order of the old priorities, follow dreams, or avoid the tiresome daily hustle associated with commuting. Still, this imagined better life is not devoid of its share, especially in matters of economic and social concerns.

For example, earnings for freelancers can be unpredictable, especially when there is not enough work and there are few delays or cancellations of projects. They also do not have entitlements such as health benefits, paid holidays or retirement benefits that employees in conventional settings get. This can be psychologically challenging leading to anxiety and eventually stress related exhaustion.

Moreover, the economy of jobs is a quintessentially isolated one. Although a freelancer can work anywhere they want, most will not enjoy the interactions associated with a working office. The fact that over the years, one is not engaged or supported by coworkers, who are typically helpful in palliative measures when needed, takes its toll.

According to recent endorsements, gig workers are more prone to burnout as compared to regular employees. In the 2019 issue of the journal Occupational Health, it was reported in a study that gig workers experienced more work-related stress and fatigue as opposed to people in secure employment who work full time. For numerous freelancers, the constant risk of not earning enough money and of losing one’s professional position in the occupation creates weariness and tiresome mental states that make psychological assistance an essential service for avoiding or healing from burnout.

One more important aspect of mental health in the gig economy is the issue of being lonely. Most of the freelancers work from their homes or co-working spaces and are uniform at all for quite a long time. There is flexibility in distance working; however, too much of it creates social vacuum and loneliness. A lot of gig workers, as they do not have day to day engagement with workmates, tend to lose the feeling of belonging and the supportive environment.

Isolation can be detrimental to health, particularly mental health. People may not be able to work or do any activities but remain isolated for extended periods and thus become internally unhappy. The American Psychological Association reports that “loneliness is a major risk factor for depression and anxiety, especially among the isolated or remote workforce.” For freelancers, the absence of a network of friends makes it difficult coping with that stress from work as one suffers in silence. Hence, this is the reason why a majority of gig workers are looking for psychological counselling to help alleviate the effects of working in solitude.

Thus, for the freelancers with gig work-related specific weight in their existence, psychological counselling by expert professionals is a rescue. Therapy helps gig employees secure a platform to address challenges in their mental health, learning the skills to cope with them and taking back control over the balance of life focusing on work and other activities.

Money worries are a big reason why freelancers go to therapy. Therapists help clients get to the bottom of their financial stress changing how they think about money and helping them create better money habits. Therapy works well to help gig workers deal with negative thoughts that cause worry. A therapist might help a freelancer spot unreasonable fears about money troubles and swap them for more balanced realistic ideas.

Counsellors are capable of aid also to freelancers in identifying the warning signals of burnouts at earlier stages, as well as coming up with counter measures to avoid burnouts. This may involve drawing the lines between work and personal schedule, refusing to take extra work load when one is already overcrowded, and ensuring that the individuals embrace self-care activities within the schedule. Such focus allows a gig worker, after attending the sessions with a counsellor, to enjoy support yet still run a free working environment successfully.

For people who fight the sense of isolation that comes with freelancing, there is psychological help that aims at making them find a reason for existence and a community where they belong. Such therapists usually advise the gig economy workers to engage with social centres, virtual or physical, either by using their websites or through physical gatherings. In addition, therapy is also an avenue for gig workers where they can talk about their loneliness and conceive ways of dealing with such feelings.

The growth of the gig economy addresses the challenge of looking for supportive services for a freelancer’s mental health. Makow and Roberts (2022) noted that apps such as Uber, Upwork and Fiverr have been pressured in recent years to offer more strategies to their gig workers, such as mental health. This has led some companies to incorporate healthcare such as counselling services to their freelancing workers as one of the benefits in their platforms. Most of the time they are expected to find this help by themselves.

The search and enquiry of these services in this case may not be very challenging as most employers provide their freelancers with a brief on a psychologist inserted into the platform in the case of distress. A simple search for "psychologists near me" can connect them with professionals who specialise in the challenges of freelance work. No matter how much they suffer from money worries, burnout, or social margin, counselling will help freelancers to find and use the tools of economy-class mobility without losing their psychological health.