Once you have recognized symptoms related to toxic workplace trauma you may wonder how long it will take to recover...it depends.
Trauma recovery time frames are different for everyone. Variables impacting the extent and type of injury and healing process include various factors listed below.
• Length of time in a toxic job
• Ability to leave the toxic job on one’s own terms (vs. being fired or forced out through constructive discharge).
• Financial stress vs. cushion of savings
• Stress-related mental health challenges
• Trauma history
• Physical health problems
• Damage to professional reputation (i.e., bullies often spread false information about the target to hide abuse)
• Access to family, friends, community, & healthcare providers who are affirming & supportive vs. stigmatizing or judgmental
• Access to an attorney if attempts at self-advocacy stall out
Recovery markers are also specific to individual experiences. For some people, recovery is sleeping through the night without nightmares about abusive colleagues and for others, recovery is getting through a week without crying.
Additional toxic job recovery markers include fewer or cessation of anxiety or panic attacks, tension headaches, neck and shoulder pain, digestive problems, and other stress-related health problems. The first step in recovery is identifying what markers are important for your recovery.
Recovery is aided by rest, time outside, and exposure to environments, people, and activities that make you feel comfortable and relaxed. The key to recovery is helping the nervous system return from a chronic state of stress. This cannot be done in environments where threats persist. Recovery from toxic jobs requires detoxing the chronic stress hormone flooding associated with illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity.
Grief and loss are often involved in recovery processes. Survivors of toxic workplaces often need to grieve betrayal from trusted colleagues who stood by silently in the face of bullying or undermined survivor’s credibility to save themselves in hostile workplaces. Survivors also grieve a vision of their own futures that was thwarted by workplace abuse. It is common to take stock of lost trust due to an employer’s failure to uphold its side of the workplace agreement. These types of betrayals can be traumatic and need to be digested and transformed into survival narratives. Unprocessed trauma often festers and returns in physical, psychological, or social problems.
Neuroscience has demonstrated the brain’s remarkable ability to heal through neuroplasticity and stress researchers document post traumatic growth as an outcome for many people. Even when a toxic job damages one’s life, health, career trajectory, & relationships, there is reason to hope that you can and will heal.
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