My friend Lucy experienced a lay - off at the end of last year. She had worked for that company for over four years and had put in a great deal of effort. The lay - off happened suddenly. Lucy couldn't accept it and often talked about her grievances during our chats.

This situation didn't improve much even after she found her next job.

When a person goes through a breakup, their pain is considered natural, and those around them are often willing to show sympathy and offer support. However, unemployment is different. People tend to focus more on the "economic losses" and neglect the potential psychological trauma that a lay - off can bring. When a person is laid off, it's usually difficult for them to express to those around them that they are "hurt".

Many studies have found that the levels of depression and anxiety among the unemployed are much higher than those of the employed. The psychological trauma reaches its peak 6 - 12 months after unemployment, and for some groups (middle - aged/high - skilled workers), the trauma can last for more than 5 years[1]. Economic pressure only accounts for part of the causes of psychological problems.

In today's article, we'll discuss lay - offs from the perspective of mental health - why, in many cases, what people lose is more than just a "job"?

Losing one's professional identity, who am I?

Self - identity is a concept in psychology, referring to an individual's recognition and definition of their own existence and uniqueness, that is, how you understand "who you really are".

A clear self - identity helps individuals build healthy interpersonal relationships and also enables people to have a stronger sense of purpose and meaning in life, enhancing psychological resilience and self - esteem.

For modern people, work has become one of the important identities that define themselves. The first question we often ask after meeting a new friend is "What do you do?"

Therefore, after being laid off, people's self - identity will be greatly impacted: having lost their professional identity, who am I? A netizen on the Q&A website Reddit shared his confusion after losing his job: "I've been a lawyer for 16 years. I mean, it's been my most important label since I graduated from school. After being laid off by the law firm, I didn't even know who I was anymore." ——

A meta - analysis of lay - off trauma shows that identity loss and social exclusion are the key factors causing psychological problems[1]. Professional identity provides us with five potential functions: time structure, social contact, collective goals, status, and activities. All these five functions correspond to important psychological needs, so unemployment leads to a state of deprivation.

Moreover, in modern society, work has become a "virtue". Unemployed people will find themselves in a state where their values (high work commitment) are inconsistent with the reality (unemployed). This inconsistency in self - identity is one of the reasons why the unemployed feel pain.

The greater the proportion of professional identity in self - identity, the stronger the pain may be.

The inexpressible sense of shame

Different from leaving a job voluntarily, a lay - off is often experienced by individuals as "being rejected" and "being abandoned", thus generating a sense of shame.

Shame is a self - centered negative attribution based on imagined or real negative evaluations from others. You feel that all the mistakes are yours, accompanied by a strong impulse to avoid and withdraw to a certain extent[2].

Therefore, people often find it difficult to express the pain of being laid off to those around them and feel embarrassed during subsequent job applications - it seems that no matter for what reason, a lay - off is always related to your personal responsibility or fault. "Why not someone else?"

Shame is an emotion that does great damage to mental health. Studies have found that it is related to various mental illnesses, such as depression, social phobia, and even some eating disorders[3].

The worst thing is that shame will isolate you from others, which is exactly what people need most after a lay - off - encouragement and support from others.

A bad way of dismissal will intensify psychological trauma

A netizen from the Q&A website Reddit shared his experience of being laid off: "I used to work on the website for a well - known cable TV channel in New York City. They didn't fire the employees in person. They just deactivated our IDs, preventing us from entering the building. For more than half a year, I would wake up with a sense of fear every morning, as if facing the revolving door of that building. I lost a lot of weight and suffered from gastric ulcers." ——

There are also many similar sharing on Chinese social networking sites: "It's been almost two years, and I still don't know how to get out of it. For a full six months, they tried every means to make me quit voluntarily without compensation. I always held on. During those six months, I didn't say a word in the office. I was always prepared to face their tactics. At noon, while eating takeout, watching courses and studying, I would shed tears. I swallowed the food and tears together, not knowing what the food tasted like. I persisted like a walking corpse every day." ——

A bad way of laying off employees often intensifies psychological trauma. A study in 2000 interviewed a large number of lay - off victims and found that many people considered taking legal action after being laid off. Among those who thought they had been treated unfairly, 66% intended to file a lawsuit, while this proportion dropped to 16% among those who thought they had been treated fairly[4].

Bad ways of laying off employees usually include:

▨ No or reduced compensation (or suppressing employees for this purpose)

▨ Mass firing

 ▨ Firing employees directly without dialogue

▨ Video lay - offs (interviewees may even experience digital post - traumatic stress); written notices (emails/messages, etc.)

When laid - off employees are not informed of the exact reason, it's like a divorce or a devastating breakup. You don't know why that person left, or you only know a little bit of the reason, but you don't have a chance to talk about it in depth. So you'll constantly fall into rumination: "Am I a bad person?" "What on earth did I do wrong?"

This is called unfinished business - referring to the incomplete, unexpressed, and unsolved relationship problems with the person or thing that has been lost. Unfinished business makes it more difficult for people to let go and easier to fall into negative self - attribution.

If you've experienced these, please spend more time taking care of yourself.

Lay - off trauma may last for a long time

Still, you can imagine a heart - wrenching breakup. Even if you're now in a better relationship, it may still bother you. The same goes for lay - offs. Some lay - off traumas don't end with finding a new job and may even last for a long time.

User @alexandereschate once shared on the Q&A website Reddit: "I've started a new job, but I still can't help taking the lay - off from my previous job personally. It's like I have post - traumatic stress disorder. I often over - analyze some things in my current job as signs that I'm about to be fired. I even got angry with my leader a few times."

Of course, this is also a significant signal reminding you that some past problems haven't really "passed" and may even require professional psychological help.

Sometimes, if this trauma is not properly dealt with, it may even affect the next generation. A Canadian study found that children whose fathers have experienced unemployment earn 9% less annually than those whose fathers haven't. These children are more likely to receive unemployment insurance and social assistance. The important mediating factor in this process may be the impact of non - economic reasons (such as stress) on their children[5].

What can you do for yourself after experiencing lay - off trauma?

The pain caused by losing a job is often not easily understood. People may say, "It's just a job" or "Just find another one." But for many people, work is not just a means of earning economic rewards through labor.

When we first start a new job and have no emotional connection with the company, we can certainly understand work as "a business or an exchange". But as time goes by, we fight side by side with our colleagues, experience stress, happiness, excitement, and disappointment together, and spend more time in the office than with our friends. Naturally, we'll develop feelings.

When you're in pain, you don't need to feel ashamed.

The first step to getting out of lay - off trauma is often to accept your current emotions. Whether it's sadness, shame, anger, or grievance. These emotions remind us that we've lost something important (to us) or that we haven't been treated well.

Many people are eager to cover up the fact of being hurt with a new job. But if we can't face these emotions well, they will always come back at some point in the future.

Of course, it's not easy to face negative emotions, so you may need some support systems, such as friends or psychologists. The characteristic of these relationships is that they can make you feel safe and supported.

After you can basically accept the fact of being laid off, you can try to do some things to rebuild your sense of self - worth (it doesn't have to be a new job. The frustration caused by rushing to find a job may even intensify the trauma).

You can try to learn a new skill and regain a sense of self - strength from small progress. You can also spend more energy on other identities and gain a sense of self - confirmation from them. You may find that besides being a professional, you're also a dad who can cook delicious food or a good friend who can bring vitality to others.

For many people in this world, your existence is very important.