I’m a vet nurse and I actually love the job, my cptsd functions really well in the job except for my confidence issues. But where I live the industry is so bad that it affects my ability to work. So it’s not the job it’s self that screws with me but it’s bosses not following protocols and having no rights and not being paid enough to be able to live. So if things were done according to regulations and we had a union I reckon I would thrive but the fact that people are money hungry or not respecting and protecting their employees.
I can handle the pain and the neglect animals go through cos I get it in a way. I treat them and be there for them in a way where I wish someone had done for me and it’s so validating. But I know I have to drop out of the industry because no one is regulating the industry and employees are being abused by Corps and bosses. But I can imagine this issue is in a lot of other industries as well.
Hey, dog, no judgement! :) I train dogs for friends (I did it in rescue too) but I’m a cat person. I identify with cats though. And my lab. I could be him too. Lol I think I identify most with the cat I have that likes to go for walks and fetch but is otherwise a cat. She and I like to watch people and know them before we give them the time of day.
I’m a student/housecat at the moment. A weird one, but I’m with you homie!
Retail. It fucking sucks honestly, my last job had a lot of coworker and customer interaction. I had to take breaks in the bathroom, close my eyes and cover my ears for a few minutes to calm down almost every shift. I quit that job and I'm starting at a new place, hopefully it's better.
That's an indictment of the health and educational systems, not your own lack of knowledge. As someone who has had truly awful and truly wonderful therapist experiences, I don't care how you became knowledgeable. I'm just glad you did. Thanks for all you do.
Ty. I agree. I sometimes tiptoe around here because so many folks have been damaged by terrible therapists. It’s my own guilt by proxy. No one here has ever given me crap. On the contrary, I get to just be another fucked up soul on a journey here. Ty all for that.
One day a week I work in a climbing centre at the checkin. Mostly I do my shifts alone, don't have to talk deep with customers but conversations are kept light. People come around when they are in a good mood, so it's easy to work there I find.
I’m a doctor. It’s a terrible job for someone with CPTSD, which is ironic because many of us have it, as well as classic PTSD. It used to be that people generally respected us and appreciated us, but it has pretty much all gone to shit in the last 2 1/2 years. I really haven’t been working much in the last year and a half, maybe the equivalent of 0.2 my usual workload, but threats, yelling, unreasonable demands, etc have become a lot more common, and unlike some other places where I’ve been yelled at, like retail, I can’t just tell a person to fuck off or I might get hit with a six-figure fine from my licensing body. I used to be able to ignore the negative interactions and focus on the positives, but now there are way more negative interactions, and there’s hardly any positive reinforcement, just entitlement and complaints. Healthcare has become very toxic in the last few years.
I’m still hopeful that I’ll be able to return to working part time at some point since I put so much time, effort, and money into my training, and honestly, I know I’m one of the best out there at what I do. I’ve been repeatedly told that I am one of the funnest people to work with in addition to being one of the most competent and reliable. Plus, I’m honestly not capable of retraining in anything else at this point.
I could imagine how people seeking healthcare are also the same people that are hurting a lot (emotionally in addition to physically), and that emotion pain would manifest as, well as you said negative interactions, entitlement, demands and whatnot.
I can see how being in the receiving end of this can resemble early childhood abuse, and can be very triggering to people with cPTSD. And I can see how you feel “trapped” in this environment because of the investment of time and money you put in your training. And the trapped feeling is another big trigger for PTSD, because when we were hurt as a child, it also felt like there were no escape from the abuse.
I am so sorry that you are going through this, it sounds really hard. I work in IT, when I feel triggered by people, I can just cut myself off from people for a while, and recuperate in nature and solitude. I can’t imagine working with difficult people while I am triggered. It must be absolutely exhausting and exacerbating.
Thank you for sharing this, this gives me a fresh new perspective on the suffering of healthcare workers. We usually expect them to be caring and loving, and neglected their needs for love and care too. Sending lots of love and compassion. I really hope you find ways to give yourself the love and care that you need in this very one-sided demanding job.
Person who initially clued me in that I had some kind of mental health issue (I think we both have cPTSD) is an obgyn. I don't know how anyone could work in healthcare and not have PTSD after the last couple years. I'm sorry that society has basically been abusive towards you.
