Unemployment: The Living Death?

Abstract

Unemployment can be viewed as a “living death” because the majority of unemployed persons participating in this study went through five stages that parallel the five stages through which a terminally ill patient passes. Stress caused by unemployment resulted in a loss of income and a loss of the individual's self‐image.

Living with endometriosis: The perspective of male partners

“…Responses that emerged were most clearly organized thematically around KublerRoss's [16] stages of grieving, 2 as can be seen below. While this model of grieving was initially developed in the context of patients with terminal illness, it has subsequently been found to successfully explain significant loss experiences in many contexts, such as unemployment, infertility, chronic fatigue syndrome, sporting loss, visual loss, and hearing loss [18][19][20][21][22][23]. Kubler-Ross herself emphasizes that these stages are recognizable in the somewhat chaotic struggle to come to terms with many forms of loss, but they are not linear, rather, they are iterative.…”

Death metaphors and factory closure

“…The term is also used to vividly communicate how job losses, organizational and individual life changes, and emotional impacts are experienced by those involved (Bell 2012;Bell and Taylor 2011;Cunningham 1997;Häsänen 2010;Sutton 1987;Winegardner, Simonetti, and Nykodym 1984). It is in the latter communicative sense that the death referred to can also be seen as a metaphor.…”

“…The commonly used crisis-curve model originates from social scientist Elisabeth Kübler Ross (1969) who used it to explain the reactions of terminally ill patients in hospital. This model describes five stages, each characterized by one main emotion: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance (Cunningham 1997;Winegardner, Simonetti and Nykodym 1984). 'Palliative' is currently the preferred term for the care of terminally ill patients, where comfort and pain relief are the goals and where treatment is withdrawn.…”

Long-term unemployment: Effects and counseling interventions

“…Industrialized and high technological societies place prime importance on work for pay and job/person bonding (Feather & Bond, 1983;Winegardner, Siminetti and Nykodym, 1984). The work place may well represent the most important group mad focus of time in an individual's life.…”

“…These issues and presenting problems lead to the use of interventions that will help clients redefine themselves as worthwhile people and members of society. Focus needs to be placed on the realities of the situation, analyzing one's skills, establishment of goals, and generally facing the future (Winegardner et al, 1984).…”