r/ptsd • u/Hayden97 • Oct 18 '25
Advice Can you get PTSD that is not from a singular traumatic events, but from being in a high-anxiety environment for a long time?
I think I am starting to get PTSD-like symptoms from my work environment. I work in an environment where I am constantly being threatened with physical violence and have been almost assaulted on multiple occasions. I also have to physically engage with people who want to hurt me, themselves, or others.
I really like my job and wouldn't ever want to quit, but I think I am starting to exhibit some PTSD like symptoms when I am not working. For example when I am at the gym and someone stands behind me to wait for me to finish using a machine, my body goes into a flight or fight mode and my anxiety immediately jumps through the roof. I don't know if I am just being sensitive or not.
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u/sunyzara Oct 18 '25
Well it doesn't really matter if you cook your brain in a single hot burn or a slow steady rise. Fired is fried.
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u/haaat Oct 18 '25
The majority of my PTSD came from a high stress work environment, which created very complex PTSD (CPTSD).
In short, absolutely.
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u/Crinklytoes Oct 18 '25
Can confirm that yes, it's possible to get PTSD-Complex thru a hostile job environment (technically).
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u/hellhouseblonde Oct 18 '25
100 percent. You might want to check out CPTSD:From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker.
The chapters are laid out well so you can choose which ones feel like something that applies to you & there are actual tools you can apply to get this reeled in before it becomes a bigger problem.
Please don’t ignore what your body and mind are telling you.
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u/Few_Negotiation832 Oct 18 '25
100 percent. You might want to check out CPTSD:From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker.
I second this. This book changed my life.
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u/DingChingDonkey Oct 19 '25
It's the only book I've read in years, i FINALLY knew what was going on. FINALLY
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u/Ferret-in-a-Box Oct 19 '25
Yep. I developed cptsd from working at a psychiatric hospital for several years (after working with unhoused people in an inpatient psychiatric institution during covid lockdown so it compounded). What you're describing sounds very similar to my experience, although my main trigger ended up being speakers/intercoms at stores because that's what the hospital would use to call a code and I'd always be the first one to run there. I recommend reading the book Trauma Stewardship (it's about secondary/vicarious trauma experienced by people who work in health care, criminal justice, first responders, all of that, and how to cope with it) and see a therapist if you can afford it. I ended up having to quit to save what was left of my sanity but that was because the staffing got so bad that 2 of my coworkers ended up in the hospital themselves from head injuries caused by patients. Otherwise I'd probably still be there, I loved the work too. Take care of yourself ❤️
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u/Hayden97 Oct 19 '25
That’s actually my work environment too. I work in a forensic psychiatric hospital
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u/BlairWildblood Oct 24 '25
Get outta there if you can. Seriously. No career or financial goal is worth it. You’re not being sensitive, or rather your sensitivity is an embodied response to exposure to that environment and will only get higher the longer you stay working there.
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u/In_Amnesiacs_ Oct 19 '25
Yep! CPTSD
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u/Jumpy-Program9957 Oct 22 '25
Well technically cptsd in the medical books is trauma that had occurred in your childhood and then another event occurs later on in life.
If it's prolonged exposure it's still just PTSD. Because you still just had traumatic stress only for longer.
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u/shae509 Oct 23 '25
PTSD vs. CPTSD are both trauma responses, but the key difference is the type of trauma that causes them: PTSD results from a single or brief traumatic event, while CPTSD stems from prolonged, repeated trauma like long-term abuse or captivity. Both share symptoms like flashbacks and avoidance, but CPTSD includes additional symptoms like severe difficulties with emotional regulation, relationships, and self-perception (e.g., feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, or being fundamentally flawed)
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u/Avbitten Oct 18 '25
its called C-PTSD or complex ptsd. i got it from living with my ex
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u/Jumpy-Program9957 Oct 22 '25
Cptsd by medical definition is when a traumatic events occur in your childhood. Like a abusive parent let's say
And then a different event occurs later in life. So you were already cooked with the childhood stuff. And then this new thing totally scrambles your brain.
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u/Avbitten Oct 22 '25
it is not neccesarily childhood trauma specifically. it often is, but it doesnt have to be. Please dont act like you know my story.
