3.3. Lifton's Model of Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Survivors
An illuminating way of viewing the universality of survivorship is through the symbolic lenses of psychiatry. Robert Lifton's analysis of Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors created a model that can be applied to all survivor situations. The left-hand column of the list shows the themes Lifton found in the survivors of Hiroshima as these themes are manifested in both Hiroshima and death camp survivors. The right-hand column shows my interpretation of these themes in layoff survivors:
| Hiroshima and Death Camp Survivors | Layoff Survivors |
| Death imprint | Death imprint |
| The bombing | The layoffs |
| Symbolic reactivation | Symbolic reactivation |
| News reports of atomic deaths | News reports of mergers, layoffs, and acquisitions ... |
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