Employees Survivors Guilt...

The main purpose of this Blog is to put my feelings and thoughts "on paper" regarding grief and to share what I've discovered in understanding this emotion using a technological resource, (the internet). With the increased state of unemployment and the current depressed economic climate, I want to share a few resources I've found regarding a seldom considered emotion as it relates to an employee, 'survivors guilt'. With lay-offs, or in corporate speak, "a reduction in force", a company may provide the employee being let go coping resources. What rarely occurs is for a company to provide these same resources to the employees that remain. A 'survivors guilt' for these employees may be ever so slight, but is just as important to manage. Now, I'm in no way saying that this type of 'survivors guilt' is as hard hit as the guilt one feels when they survive a for more traumatic event such as an accident or natural disaster, but it is still important to acknowledge.
Please see these links regarding Survivor's Guilt:

Time Magazine article - 'After Layoffs, There's Survivor's Guilt'
This article covers a few key points. I find the fact that research shows that there's a reduced commitment and diminished productivity — even when people are expending more effort — can linger for the better part of a year after a layoff takes place
CNN article - 'Dealing with layoff survivor's guilt'
Key point - The remaining employees are often expected to 'do more with less' and move forward, but that's hard to do when they feel depressed, numb and guilty about having made it through the chaos -- classic symptoms of survivor's guilt.
BNET artical - 'Feeling guilty because you survived a layoff? … You're not alone'
Key point - People who are good survivors have a support system. If that support system doesn't happen at work, it doubles the stress outside work. It recommends that employees create their own support systems that could include family and friends, as well as professional, fraternal and religious organizations.

Dealing...

This post will deal primarily with grief regarding death. I've reviewed a multitude of sites and while most seem to be helpful, they were very clinical in their structure. I'm going to post 5 links that "spoke" to me the most.
WebMD - 'On the Death of My Father'
While still clinical in structure, I find WebMD to be very reliable and accurate
ArtofManliness - 'Losing Dad: How a Man Responds to the Death of His Father'
The section, 'A Long Shadow', struck a nerve.
Survivors of Suicide - 'Helping a Survivor Heal'
How a friend or family member can help. I have personally experienced the support from my loved ones and find the information here true and accurate.
The Golden Gate - 'A Poem'
This poem and the link it is in has a personal meaning to me. It reminds me of forgotten memories.
Grief and Bereavement Resources - 'Resources'
I didn't post a specific link at this site since there are quite a few I find interesting. The 'Resources for Families and Specific Support Groups' section is most relevant.for Families and Specific Support Groups:

It was 1985....

My personal experiences with grief has, as I've discovered, impacted my life in more ways then I ever considered. The loss of my father in 1985 appears to be my most significant loss to date. It was a 'Sudden Loss', which, as I've discovered per the website CaringInfo.org, has affected me far more then I understood, or at least acknowledged. "Sudden, unexpected loss may exceed the coping abilities of a person, which often results in feelings of being overwhelmed and/or unable to function. Even though one may be able to acknowledge that loss has occurred, the full impact of loss may take much longer to fully comprehend than in the case of an expected loss." While the initial loss was overwhelming for sure, I never thought it would have such a long lasting affect on my life and the choices I've made, (and make?).

My first link and review

We will all deal with grief in our life. Some more then others. Fate deals us many different hands, it's how we deal and cope with the not so pleasant situations that I am very interested in. My first link regarding 'Understanding Grief' is to the website GriefNet.org