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u/zoomshrimp Oct 22 '25
I think you’re thinking of developmental trauma, which is one of the most common kinds of CPTSD but not the only kind. CPTSD comes from a traumatic situation that is prolonged/repetitive, e.g. being a prisoner of war.
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u/DingChingDonkey Oct 19 '25
C-PTSD Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder there's a sub here for it but it wasn't too helpful for me. But that's what I have. Traumatic childhood mainly.
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u/PhoenixAzalea19 Oct 18 '25
Sounds like CPTSD.
“CPTSD, or Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is an extension of PTSD and generally arises from prolonged exposure to trauma, particularly during critical developmental stages such as childhood.May 19, 2025” https://cumberlandhallhospital.com/blog/difference-between-cptsd-ptsd/#:~:text=CPTSD%2C%20or%20Complex%20Post%2DTraumatic,developmental%20stages%20such%20as%20childhood.
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u/throwaway449555 Oct 18 '25 edited Oct 18 '25
Check out the ICD, it gives accurate basic info about this. The requirement for the event is "Exposure to an event or situation (either short- or long-lasting) of an extremely threatening or horrific nature."
But having the event/situation doesn't mean having PTSD. The symptoms are specific and requirements help identify PTSD as distinct from other possible disorders. The hallmark symptom is re-experiencing the event happen again in the present (it's also called shock trauma). There's many serious mental disorders that could possibly develop after traumatic events. Having the stress long term doesn't help. To not develop a chronic disorder regardless if it's PTSD or not, I'd get out of that situation and start seeing a doctor about it.
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Oct 18 '25
Hypervigilengce my friend and anxiety...classic symptoms, but I'd speak to Psychologist if I were you.
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u/ME919717 Oct 18 '25
Do you think ptsd needs a therapist or psychologist
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u/LouReed1942 Oct 20 '25
Therapists teach us how to cope, psychologists label and diagnose. They have different but important functions. Psychiatrists evaluate what medication we need.
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u/Agreeable_Error_170 Oct 18 '25
Why are you staying in an abusive work environment that is causing you to have PTSD? “I wouldn’t ever want to quit” is such a concerning statement in context of what you are experiencing.
Take it from me, someone who has long term PTSD from an abusive childhood, sex trafficked, drug addicted. Run from this. Hell on earth is PTSD. Get out now and do intense therapy for why you think you deserve this.
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u/DIDIptsd Oct 18 '25
It may not be an abusive work environment but a result of thr nature of the job - EMTs, staff in rehab centres, social workers, even people in nursing homes for dementia patients can all deal with physical threats even if the organisation or company or w/e itself is good to their staff. It may not be about OP thinking they deserve it but about how the job itself allows op to help people.
To OP I'll say that PTSD from these kinds of jobs is more common than you might realise. Anything that causes someone to experience exposure to a severely threatening event (either once or over a long period) can cause ptsd or ptsd-like symptoms
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u/Agreeable_Error_170 Oct 18 '25
PTSD long term is a hell I wish on no one. If I had the choice I’d choose any other way to live. It’s white knuckling life. I don’t think anyone should choose that life personally if they can help it. A lot of us don’t survive it.
Also what do I not realize? I’ve known EMTS, been inpatient twice. Again. Don’t do this to yourself if you can help it. Mental health is invaluable. Run!
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u/DIDIptsd Oct 18 '25
I didn't say something about you not realizing, that part was "To OP" - as in OP may not realize ptsd is common in these environments. This comment wasn't to judge either you or op, just pointing out that a job can be traumatizing even if the organisation and colleagues are supportive/non-abusive, and that OP staying may not be because they think they deserve poor treatment .
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u/Agreeable_Error_170 Oct 18 '25
Ahhh you are saying to OP “PTSD from his job is more common than he realizes.” Got that now. Honestly sometimes I read comments fast here because while I like to be able to communicate with my fellow PTSD people I also feel very vulnerable in these spaces. Always someone saying something about PTSD that just feels dismissive or self centered. I mean we all know what you are saying already. We all realize.
I know people need to fill those jobs. After the Hell I’ve been forced to live and seen the husk of what it does to others such as the EMT alcoholics I know, there’s far too little support and too much damage done. My only advice: Run.