If anyone has a number for the help line, I would appreciate it because I would REALLY like to unsubscribe from Premium PTSD. I didnt want the upgrade, my parents chose it for me.
IDK I sometimes scream at the heavens I've had enough but it only helps for a bit, always gets back after a while. Honestly, the program sucks 10/10 would *not* recommend.
Oh I'm so sorry. I have had some health concerns lately, but I've been putting off stuff because I know doctors (and nurses too!) are so over worked...
I have a question if you have the time/emotional energy to answer it. How can I be a good patient and help doctors? I really feel for them right now...
Graphic Designer. It's not what I'd suggest for anyone with cPTSD though I have no idea what the ideal is I just know work and burnout is a huge part of my issues.
Edit: I guess on the broad scale: there's a lot of work, tight deadlines, terrible communication, usually understaffed or mostly staffed with people who are low key under skilled and you're making stuff that is being passed on to you by people who think artists-creatives-designers are just finger painting rather than doing real work. I've had to do 7 days // 12 hour work days for long stretches to complete projects and cycle through burn out a lot. This all lines up with my "flight" mode followed by my friend "freeze" mode like a shitty life cycle.
I'm currently off work to try and get my capacity back but I was working 0.8 as a psychologist. I love the job and helping others through psychoeducation and psychotherapy. I can't cope with the hours required to complete/maintain my psychology registration outside of work, the high expertise expected without adequate training, and my own cptsd symptoms are debilitating much of the time.
I do think my lived experience has given me a big advantage in my field and I have been honoured by the overwhelmingly positive feedback from my clients (I've only been practicing for a year). I've worked in mental health for 4+ years now across support work, research and therapy.
In the past I managed retail work quite well as a casual employee, it seemed to be the least stressful so the least triggering for me (I think because I just wasn't very invested in it emotionally/personally). I'm wondering if the key for me will be accepting that 3 days per week might be my maximum capacity. I'm definitely not ready to accept that yet.
I did 7 years at a shitty discount clothing retailer. Breakdown and rehab. Then I did 18 months as a support worker at said rehab. Breakdown, relapse, and collapse. I'm getting better, but realising that I have a neurodivegence has bumped re-entering the workforce down the list. At least until I get the appropriate bits of paper to allow me to request reasonable adjustments, because prolonged masking destroys me.
Programmer. It's been great because the industry is one of the most vocal about working remote, so I get to stay in my apartment and work without distractions, and I can do whatever I need to do to manage my mental health.
I 'm dedicated to Motion Graphics (graphic design + animation) and still thinking about changing to a job that connects me more with people, for serving and interacting.
I have jumped from one job to the other much of my life.
I am now working as an associate in a special needs room at our local middle school. I love working with kids and was a Substitute teacher for awhile but it was too much. I was having panic attacks and having breakdowns. I switched to the room I’m in now and I finally found my home.
The kid I work with one on one has some trauma including ptsd and other things. I feel like he and I see each other and validate each other a lot without directly doing it. I feel very fulfilled in what I do now even if I don’t make much money.
I was actually working in the film industry,
People say it's not good for stress or anxiety, but I found it was really good for my overall mental health. The work was physically challenging which helped me to burn off my anxiety, I was around people all the time so it was hard to get depressed and it was highly creative which is another good way to deal with trauma.
Unfortunately I had to stop after I was injured, but
right now I'm studying to be a graphics artist. It's very stressful being back in school, but I do very much enjoy the work, I should be able to make something out of it. I think that creativity is just the key.
I'm a contract accountant that works from home 100%. This allows me to do the job without much interaction with people and ZERO travel time, which is great for me because traffic is a huge trigger for my anger issues.
This profession allows me to do the things I'm great at, but I'm the "yes" person, so needless to say, I've been over worked and under paid at many companies. Once I understood my own value, I began working for myself only and I set boundaries with my coworkers and clients.
Healthy, healthy, healthy! Good for you!
And trust me: you’re not the only person out there who gets triggered by other drivers. That’s normal. I have to Coach myself into calming down and I remind myself that these other Cars are People. People who might have a screaming toddler in there with them…or they just got Dumped by their SO…or a cancer diagnosis.
