Personal Impacts/Data

The unlawful termination of federal probationary employees did not just disrupt careers, it triggered a mental health crisis for hundreds of public servants. In the six months following their firing, fired federal workers reported overwhelming rates of depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms. Nearly every anxiety symptom measured was reported by more than 200 federal workers, with "feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge" being the most common. Depression symptoms were equally widespread; "feeling down, depressed, or hopeless" was reported by close to 300 federal workers, making it the single most commonly reported symptom across the entire survey. Troublingly, a significant number also reported thoughts of being better off dead or hurting themselves, a stark indicator of just how severe the psychological toll of these illegal firings became.

Trauma symptoms told a similarly alarming story. "Feeling upset by reminders of the event" was the most reported trauma symptom, followed closely by difficulty sleeping and intrusive memories. These are not abstract psychological categories, they are the hallmarks of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the data shows they were experienced at scale. When asked whether their mental health symptoms had resolved, very few federal workers reported full resolution. The largest group reported symptoms only partially resolved, with significant numbers reporting their symptoms were either reduced, about the same, or not reduced at all, meaning for the vast majority, the damage done by these firings is still being felt today.

The impact on daily life was nearly universal. 95% of fired federal workers reported that new mental health symptoms affected their personal wellbeing, and 25% started new medication to manage symptoms that did not exist before their termination. These numbers reflect not a temporary period of stress, but a sustained and serious mental health crisis caused directly by an unlawful government action.