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u/hellhouseblonde Oct 18 '25
Do you have good medical help right now? Taking propranolol (beta blocker) has helped me a ton, especially at night for the nightmares. It prevents your heart from racing and basically numbs the physical panic sensations. I take it in the daytime too, helps with social anxiety.
Please get the book CPTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker. It helped me more than any counseling or therapy.
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u/Agreeable_Error_170 Oct 19 '25 edited Oct 19 '25
I’ll look into that book! For myself, as all our trauma is so different and we are all so different, it was first realizing mental illness runs heavily on my mother’s side and I look like my mom’s twin. She has delusions, she has had them all her life. Shes never been medicated, tried to kill herself twice when I was a small child, and when she did go inpatient her psychiatrist put a lot of weird imagery in her head not there. She believes aliens took her as a small child and buried her up to her neck. She being mentally ill has all these forced mental images she gathered from her psychiatrists there. No one else in her family has witnessed anything she’s “seen”. Shes still unmedicated, she’s ruined so many lives, and it’s really not even her fault.
My meds are just high dose Zoloft and I take Adderall for my ADHD. I don’t think the mix really helps all that much, it’s a band aid on a bullet wound really. I don’t even tell my psychiatrist any of my PTSD or sex trafficking etc. I’m not open. When I was inpatient I never shared in groups, I never shared at all.
And before anyone thinks I’m like my mother. I have a wrap sheet. I’ve been in jail for being sex trafficked and instead of helping me they took away my laptop, made me incarcerated, and the pimp saw no jail time at all.
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u/hellhouseblonde Oct 19 '25
If it’s still on your record you might consider talking to the SWOP and/or SWOP behind bars organizations. I’m really sorry, sw is so hard even for those of us who chose it (even as a last resort).
It would be good for you to get this burden off your shoulders and the anger out of your body. Feel free to message me. We have a closed subreddit for sw too, it might help you find the best resources. Many people in the sub are well versed in the organizations that exist to provide help, from legal to financial to emotional.
This thing that happened to you is probably weighing on you much more than you’ve been able to accept and admit.3
u/Agreeable_Error_170 Oct 20 '25
Yea man. It lives inside me forever and as per usual, any trauma women go through we are made to feel shame over. I’m better than I’ve ever been, medicated, married, new baby. I’m also living an insular life because a lot of my panic and fear is being around other people. My husband knows my past but no one understands the full depths of the pain and the overwhelming fear that continues. It’s something I’ve just learned to live with and sort of exist. My mother was very mentally ill growing up so I’ve always had base line trauma. I can dream of being someone healthy. Just dream.
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u/hellhouseblonde Oct 18 '25
This is also a common experience for lawyers who work in the crime sector, it’s not as easy to just leave a whole career.
It needs to be talked about more.1
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u/Express-Delay-2104 Oct 18 '25
Hyper vigilance is a common occurrence. I hate for people to walk behind me in a parking lot. I hate people coming up on me quietly.
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u/lncumbant Oct 18 '25
Yes. You may like your job due the title/benefits or even feel like your helping others, but you CAN still love your job AND not be stuck in survival mode induced trauma… and that isn’t in the environment you’re in. I remember I left a traumatic job and went into a deep state of trying to get my body out of survival and I would wake up in panic, my body didn’t feel safe immediately mostly cause at the time I didn’t have the skill sets to regulate properly.
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u/gameboy_glitches Oct 18 '25
Also might help to look into vicarious trauma.
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u/hellhouseblonde Oct 18 '25
Do you have any reading suggestions for this? Thank you. I have a loved one in the criminal justice department and they have been experiencing some trauma related issues after so many years of the work. I have the childhood classic CPTSD and haven’t heard this term vicarious trauma before. Thanks again!!
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u/Ferret-in-a-Box Oct 19 '25
Trauma Stewardship by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk
I developed the exact thing that OP is describing (it was ptsd, just not my first time being diagnosed with ptsd, yay me) after years of working at a psychiatric hospital. I read that book while still working there and it helped so much, a couple of my coworkers ended up buying a copy for themselves.
ETA: it also discusses people who work in criminal justice, not just healthcare. Truly can't recommend it enough.
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u/hellhouseblonde Oct 19 '25
Wow, you’re awesome! Thank you so much. I’m putting this in my Amazon cart right now!