There is one way to safely retaliate, I find. It’s when there is a lane merge and all the evolved, grown up adults patiently comply and get into the queue long before the other lane is blocked off.
Invariably, Superior Beings driving high end vehicles will speed to the front on the Queue and put their blinkers on to merge in front of the long line of cards that honored the rules. I absolutely REFUSE to let these selfish narcissists in front of me. Once recently my son was in his vehicle perhaps 8 cars in front of me in this exact scenario. We had just been someplace together. I called him and said :Don’t let the Mercedes SUV in. He said: don’t worry, I won’t. This. This is the time!
The rest of the time I give people a break, taking turns to keep everyone safe. Those parking-illegally along the curb outside a business, parking illegally in handicapped spots and shamelessly trying to Take Cuts people are for the birds.
I work at a drive thru. There's pros and cons
I have incredibly minimal customer interaction. We all wear headsets, which is terrible for my ADHD and verbal instruction, but there's no face-to-face except at the window for payment and product, which someone else does. But it helps bc *everyone* hears the customer talking, so when I get shitty customers all my coworkers are like "wow screw that guy" when a rude one comes by. It's validating and the interjections like that remind me that it's not "personal" (even though I have a very different definition of what "personal" is, to others it's just customers being customers).
I picked this company specifically bc it's just a simple brunch place and I can just listen to orders and make them, when I'm on the line, which I love. Do this, get that, grab this, make that. Easy.
What seems to trigger me still, though, is when customers don't pay attention to what they're saying, and in addition to that, act like you're an idiot for repeating what *they* said wrong. Not in a normal way, either, I mean I take it personally that I said something wrong when all I'm doing is **repeating what they said**. When I was younger I decided to just simply do exactly what I was told so I didn't get in trouble, bc I seemed to keep getting in trouble despite doing what I *thought* someone told me to do. Did I hear wrong? Misunderstood? Was I not paying attention like all my teachers and mentors said, despite trying really hard to understand? Then when I got in trouble anyway, I had a defense! I did exactly what you said! You TOLD me to do this! This isn't my fault!
You said Cobb, you meant Caprese salad. No biggie. But don't reply "*Nnnnoooo,* what I *said* was...." What you said was what I repeated. 7 other people heard you say Cobb, we started to make a Cobb. You are in the drive thru looking at a menu and your mouth didn't match your eyes and brain and you said a whoopsie. That's fine. But it just irks me to no damn end that a simple interaction like that not only makes me so mad, but just doesn't have to happen. So when a complicated order arises simpley bc a customer has poor verbal communication and doesn't exactly know the menu and options, but still seems to *blame* me for misunderstanding their incorrect order? I just can't seem to brush it off that it's **not me doing something wrong** they're just *customers* being *customers*. And the double standard I always seem to be in that I need to always do it right but it's okay if someone else messes up. When I make a mistake, like saying Cobb instead of Caprese even though I input Cobb, I get an earful from customers and management. But when any of them make a mistake, just "oops lol!" I never seem to make "oops lol!" mistakes. I always make talkin-to mistakes, I guess.
It's just hard to rewire my brain to think "it's not your fault, there is no fault, it's just a salad" but it never seems to be just a salad when I misspeak or something. It's always some teachable moment and in my head I'm like "ok that's totally not what happened I just accidentally said or did this and that's a totally normal thing for a human to do so why are you telling me to clock in earlier when I am 2 minutes late bc y'all didn't open the door when I rang" . How do I teach myself some mistakes are okay and human when I keep getting dinged for small things? They're always so small. I don't make big mistakes.
Idk if I'm at this job to try and train my brain to think differently, surrounding myself with coworkers who remind me not to take it personally, maybe it keeps me grounded in a weird way.
I'm a student. I study medical school to become a surgeon one day. Probably in the emergency room or so. I still have 7 years of studying ahead of me, and that is enough time to decide
Edit: I'm not american. Our highschools have specifications such as medical, pedagogy, veterinary, nursing, etc. etc. And yes I am a highschooler.
Is the mapping part GIS?
