The latest round of layoffs swept through your office and you’re still standing. You should feel good – you have a paycheck, your work is valued, you survived! Instead, you’re irritable, can’t concentrate, hate your job … What gives?

If this sounds familiar, you may be suffering from what one University of New Hampshire business expert has termed Post Downsizing Stress Syndrome.

Akin to post-traumatic stress, symptoms can also include anger toward management, health problems and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. Unlike survivor’s guilt, which is more fleeting, this syndrome can persist and be more serious, says Barry Shore, who coined the term.

“When an anxiety-ridden environment continues for a long period of time, there seems to be a syndrome that develops,” says Shore, a professor of decision sciences at UNH’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics. “If there’s a prolonged external stimulus, like we’re going through right now, you are basically hit over the head with it all the time.”

About 10 percent of people exposed to such stress go on to develop Post Downsizing Stress Syndrome, Shore estimates.

While you won’t find this term in the DSM-IV – the compendium of psychiatric conditions – and mental health experts wince at giving these symptoms a clinical label, they acknowledge that employed people who survive layoffs can experience deleterious psychiatric effects.

“This downsizing syndrome really is a psychological reaction to a crisis,” says Josh Klapow, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health. “We know that people behave in pretty predictable ways during disasters … And you are the survivor of a work disaster.”

General Motors employees know about surviving work disasters. With thousands of layoffs on the way, conversations about work now center on the uncertain future.

“It’s definitely everyday conversation at the break table and lunch table,” says Scott McMillin, a crane signalman, who has 32 years on the job and does not fear termination. “It creates stress, concerns for your future.”

Pervasive Problem

The automotive industry has long experienced downsizing. In today’s environment, though, almost all industries are affected.

“What’s new about this is that middle- and upper-class people are facing it,” says Patrick Murphy, a psychologist in the behavioral care program at Gallahue Mental Health Services. “The sense of loyalty and the bond between employee and employer has been broken.”

It isn’t just laid-off employees who are affected, notes Kimble Richardson, a licensed mental health counselor.

A few years ago, some of his colleagues were let go. For a few weeks, Richardson spent most nights on the phone offering comfort to co-workers.

Recently, Richardson met a colleague who had once referred many patients to the center. That man told him he had stopped referring for a while because the changes and layoffs annoyed him so much.

“It’s a ripple effect,” Richardson says. “You create business based on relationships and you start to trust people and you have to start all over.”

Both the employer and employee’s response can help mitigate the symptoms, Shore and other experts say.

Management should recognize that they must be as honest as possible with employees. They should keep them abreast of what’s going on and, if possible, offer employees options, such as layoffs, furloughs or buyouts, Shore says.

Management must also be sympathetic and allow their employees to vent, recognizing that it’s a normal, healthy reaction to the situation.

“Not knowing about traumatic events is worse than knowing about them,” Shore says. “If management acknowledges what’s going on and is truthful with their employees, then people can maintain their faith that management is looking after their best interests.”

Fending Off A Funk

Employees can also take steps to ward off the downsizing blues. Doing so may lower one’s chances of being the next to go in the future.

“Getting your stress under control is absolutely critical to keeping your job,” Klapow says.

First, maintain a positive attitude, Shore says. If those around you are griping, you can commiserate, but you can’t let that dominate your workday. Maintain friendships at the workplace, even if it feels like you are all competing to keep your jobs, he adds.

Recognize there are only so many variables you control, says Gallahue’s Murphy. Instead, focus on what you can control. Acknowledge you may be fearful about the future.

“What we’re talking about is coping with fear,” Murphy says. “You have to validate the fear, share the feelings and realize you’re not alone.”

If management has not been forthright, speak with your supervisor, Klapow says.

The temptation may be to tap into the office grapevine to learn more, but that could yield unreliable information, Klapow adds. Also, as you talk with your boss, ask him or her what you should do in the future.

Keep your focus on why you’re there, Richardson suggests. Consider your prime objectives at work and how best to achieve them.

You can even view the situation as an opportunity, he adds.

“What is it that I can learn from this; how can I improve myself or my situation. Not all change is bad,” Richardson says.

Prepare yourself for the worst, experts agree. Hone your resume, and don’t make big purchases you can’t afford.

Give It Your All

Your best bet is to go all out at work, says Larry Winget, a consultant and the self-proclaimed “pit bull of personal development.”

“Every employee has to remember they have to be worth more than they cost,” says Winget, author of “People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It: The Ten Ways You Are Sabotaging Yourself and How You Can Overcome Them.”

“You need to prove that worth every single day when you go to work.”

Still, it’s crucial not to neglect your personal life, others counter. Make sure you’re managing your stress and are maintaining your work-life balance.

If you are stressed, don’t be reluctant to turn to others. Join a support group either at work or in the community, experts say. If your stress does not resolve, see a mental health professional to get it under control.

Helping others helped Donald Jones, a General Motors pipe fitter, handle his guilt over the fact that he still has a job while others have lost theirs.

Jones, a third-generation worker at GM, has been helping with a food bank for his laid-off colleagues and peppering his legislators with calls in support of the stimulus package that passed.

“This makes everybody stand together,” Jones said. “You could be next; everyone knows that.”â–