Job Loss & The Loss of Role
Barbara Arnold
Psychologist
Counsellor and Psychotherapist
"What matters is not what life does to you, but rather,
what you do with what life does to you".
(Edgar Jackson)
Occupational Stability is No More
In an earlier day, many of us could rest assured in the knowledge that our job/occupation, like our sex or race, was predictably determined. If our parents were farmers, well, then, farmers we would be. There was a certain security in knowing "who we were" and what we would do, often for the rest of our lives.
The era of occupational stability is no more. With the shift from an industrial to an information based economy, many large corporations are being destabilized by mergers, downsizing and outsourcing, effectively rendering the concept of "job security" obsolete.
What often happens now is that we will not just change jobs, but also careers over the course of a life time, each change requiring significant retraining for these new responsibilities.
Even when we seek the changes in our work life, the months or years of occupational transition can be disorientating, as we relinquish old patterns in pursuit of new potentials.
When a job loss comes unexpectedly as a result of work-related injury, layoff, retrenchment or forced retirement, we can feel cheated, betrayed, and diminished by a loss that is not balanced by a compensatory gain. The loss of occupational role confronts us with a number of unique stressors that impact not only our sense of self but also our family and social networks.
The Role of Work in Life
What is a psychologically healthy life? "To love and to work" is often the response. Yet, while the central importance of loving relationships and their loss is often clear to us, the centrality of work and work-related losses is more easily missed.
In many ways, what we do helps shape who we are. Many of us spend more than eight hours per day working, no doubt more time than is spent in any other waking activity. It is hardly surprising therefore that we come to identify ourselves so closely with our work.
Our jobs define much of our past (what we have accomplished), our present (what we spend our time doing each day), and our future (what we are striving for) and to lose them is to shake the foundations of our identity and life plan.
Like other losses, job losses trigger familiar patterns of grieving. Anger and cynicism often accompany "being given our notice", particularly when considered personally unfair. Moreover, because the targets of such anger are safely removed from our rage and resentment, family members and close associates are likely to bear the brunt of our anger, leaving us further isolated in our pain. In fact, if not dealt with constructively, the powerful feelings triggered by being "let go" may combine with financial stressors to sabotage our closest relationships as well.
The situation is hardly better when we suspect our layoff was "justified", and engage in a pattern of self-criticism and self-blame for "bringing it on ourselves". Indeed, in the cycle of searching for an explanation for our job loss, other people often explicitly or implicitly blame us for our "failure", compounding our shame and embarrassment. The stigma of joblessness grows with the amount of time spent without work, particularly for traditional breadwinners. Thus, job loss must be understood not simply as a "stressful event" but as a critical transition in the life course, a process rather than a discrete event, and one that has an impact on our entire social network.
The pervasive effects of job loss on psychosocial functioning is reflected in a decreased sense of competence and self-esteem and increased levels of depression, anxiety, anger, and risk of interpersonal conflict. In the extreme case, the unemployed person can conclude that others would be "better off without him/her". When we have invested substantial parts of our identity in our work over a long period, the result can sometimes be tragic, as reflected in the fact that unemployed men over the age of 60 years are reported to be at greater risk of suicide than any other demographic group.
What Makes Job Loss So Difficult to Endure?
On the one hand, like any other loss, job loss needs to be acknowledged and grieved over, as well as taking the time to sift through the subtle and confusing feelings associated with this (desired or undesired) transition. On the other hand, unlike losses through death, there is no public "ritual" that recognizes this loss nor provides a socially sanctioned period of grieving and recovery.
If anything, social expectations run to the opposite extreme: we are expected to be relentlessly "self-motivated" and efficient in our pursuit of new work at the very time that we feel most depressed, self-doubting and unsure how to proceed.
In addition to these primary emotional challenges, the person who has lost a job faces a number of other social complications. For example, the economic loss resulting from the absence of the usual income can erode savings and with it the resources to do things for one's family. As unemployment continues, it can result in a shift in power dynamics in the family, sometimes undermining the previous breadwinner's authority and value.
In some respects job loss may be even more difficult to accommodate than the death of someone significant, insofar as one's personal sense of desolation can be compounded with recrimination and diminished esteem on the part of oneself and others.
If you consider you are in a critical transition in your life and experiencing difficulty adjusting to these changes, you can contact Barbara by telephone or email.
M: 0419 913 670
E:
Medicare rebates apply
 Barbara Arnold
Psychologist, Counsellor and Psychotherapist
Cottesloe Counselling Centre
11 Brixton Street
Cottesloe Western Australia 6011
Adapted from "Lessons of Loss: A Guide to Coping"
by Robert A Neimeyer (2000)
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