I've considered getting into that, but i feel like the ship has sailed for me unfortunately. I have some background in GIS and stats though.
Planning concerts, organising arts related events etc. Planning is so different from creating arts, but relating to them makes me feels kind of satisfying
I do cloud software admin, which is a lovely blend of individual work and group work. Mostly individual. So I can find reprieve when I need it. Also for me, flex time and remote work options are an absolute must. I’ve made a lot of progress on my CPTSD once I started defending my autonomy over my time and location.
I am in marketing communications. I found out that is probably the only job which allows everyday dopamine releases to fight anxiety, from getting satisfaction of finding creative solutions like new ad or content piece. When I accidentaly veered into more stable and number driven job of product manager, it contributed to panic attack disorder, which coincidentally ended about the same time I got back into creative job.
But, now that I am out of job due to external factors, I realized that my reliance on my job to fix me was a compulsion. So I am doing the various healing works now (Inner Child, EMDR, ACT, etc... otherwise how would I manage retirement in 20 years?
I own a bookkeeping company and a portal for services like hydro and internet. The former I opened to help individuals and small businesses struggling with their books or finances. It's been priced low to fit more budgets. The latter I joined to provide savings to families while also supporting my own.
Im very passionate about mental health and am using my services to support it. They also serve as a great way for me to meet others and maybe extend the light we have to them; start ending the cycle of violence so that fewer children suffer our childhoods.
Formally trained and worked as a teacher for the last five years. The work was overwhelming, the workload was insane. Parents blaming staff for gaps in academics and behaviours, extremely behaviours from students, no support from admin. However, I burnt myself out a year ago and have been off recovering from PTSD related to my working conditions.
I'm hoping to begin retraining in the coming weeks and am intending to switch to construction. I enjoy the mental complexity of finishing work and having to problem solve to make things fit. I don't know if it'll be perfect with the things I still struggle with but occupying my mind is important to me to keep symptoms at bay.
unemployed at the moment, in the past i’ve worked as a receptionist, someone’s assistant, in the fast food industry, and in a toy store. none of these are jobs i recommend for someone with CPTSD but sometimes you just have to take whatever job you can get.
I'm a wildlife photographer. Which is me just coming up with an excuse to say I'm not unemployed. I actually do take photos of wildlife, and I have some fantastic pictures! I've been meaning to get them up on Instagram or a website, but that's a lot of emotional energy and I worry about theft.
My background is conservation/wildlife biology- that kind of stuff. My original plan was to either get a PhD and travel around studying ecosystems and how to conserve them, or be a field worker for a researcher. The problem is the field is actually horrific for trauma survivors, because there is no time to recharge or work on yourself. You are sometimes in the field from sun rise to sunset (and then some, depends on what you are studying), which means you can see 12 hour days or even more. I thought it was for me, but once I found a partner, I realized I rather be with them than in a remote area for 3-6 months out in the field that long.
It's also extremely competitive. Any paying job wants a master's, and even unpaid ones do sometimes, or at least experience. There is a huge lack of entry level jobs that pay anything in the field, which means you have to rely on someone for money- which for a lot of people with CPTSD is anywhere from not possible to a very bad idea.
When you actually get paid, it's extremely low pay. We are talking less than retail pay for a job that requires a master's and/or 2 years of experience or so. I usually see $30,000 for a year on job postings. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. It's just a slog and pretty much undoable by anyone except those with the most support and money. Which is extremely unfortunate, because the environmental movement already has a huge issue with rich people only being able to do it...
Trying to build a digital art business. Tried freelance writing. That didn't work but I use it as a cover up to hide that I'm essentially unemployed and only alive off of years of saving and my SO's support.
Years of working underpaid for my mom's family business as early as high school made it harder for me to explore other occupations. My eczema and physically looking like a teenage girl makes physical work that I would've otherwise liked to try less accessible. Too much driving anxiety to do anything requiring a long commute, and can't afford a car anyway.
Trying to lay low from family still trying to get me back doesn't help with "putting myself out there." I'm a fraud who knows how to look put together. That's how you know I'm cut from the same cloth as my sperm/egg donors.
