I had two consecutive traumatic work experiences. I am now a jobless and not planning on looking for a job soon. The idea of getting back to work is terrifying.

23 comments

  2. I wouldn’t say trauma, but I’ve had experiences that the job was just way too much for me to handle, causing slight panic attacks & me quitting to find something better. There’s always something out there that’s right for you, don’t give up!

  3. Not so much a trauma but the Toxic Work Environment from the job previous to my present caused a mental and emotional downturn. Favoritism, and rewarding those who while they do good work, have a HORRENDOUS attitude and throws tantrums.

    I recovered from it almost immediately once I started my current job.

    As the other commenter said, without elaborating we can’t say too much. However I wouldn’t NOT look, unless of course your in the financial position to be able to take some time to yourself, but be open to opportunities that may come your way. Be investigative and if it seems like a good fit or something that might be ok for you mentally, emotionally, etc then go for it.

  4. I am currently in the middle of dealing with active work trauma. I got reported for making my co-worker uncomfortable because I asked a few to watch a UFC event with me. Had to sit down with my managers and “talk” about it. Now, I don’t talk to those co-workers anymore and I am leaving this job on December 31, 2021…. So 2 and a half more months of sitting in my car at work at various parts of the day.

  5. I was assaulted in front of my supervisor and threatened to “watch myself” in the parking lot. My supervisor was friends with him and nothing happened. I went to corporate HR, he got fired, my supervisor did not, and my supervisor didn’t give me a raise that year so I found a new job and quit.

    I don’t know if it was traumatic. I’ve had more traumatic things happen since then and looking back I feel I did the right thing. I was feeling a lot of fear at work afterwards but didn’t feel that way after I left.

  6. Got attacked by a work colleague with a 6ft long solid steel bar used for turning heavy steel beams over with, didn’t traumatise me any longer than the time it took me to walk to the boss, explain what happened and get him sacked. (also penned a damning letter to the boss about the unstable nature of the bloke for years previous) I could feel adrenaline pumping through me like the world was about to end but I didn’t feel like running away to cry, It was more about trying harder to control my own anger towards him. I have a terrible temper when working on other stuff and have beaten many an inanimate object to a pulp when things don’t go to plan but some how that anger seems to have reigns when it comes to people… thankfully.

    One boss was an utter incompetent asshole, so I found a different job and left along with the two site guys, the workshop manager and the office manager.. bye bye, enjoy ALL the work.

    Literally no skin off my nose if people want to be pricks.

  7. What was the reason? Are we talking like just a bad boss? Toxic culture? Discrimination? Have you talked to a psychiatrist about this?

  8. Yes. Twice. I have Crohn’s Disease. I was a VP at an insurance company when I had a hernia surgery go bad. I was out for over 10 months, in the hospital the whole time.

    When I came back, they created an incredibly hostile workplace. It was non-stop, and I fought back for two years. I got PSTD from the abusive treatment. They finally just up and fired me and settled a lawsuit for wrongful termination. I was going through a divorce at this time.

    I found another VP role almost immediately afterwards. I had to fix a broken accounting shop. As soon as I fixed all the problems, they changed my role to an undoable job, and gave my old role to a younger guy. Once again, a lawsuit.

    I stayed out of work for six months on disability. During the disability, the accidently sent me my termination letter. This made the lawsuit easy.

    I took a smaller job for considerably less money. The relaxation was amazing. And going to a smaller company I could amaze them with my experience.

    After a few years I went to a family-owned business. Great quality of life, and I am almost back to my peak earnings.

  9. Hard to help you out without more context, but yeah. Early in my career, I was let go from a job due to reasons beyond my control. I was basically the scapegoat for an organizational client screwup that cost the company a lot of $$. This is after years of a traumatic work environment where we were told we were “family” and then were thrown under the bus whenever anything went wrong. I was glad to leave, but was majorly stressed at the time.

    I was hired immediately after reaching out to my friends in the industry to see who was hiring. That position provided me with a ton of great mentorship and industry experience that I applied to my next job. I’m now making six figures with great colleagues and good work/life balance.

    I’d suggest not getting too “in your head” about it. Unless you are describing something very serious/criminal, I would move on. Take all the time you need, and keep in mind that people behave in all sorts of insane ways and it is not a reflection on you, but on their management style and work culture. Working at a place you enjoy with the right people makes all the difference in the world. Good luck!

  10. 2!

    Being a preschool teacher. Being a man in a female dominated career is a living hell. I was the only man out of 20 preschool teacher. I honestly lost my hair with the amount of stress these teachers applied on me. The 200 preschoolers were the Easy work! Kids are great and fun to be around with. Just female gossip and gossip and nonsense drove me so mad! I quit and told myself I will never ever forever in my life work with women.

    So I quit. And got a job as a truck driver. The whole work in the warehouse and giving it to the store was the easy part! Super easy. Give them a pallet get them to check and sign.

    The scary part was driving with all these crazy people! Watching YouTube, just cutting you off (I did it too) but the amount of people texting and watching whatever on their phone terrified me! On the highway! 2 years I quit because I was getting scared of driving. That job was high risk.

