When you lose your job, it can suddenly feel like you've been plunged 20,000 feet below sea level. You try to pull yourself back up, but the weight of what's on top of you — financial anxiety, betrayal by your company, older wounds of personal inadequacy — can keep you stuck.
It's normal to feel sad, angry, scared and even jealous after getting fired or laid off, experts say.
Jobs take up a majority of our time and can be deeply tied to our sense of self-worth and success. Our work can also be a distraction, shielding us from other insecurities. When that job is pulled, we are forced to reckon with those feelings.