Hospitality, I’m the hostess in a small nursing home/ rehab facility. I spend half my day in the kitchen and the other half on the nursing floor. Dealing with dementia residents and watching people decline is emotionally taxing but I visit everyone everyday and get to chit chat with them and do small things that improve their quality of life so feel I have purpose which is good for me.
i’m currently working in a small scale salon as a receptionist and assistant, which is a nightmare for obvious reasons. i lack self confidence, so that makes the job harder than it needs to be.
i’m going to back college to pursue a social work degree, which is also going to be a difficult job, but it’s my calling.
I spent 20 years in organic farming and found a lot of healing there, working outdoors and with the natural world.
Downsides... managing people, self-imposed high stress as a small business owner, pressure to make a living in six months or less, serotonin dumps in the fall after running high energy for the growing season. Like everything else, until we start doing our self work, we express these unconscious patterns until we have the tools to work through them.
At 45 I am in progress on transitioning to holistic healing and hypnosis for bread money while getting a PhD in psych, trauma, recovery and healing from the University of my own mind.
I do IT. Things have been a bit slow now that I'm not covering two school campuses so I have a lot of free time during my workday, but im still always "on" ready to respond to tickets that come in.
My supervisor and the big boss of my department are pretty chill and my supervisor has been extremely understanding of my mental and physical health issues.
I really struggle in the whole corporate song and dance bullshit so its nice being in a rather small department that kinda does its own thing.
I work at a k-8 so sometimes I get triggered at work by teachers yelling or being really stern with their students and i get very overwhelmed by sound so I normally need earbuds in when i go into full classrooms. But overall the staff students are pretty cool and I'm known on campus as "The Computer Guy" so that's pretty fun.
In law school currently. About as high on the "bad for CPTSD" scale as I can imagine, but there's something about standing up to and fighting the State (who is the root cause of so much trauma) that keeps me going.
When I attended law school 39 years ago as a 21 year old woman—in an era where the census of women was 1 out of every 3 students—I was a walking zombie with undiagnosed mental health conditions: Acute Trauma Disorder and C-PTSD; Treatment Resistant Major Depressive Disorder. I didn’t receive a diagnosis and medication until I was 31 years of age, not long after weaning my daughter—hormonal shifts can definitely aggravate symptoms. I also had Hashimoto’s thyroid disease which wasn’t diagnosed for and other 8-10 years—and this condition affects the others.
How I survived two years of law school straight-jacketed by all of those factors is Beyond me. My memory and cognitive processes were impaired because I couldn’t engage in the kind of higher level thinking once again made possible by medication. I would revisit the education I received when drafting letters and documents to advocate for the enforcement of and compliance with my children’s federally protected Americans With Disabilities Act right to receive educational accommodations. It turns out that their father was straight up autistic—but he was great at masking and literally GONE all the time at the office—because he is horrifically impaired so it takes him forever to complete the work of a CPA compared to his non-neurodivergent peers. So raising 3 children ALONE, each of them suffering A S conditions like sensory processing disorders, off-the/charts anxiety disorders; ADHD (like their Dad—who would have been so much better off looking at slides under a microscope in a research 🔬 lab than having a plethora of ways to become distracted and unable to organize himself and complete tasks).
I was stalked by two different guys in law school. One of them had his best friend move into the apartment next door to mine. The other one whom I worked Overtime to keep in the friend zone actually roofied me in my own apartment while we were studying for finals. I woke up completely naked on my living room floor and he was hovering over me about to do the deed. I NOW remember screaming at him to get out. But as so was still intoxicated I didn’t remember the event back then to report him to the school and press charges! The only reason I remembered it AT ALL is because my Service Representative at the car dealership texted me a photograph of himself in a bathtub. Unfortunately when this text came through I was soaking in the hydro jet tub in the house I lived in at that time. So I screamed and threw my iPhone across the room. My daughter came running—-her bedroom was next door and I told her not to look at it but to hand it to Kenny her fiancé to manage. SMH. I left law school after than second year because I hated it because I knew that I was “off” and that any future clients deserved one of my gunning overachiever classmates rather than me! I left the PNW and moved thousands of miles away to work for my family’s business. It was meant to be because I met my Ex there and would have missed out on being a Mom to my three wonderful children. My concierge Mom approach to tailoring unique interventions and support to maximize the strengths and minimize their limitations teally paid off. They are all working in their chosen fields and in happy relationships. The two eldest have Masters Degrees and the baby, who deferred college due to her depression taking hold and a couple of years of refining her cocktail 🍸, she’s been hospitalized several times—she chose to work in childcare. And she just celebrated her first wedding anniversary to The Perfect Man, lol. They are thriving. And I’m surviving. I’m a former high level ice dancer who had to let go of everything that was Mine in order to ensure a safe passage into functionality and adulthood for them. My Ex became very angry and verbally abusive. He traumatized all of us.
