WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Valerie Techentin sits and thinks about her next move. She's facing eviction from her place.
"It's scary. I actually just started packing today because I was thinking, like, well any day. It's a feeling like any day they could just come and knock on the door," she said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's federal eviction moratorium expired July 31. Palm Beach County currently has more than 1,000 open eviction cases.
"It's a scary feeling and I'm sure many others have experienced it," Techentin said.
According to Dr. Rachel Needle, a clinical psychologist at the Whole Health Psychological Center, she's not alone.
"We're seeing all of those feelings we saw at the beginning coming back," she said.
Needle said the surge of the delta variant to facing evictions is increasing people's stress loads in an already stressful time.
"Fear and isolation and worry and stress and even a lot of trauma we're seeing," she said. "It's the unknown that exists what is going on."
Needle said the feeling of stress isn't pinned to one age group or socio-economic group or race. She said people need to recognize when they're experiencing increased stress and anxiety.
"Make sure you're taking care of your body, you're sleeping enough, you're eating healthy, you're exercising, because that will help with your mental health and stress," she said.
Needle also recommends unplugging every once and a while.
Valerie said she has no choice but to be strong for and her daughter.
"I did not imagine it would come to this," she said.