A Spiritual Crisis

Dr. Robin says that Karen's hiding after her being laid off illustrates a serious spiritual crisis. "If we are our jobs, if we are our bodies, if we are our bank accounts, if we are our men when the relationships are working, then when those things are no longer there, or we are aging, then all of a sudden we feel like we're lost. 'I'm gone.' And so we're talking about, again, how we're spiritually injured because we're only seeing ourselves in very compartmentalized ways."

Dr. Robin also says that Karen's situation also points to the problem of self-abuse."If I get fired, does that make me the loser?" she asks. "Does that mean that my intrinsic worth and value is gone? And the answer all too often for most of us is, 'yes.'"

Karen says that this was exactly her reason for letting herself go. "I had a certain identity," she says, "and then when that identity's taken away, you don't even know where to go."