Coronavirus has exposed the reality of a world without work | Josh Cohen

This pandemic is throwing into stark relief a treacherous fact: we depend on employment, both for survival and a sense of self

Offices empty, restaurants and cafes closed, performance venues dark, schools and universities shut down. Across the world, numerous industries have entered a state of suspended animation, imposing a sharp and involuntary brake on the working lives of millions of people.

This week, having moved my psychoanalytic practice online, I've sat in an empty consulting room talking to patients via video-conference, many of them struggling to process what life in the shadow of Covid-19 might mean in the short- and longer-term. Some are lamenting the lost sense of belonging they derive from their workplaces, as well as the claustrophobia of being shut in with partners and children.