'Lots of despair, lots of stress:' Experts detail the mental health toll of layoffs

WASHINGTON - As federal workers face layoffs and uncertainty, local mental health professionals say it's "absolutely normal" to feel stressed, overwhelmed and demoralized. 

The backstory:

Federal health agencies were the latest to be hit with mass layoffs on Tuesday. While some employees learned via email early Tuesday morning that they no longer had a job, employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) lined up outside their offices in D.C. to check if their security badges still worked. If not, that meant they had been fired. 

There were 10,000 layoffs within HHS this week alone. 

What they're saying:

Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Jessica M. Smedley spoke to FOX 5 DC's Bob Barnard about the impact the loss of a job or career can be to one’s mental health.

"I absolutely have lots of patients who are federal workers. And there's lots of despair, lots of stress, worry, anxiety, just lots of general concern about, you know, will I be able to pay my mortgage? Will I be able to buy groceries? What's going to happen with my family or my pets? So there are a lot people that are worried day to day and waiting for these arbitrary deadlines of okay, on this day, will we hear this layoff or will we get this uncertain email that is determining our future? And I think that it's also impacting people's sense of purpose," said Dr. Smedley. 

Dr. Smedley advises people in this situation to sit with their emotions and avoid rushing to fix things. 

The head of Montgomery County’s Behavioral Health and Crisis Services, Monica Martin, says to practice self-care and to not hide your feelings from those around you.

"It is absolutely normal of course and expected that there's going to be feelings of just being overwhelmed, feelings of demoralization, increasing the idea about financial obligations off of course such as bill payments and college expenses for children and all of those things," said Martin. "While some have already sought or considered mental health care and or medication to cope with those stressors, those that haven't and are experiencing them really should reach out proactively to their trusted care providers."

Martin says to avoid letting financial uncertainty keep you from getting the help you need and to look to community support groups at places of worship. Montgomery County has a 24-hour crisis center in Rockville, a 24-hour hotline, and the new 988 mental health crisis hotline should you need immediate help.