Work and Unemployment in the Time of COVID-19: The Existential Experience of Loss and Fear

Abstract

This article explores the existential loss, anxiety, and terror that is evoked by the massive unemployment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Growing inequality and marginalization in the workforce prior to the advent of this health crisis is reviewed as a major antecedent that set the stage for the unemployment crisis that now defines this era. An overview of the nature of the needs that working optimally can fulfill is presented, which include survival, social connection/contribution, and self-determination. The loss of work is then connected to the notion of existential terror, which captures the emotional imperative to survive as well as the need to manage the psychological consequences of threats that undermine existence. Suggestions for mitigating the impact of job loss and its attendant sense of terror are then presented, which include systemic interventions, relational and psychotherapeutic support, and individual coping strategies