WHEN Lorna Morris, a freelance graphic designer, has a lull in her work, her first concern is paying the bills. But there is another form of anxiety that can emerge from time to time. It is an existential panic which she sums up as: “Am I good enough to do this?”

She is not alone. Amy Wrzesniewski, associate professor of organisational behaviour at Yale school of management, says that, among the self- employed, worries over money are the most pressing. But there is also anxiety about ‘whether one is doing enough work, or good enough work, without the external references of organisational or co-worker norms’.

Self-employment is hardly new. But as companies continue to loosen their ties to employees, so permanent staff are replaced by freelancers. The growth of technology platforms, like Fiverr or Freelancer, have given self-employment a technological makeover and a new lexicon of the sharing or gig economy.

When Daniel Pink published Free Agent Nation in 2001, a book chronicling the shift from employee to independent worker, moving from one contract to another or freelancing for several organisations, he did not foresee the changes in technology that would accelerate this trend. He describes the new contract between company and worker as ‘a series of transactions [rather] than an enduring relationship’.

The money worries that can hit the self-employed are well-known but the psychological effects are often overlooked

Yet, the focus on independent workers has tended to focus on financial insecurity. Last week’s ruling in California that Uber drivers are employees rather than contractors, drew attention to the precarious position of independent workers lacking workplace benefits such as holiday pay.

While this is clearly important, the psychological impact of the gig economy is often overlooked. A recent paper, ‘A qualitative study of stress in individuals self-employed in solo businesses’, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, noted that the self-employed have largely been missing from research in occupational health psychology.

Self-employment can be ‘liberating too’. Ms Morris is grateful for being able to take time out of her day to sit in the park if the sun is out or work while travelling. There is also the variety of work: “I work with so many different people. I really value that.” Laura Davidson, trustee of Mental Health Research UK, says that research shows ‘the independent contractor has the best of both worlds, with plenty of freedom, but lower levels of stress, and higher job satisfaction’.

Yet there can also be anxiety. Sara Horowitz, founder of the Freelancers Union, which is based in New York, puts it like this: “If you’re running health programmes for mine workers you have to be experts in black lung disease; if you’re running them for freelancers you have to specialise in anxiety.”

Professor Wrzesniewski agrees. Companies help people create their work identity, she says. “Structure is something that independent workers have to create for themselves, which makes their identities more precarious and also much more personal.”

Gianpiero Petriglieri, a psychiatrist and associate professor of organisational behaviour at Insead, the business school, has been researching identity and the independent worker. Being responsible for a piece of work, with no employer to hide behind or blame can make people feel vulnerable, nagged by a dread that shame lurks round the corner, he suggests.

The biggest anxiety, says Emily Brett, a freelancer who consults on music strategy and event programming, is the fear of failure. “There is much more of a personal and emotional investment in one’s own project. You’re not protected by the name or brand of a big company, and if you fail it is on your shoulders.”

One strategy to deal with anxiety is to meet like-minded people, not just to combat feelings of isolation but to provide some of the functions provided by an employer or professional body, such as identity. In part this explains the rise of internet forums such as Turkopticon, where people can meet virtually, or shared workspaces such as Second Home.

On balance she thinks the freelance life is less anxiety-inducing than employment. “There is no such thing as a ‘job for life’ any more, as an employee there is always the risk of redundancy, the company could go under, or one can be looked over for promotion.” Mr Pink agrees, believing people choose to work independently because it seems safer. If you have several clients and customers and one disappears that is bad but it is not devastating: “However, if you’ve got one employer and that employer lets you go, you’re in big trouble.

emma.jacobs@ft.com

Twitter: @emmavj

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, June 29th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play