PTSD and the workplace

A friend recently shared with me a story about how his coworker betrayed him at a previous job. After telling the story, everyone we were chatting with started sharing their toxic workplace stories (everyone had one). Someone then said: "The experience honestly gave me PTSD. And they wonder why people would rather work from home." I thought that particular comment was interesting. For years I struggled with working in the corporate world. I was a "job hopper" and never stayed at a job longer than two years. It was like I had this fear of being too enmeshed in the office world and always had one hand on the emergency exit, ready to flee the burning building at a moment's notice. I always thought the problem was me being commitment-phobic, but when my friend made that comment, I realized that maybe my behavior wasn't a personality flaw, maybe it was a PTSD response (as dramatic as that sounds). At one of my first jobs, I had to watch a close coworker be endlessly berated by our boss. It…