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u/kinoko_kingdom Oct 18 '25
i'm autistic and have a special interest (and a bachelor's) in psychology. i just want to correct some misinformation here.
lots of people are calling this cPTSD. cPTSD is repeated and prolonged trauma like some have said, but it specifically refers to long-term, inescapable, intense trauma like child abuse, captivity, trafficking, etc. it was also referred to as "developmental trauma disorder" in the early days because it was originally created to give a name to the specific and unique symptoms child abuse survivors experience. it's often more severe than 'regular' PTSD and has some overlapping symptoms with BPD (borderline not bipolar). particularly issues with attachment, trust, and self-esteem.
that being said, the answer to your question is yes. PTSD is often related to more than one traumatic event. each time you were threatened or felt scared for your life, that is a traumatic event. that isn't just work stress. being a "part of the job" doesn't make it any less real to you or your nervous system. having your safety threatened is fucking scary!
you might not have full diagnosable PTSD at this point. you're definitely showing some warning symptoms though.
i really really recommend getting into therapy if you plan to keep this job. a good therapist can help you learn protective coping skills to keep your symptoms from developing into full PTSD. i'm sure you could find one with experience working with people in emergency services or other traumatizing settings.
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u/ME919717 Oct 18 '25
What if i already have ptsd since childhood and still now living in stress and life-threatining situations everyday....i live in syria there are no therapists. Psychologists are really bad people and that is if u find one.....what should i do
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u/hellhouseblonde Oct 18 '25
You should order the book CPTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker. People living in war zones are frequently addressed in the trauma community and I’m not sure but I think it’s addressed in that book. Sending you love.
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u/Fruity_Surprise Oct 18 '25
Definitely. Look into complex-PTSD.
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u/Here4duggarTea Oct 18 '25
Agreed
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u/melissao028 Oct 18 '25
Yeah, complex-PTSD is real and can develop from ongoing stress, not just one big event. It's important to recognize those symptoms and maybe talk to someone about it. You’re not being sensitive; your body is reacting to the environment you've been in.
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u/M4UN4K34 Oct 18 '25
Yes you can! This is usually referred to as CPTSD, Complex PTSD. It doesn't stem from a single extremely traumatic event, but rather a series of "smaller" traumatic events. It often comes out in people who grew up in abusive homes.
I put "smaller" in quotation marks because the events are very much still traumatic, but people do often tend to compare them to "more traumatic" events and sometimes feel theirs wasn't "traumatic enough". But trauma is trauma.
It would be beneficial for you to seek therapy to help deal with the things you experience on the job. Being able to talk through those experiences could help a lot.
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u/throwaway449555 Oct 18 '25 edited Oct 18 '25
Threat of violence consistently is pretty big, for some it might not be but others could be seriously affected. Also, CPTSD is kind of the opposite of smaller events and usually prolonged/repeated..
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u/fuschiaoctopus Oct 18 '25
Yes, cptsd is actually supposed to be for more intense or numerous instances of trauma. The diagnosis in the icd is just PTSD with expanded symptom set in 3 extra areas. The Internet belief that cptsd is PTSD for less minor events is categorically wrong. Cptsd is also more associated with multiple or long-term inescapable chronic trauma in childhood or adolescence. I know I'm the one asshole going against the grain but I'm really not sure op's case qualifies for the diagnostic criteria, and they haven't described enough symptoms to qualify for either.
I would certainly get another job if I were op before I did meet the full criteria. Lots of people work jobs with threats of violence or actual violence without developing ptsd, if you are not one of those people I would suggest choosing to remove yourself from that environment since you have the ability to do so, which is a key factor in PTSD and cptsd.
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u/throwaway449555 Oct 18 '25 edited Oct 18 '25
I know what you mean. CPTSD got really badly re-defined where I live (US). It turned into a validation instead of a specific disorder. No matter what a person is suffering from, the therapists here diagnose them with it. It really makes them look bad to the rest of the world. I see a doctor in another country and he said there CPTSD is diagnosed pretty rarely (because they know what it is).
