Dealing with trauma from toxic job.

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Anyone here have PTSD and worked or used to work at a toxic job? How did you guys manage your trauma after a serious incident? I am trying to forget a memory from Thursday when my bully boss sort of argued with me.

I'm sorry you had to deal with toxicity at work.

I had bullying happen to me this time last year. A contractor, not even an employee of the company, developed a hatred of me and expressed it through very subtle, passive-aggressive bullying. He tried to take over even though he had no right to, and acted like he was a supervisor or something, even though he was a temporary contractor who was supposed to just be there to fill the void while we were short on mechanics and his duty was to just be a bus mechanic, not a glorified supervisor. He shouldn't have even been so bothered about what we, the cleaners, were doing. But he was. He was loud, rude, lazy and cocky, but picked on me and made me feel the bad one. It was difficult standing up for myself with him because he was much higher up in the social hierarchy than I was. He had the confidence and know-how that I didn't have. And he wasn't one of those stereotypical "unhappy in his life" bullies. He was naturally loud and very cocky and seemed to be liked by nearly everyone there, who seemed blind to what he was doing to me. He was friendly with all the snitchers there, and he knew I was pathetic and stupid, because I was "just a low-paid cleaner" while he was an agency contractor with high-quality mechanical skills, loads of confidence, and earned loads more money than us from his agency firm. I was getting fed up with him being there all the time even when not needed. He'd arrive at 7 in the morning and go home around 8 at night, so we had to put up with him all day. I felt he was trying to turn people against me, because he had that convincing way about him, and he was so loud that it was impossible for them not to listen to him. He had more than me and he knew it. He knew that by picking on me he'd have nothing to lose, because of his high social standing and respect he somehow got from most the people there. Some people there loved him and said what a fantastic person he was. That kinda stung, because he caused me to have a nervous breakdown last Christmas and so many people couldn't see the evil side to him.

I have RSD so can be very sensitive to bullying. It can cause me great stress and anxiety and self-loathing.

When already 58 I was bullied at a workplace for no obvious reason, but it was comparable to high school bullying. I now have trouble remembering the details. The ringleader would just occasionally make remarks about me that actually puzzled onlookers because the remarks made no sense. The one incident I clearly remember was that another coworker with whom I believed I'd gotten on well was leaving and they decided to take him out for a going-away lunch and I tried to communicate that I wanted to come along, but they made a big production of leaving for the lunch and not welcoming me to join them. The bullying didn't seem to have anything to do with my age by the way.

I hasten to add that everybody where I currently work is inexplicably friendly towards me, which may be one reason why I don't retire (which nobody ever seems to suggest I do despite my obviously advanced age).