    Then I became a janitor and it was the best job I have ever ever ever have! It was so peaceful. Work on your pace. If you don’t get complaint at the end of the day, you are good to go. But be a UNION janitor. Don’t be a mcdonald or Walmart janitor. You will go crazy. Be a janitor in government or college building. Best benefit and so peaceful.

  12. I’ve had abusive bosses and toxic work situations.

    It got so bad I dropped out of the work force to be a stay-at-home dad for 2.5 years (just as my wife’s career was taking off). It worked out, but we ran out of money after 2.5 years and I went back to work.

    The new job is going well, and I was promoted this summer.

    P.S. American culture has really poor scripts for men who have to deal with abusive bosses.

  14. I don’t know if I’d call it trauma per se but years ago I was put on a PIP that didn’t feel justified. I had been a high performer up until this point, but I had changed departments and was given a new boss. I advocated for myself but because of the position I was in, I felt my I had lost credibility and wasn’t being heard. I met and/or exceed all expectations associated with the PIP and was not only kept on but given additional projects and responsibilities including training. In the end it was determined that my boss had not been meeting expectations himself and had used me as a scapegoat. He ended up being relieved of his position but the damage was done. He had cost me my bonus, my credibility and the good name I’d worked for. Unfortunately that’s one of pitfalls of corporate life and I elected to move on and make a name for myself again which I did.

  16. I’ve recovered from changing my routine and separating myself away from work. I now try to meditate a little, take a nap and play soothing music that doesn’t bring forth depressive memories or angry thoughts. It’s changed my relationship with work immensely.

  17. I’m a paramedic on ambulance part time and full time flight nurse… I’m like completely numb from the amount of trauma I’ve seen… been doing it 16 years and I still have days where I’m terrified to go to work.

  18. I wouldn’t say trauma, but the kind of situation where you know you’ve seen it before with the same expected results of burnout, depression, anxiety, loss of appetite, and insomnia.

    I am in the same exact situation I found myself in 6 years ago. You never really recover from it, you just get tougher temporarily, and then feel some sense of hope in short bursts until you run out.

    Thought of killing myself countless times, today included, but I hope you do not go through the same. I’m holding on for reasons I cannot understand and in ways I can’t.

  19. Yes. I sought EMDR therapy and I overcame the trauma, as best I could. At least now I don’t feel cold sweats when remembering the mistreatment.

  20. I suffered badly from gasslighting by former colleagues 7 years ago. Still suffering now. Two years of therapy later I’m stuck with some trauma and GAD. It’s a daily struggle to manage it, it’s severely hindered my ability to work, but I’m recovering. I’ll expand on it later.
    Still trucking along though.

  21. Sure, my story is below:

    I was drugged once at work, by an ex-colleague. A older lady who claimed she did so because she was coerced (blackmailed? bribed? not sure the right term) by the director since he has control over her after getting her hooked onto a perscription drug illegally. Not only that, this organisation was heavily affiliated with one of the largest groups of uniting churches in the world (Hillsong) and I do NOT trust that bunch for one fucking second. I quit on the spot and slept for a day and a half. When I woke up I freaked out because the drug seemed to erase much of my memory and made me extremely docile, and I only remember flashes of my employment there to be honest… I honestly don’t know how many times I was drugged or how heavily but I know it was at least 2 separate occasions, once outside of the work premesis at a bar where I think they revealed too much (albeit cryptically). It appeared as if she wasn’t the only one in on it, like a gang of them were under his control or something… I remember specifically the elderly lady who did it admitted to drugging me teary-eyed when we were in the lift after a friday drinks session, before returning to the party and putting on an act as if she was laughing at me cruelly. I was so scared that they had my personal info, where I lived etc. that I moved back into my parents’ place and left the country for 3.5 months to “visit family” (which I did indeed do, but mostly it was to get away from that address and do some health tests). After this incident, I was jobless for another 7 or so months – in part due to the trauma associated with this work experience. I never reported it because I don’t trust the police (and if the church can infiltrate this organisation, I don’t trust any other organisation as big as the police). Mainly, however, I also have no evidence – or I would’ve reported everything.

    I got some tenants for my apartment which sucked so much that after 2 years of renting, I decided to move back in. All up I was probably out of a job for 10 months. AMA else I guess.

    I guess my main tip is not to let your past experiences give you an unrealistic idea of what working in your field is/should be like. If it is unlikely to happen again, then please consider taking a small break to muster up the courage to apply for more jobs instead of letting your fear sink in, which can be paralyzing.

  22. Not necessarily consecutive, but i joined twice the same type of companies: Sons of super-successful businessmen who tried to impress their fathers and failed miserably, venting their frustration on their employees. Hated working there every minute, only lasted a couple of months each.

    That’s about 10 years ago. Now i’m in a great job with a small company where the boss is nice and leaves me a lot of freedom how i solve my challenges. Plus home office, might take a break and go inline skating – yay!

    Point is: Trauma is a trauma, do whatever it takes to deal with it. But don’t let that get to you forever. There is always a chance for sunshine after the rain.

  23. I had a relationship fall apart, confided in my bosses that I was going through a rough time, had them reassure me that they “had my back”, and then got fired two weeks later because the company was downsizing.

    Took a loooooong time to recover from that one.

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