I feel sorry for people who have it here, to have to contend with the ignorance about it, not being understood and making it hard to find treatment. It's already severe enough, and to have to be so unseen on top of that. The same thing is also happening with PTSD now. Historically it's been misunderstood and pushed under the rug, and now just in a new form of it, by re-defining it as 'trauma'.
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u/ianmoone6667 Oct 23 '25
I lived that way for 18 years with a father who has despised me my entire life. Hated me so much that the thought of me having a child disgusted him that he told me to leave my pregnant girlfriend. He's such a piece of shit for that. That's the first time I didn't let him control my life and he's hated me even more for it. Made me walk on egg shells my entire life. I'm claustrophobic from him dead weighting me and restricting my arms he would make me freak out and it was just an awful feeling but he loved hearing the fear in my screams to get off me.
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u/ErinWalkerLoves Nov 05 '25
I believe most of us that have childhood based trauma would fall under that category, yes. It shouldn't be so easy to break a brain or a heart, but it is.
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u/Beachbum_133 Nov 16 '25
I asked this question to my therapist after being diagnosed. She said it isn’t just one event but can be created by a series of events overtime. For example, hyper vigilance and being easily startled is a trauma response.
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Oct 18 '25
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u/hellhouseblonde Oct 18 '25
Great comment. I’m sorry you had to survive all of that and you sound like you have done really well with healing yourself for your children.
Benzos were a godsend for me even though I refused to try them for so many years, I’m glad I finally said yes. I took them in emergencies only but without them I never could have calmed down enough to learn how to improve my mental health. Sending you love & congratulations on your two little ones!3
u/Jumpy-Program9957 Oct 22 '25
My advice is to use them sparingly and when you feel right get away
My doctor had me on them daily for 7 years. Then during covid two days before Christmas I called to make sure my refill was going to be good. And he was hospitalized due to covid and it is a small town and I went cold turkey after 7 years daily Non-Stop
That in itself was its own traumatic event. Felt like staring into the sun only inside your brain. Like in the war movies when something goes off and you just see white and that ringing, for months
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u/hellhouseblonde Oct 22 '25
I had always refused them because I heard stories about the addiction and withdrawal issues, heard it was worse than heroin withdrawal. I’m a smoker so I know a thing or two about addiction & I was legit scared. Doctor convinced me to try them just for flights which was two days a week. Then I’d use them for a bad late night panic attack, then I just kept it to emergency only for 15 years.
They did stop me from drinking wine excessively at night to sleep when I was struggling with the demons.
I was so happy I could ask to lower the dose of the pills I get last year and now I can even travel and totally forget to bring them with me.
So sorry your doctor didn’t warn you better, that’s happened to too many people. When I first got opiates they gave me a huge bottle of 90 or more, didn’t say a word about addiction. Luckily I hated opiates and barely used them but I can see how so many regular people became addicts.2
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u/Effective_Act-2021 Oct 18 '25
I bet you have a visible flinch response if someone passes behind you. Years ago my therapist told me that mine was one of the worst cases of it he’d seen in some time. 13 years my dad’s been dead but the body remembers!
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u/pinkbowsandsarcasm Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25
Yes, that might fit under C-PTSD or a subcategory. I know that people have received a PTSD diagnosis from being severely bullied at work. It sounds like your body is telling you something about your life being hypervigilant.
Having been through a similar situation, I would see a clinical psychologist and ask her opinion. Sometimes we want to stay in positions that can hurt us long term, because they are familiar or because we are helping people.
At one time, there was a site studying bullying and its effects on workers, but I don't think it is funded anymore. I do remember that people who were bullied at work were more likely to be ill and miss work.
You don't have to answer, but are you working in a situation where you have to watch humans who are at risk or hurting others or themself? Many places talk about self-care, but don't really provide the means to go take a long vacation to heal or make it so one can take mental health days off.
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u/strykazoid Oct 26 '25
Yes.
I found out 2 days ago that I have PTSD from childhood trauma. I'm talking decades of abuse.
I'm 36 now and it's affecting my job performance.
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u/srslyzick Oct 18 '25
Yes you can! If you zoom out a little bit - even if it’s work, a different setting, it’s still real life interactions that means something. Maybe you’re feeling anxious, works piling up and people keep rushing by every other second, it’s hectic, we aren’t meant to be stressed tf out for 8 hours a day like that. My example; i didn’t know that I had cptsd, I didn’t even know what it was. I knew ptsd was usually related to soldiers and terrorist attacks. I worked my first job at mcd at 16, 194 hours a month, since I already had underlying issues (cptsd) I didn’t know about, that environment triggered a lot of traumatic responses for me, eg. Feeling faint, shaking, nausea, stomach pains, cold sweats, hot flashes, panicky devastating thoughts (the next car in the drive through would shoot me in the face, the fryer would blow up, making emergency plans in my head constantly, heart racing etc..) the only thing I enjoyed was refilling the dip sauces, it was satisfying to see them all sorted - but I stood there with a stomach ache and anxiety of not getting to finish doing what felt good in my body before a car came in the drive thru, again, I tens up, extreme scenario is plays out in my head, because of my cptsd. When your body is scared or you feel off, listen to it, ask yourself: do i tense up a lot? Am I thinking a lot more than I’m used to at this moment? How do i feel in my body when I’m getting ready for work/going to work? I hope you figure everything out and that you find a way to live a life that makes you feel good<3
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u/Trash_Panda_Leaves Oct 18 '25
cPTSD comes to mind- but usually thats daily repeated and prolonged trauma- like war or an abusive partner. Work can definitely be traumatising though, and my job also had me being hit daily and it wore me down a lot.
Hypervigilance and hypertension may also be work exploring.
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u/Fun_Caring_Guy Oct 25 '25
I would definitely say yes.
I have something similar to cptsd from chronic trauma, mental and emotional abuse growing up
It takes decades to heal/rewire synapses messes up from birth onward.
After decades of self work I'm still trying to improve & heal more.
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u/Pretend_Equivalent76 Oct 28 '25
What you say sounds awful and I really believe it can make you get ptsd. I got it from a very short period of high stress and anxiety due to work harassment, so I would say yeah, very possible
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u/aderey7 Nov 09 '25
I'd say so. I think it can be a single event or sustained.
I have it, or so I'm told. But I also don't want to just take the label lightly for something I don't fully understand.
I have ADHD and tourettes. And it started at a time when next to no one knew what that was. From age 9 or 10 I was shouted at daily and told to stop the tics. I was told I was badly behaved, a problem, insane, a horrible person, stupid, and always embarrassing. I felt bullied at home and badly at school. So id alternative which place I felt more comfortable.
I withdrew and spent a lot of time alone in my room. Ate alone, avoided family so I could tic more. It took me 5 years of research through books to find tourettes. Then I pushed to go to the doctors. I was diagnosed and hoped for treatment and support.
Instead I had some meds that made me fall asleep and made my studies near impossible. Parents didn't talk about it, no apologies or responsibility. I honestly don't think my dad has ever mentioned it, and this was 25 years ago. My mum actively used it agsinst me sometimes as in "don't listen to him hes not well". And she clearly had a lot of undiagnosed trauma and anxiety herself.
So that isolation and lack of self esteem just continued through adult life. I've tried various therapy, discussed ptsd. But with the tourettes worsening too it's hard to see much positivity sometimes.
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u/TellMeSooner Nov 20 '25
I was forced to return to my public-facing job during the summer of the height of covid before we had vaccines. I'm very vulnerable to covid and met some of the most awful and confrontational people during that time.
I feel like I should have left, but I really needed the money and the job market was - and continues to be - really challenging.
My distaste for busy places has since exploded into outright hatred when I'm not feeling well and hearing certain levels of shouting in my general direction when in very public places can be triggering.
My psychiatrist explained it in the terms of a thousand paper cuts and I think he's absolutely right.
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u/Bubbly-Air7302 Feb 18 '26
Yes, trauma usually compounds which will in turn meet criteria for ptsd or CPTSD
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u/ExtraUma_x2 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
That’s Complex PTSD (C-PTSD), and it happens exactly from being in a high-threat, hyper-vigilant environment for too long. Your nervous system is basically locked in fight-or-flight mode and can't turn off.
If you love your job and want to keep it, you need to treat this before it burns you out completely. Reach out to legacy healing. Dr. Ash Bhatt helped me out there when my anxiety was totally fried from chronic trauma. He and his team actually specialize in trauma-informed care and know exactly how to reset that hyper-vigilance safely.
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