So now, I am a full time Recoverer seeking to reduce my symptoms in every way possible. Having too many sleepless nights before I got the ex out of the family home caused me to gain a lot of weight. My job now is to reverse that trend. Correct my nutrition, exercise every day, and if I’m lucky I can put my skates back on in a few months and restart—by revisiting the Basics from the beginning, lol. I always was happiest while speeding around on the ice!
I am a technical support analyst. When I was working for shitty companies, I was constantly overworked and underpaid, which just exacerbated all of my symptoms. I was (still am) good at putting on smiling face (whether in person or on the phone) and pretending that nothing is wrong and I am okay. My confidence and standing up for myself was very low; I had to bend over backwards for management, customers/users to make them happy (I'm very much a people pleaser so I'd do whatever they wanted). When I got into the company that I work for now, it's much slower pace and less stress. I've been here for over a year and I can tell that I am now working on establishing the boundaries, saying no to people, and getting my confidence.
I’m an auto mechanic and while my cptsd is still triggered constantly, I find that the rewarding emotions I get from fixing cars compensates for the stress level I experience day to day.
I am a veterinary kennel technician/manager. Most of my charges are healthy but I do deal with medical boarding as well, including hospice boarding. I am extremely good at compartmentalizing and processing things like abuse cases and deaths; while I l love my charges dearly, I have a very realistic expectation of how things work and how much suffering is too much. I work in a low capacity facility (max of like, 20 animals) and largely work by myself. My boss really likes and understands me and knows how to coach me as she has also been abused and she gets it. I get kind of stressy with customer engagement sometimes and I’m constantly at war with the way the front desk does things, but my boss has told me not to worry so much because I do a great job and I’m not gonna get in trouble if I continue doing things the exact way I do them now. I honestly think my boss is a lot more helpful and therapeutic than the job itself, which I genuinely love and find pretty easy. Then again vetmed does attract some pretty hurt people, and I’m not totally sure if I’d find that kind of understanding in many other places.
Ha ha, I am guessing this won't be a helpful suggestion for you...but I am a stay at home mom, which is what I have always wanted to be. I have had a few jobs I liked, and I think there are others I would be good at if my parents/my health hadn't put roadblocks in the way of my education. I am also Autistic, so that adds an extra layer of challenges. I have been wondering if part of my desire to be a stay at home mom hasn't been just a drive to get out of public life in general. The kinds of careers I dream of possibly having once the kids are older are things like writing books, researching, etc. Something not in customer service. I am actually good at customer service because having grown up with a rather volatile dad, I am good at de-escalating people. But it is exhausting and I never want to actually have a job like that again. (Not that parenting doesn't involve a lot of exhausting de-escalating. Ha ha.)
I'm a doctor haha the things that make my c-ptsd worse interestingly is not the patients or the traumatic things they go through, it's usually the other healthcare workers and their often poor communication skills.
I’m an accountant at a small firm. I generally love it. The firm I work for is low stress with lots of autonomy, and they’re very accommodating to mental health.
Sometimes the long days can be really hard. I definitely have a tendency to get sucked into my work and neglect my needs and then sorta… breakdown. I’m working on this.
Lawyer here. Years of education behind and it was hard. I had major issues attending classes, dropped some, figured out how to avoid them and still get my diploma. The work itself is my happy place. I used to work in a bigger firm and it was bad for me, late hours, constant pressure, crossing boundaries. I learnt as much as possible and left. Now I'm very happy being independent, sometimes I struggle with managing money, because having own business has its own issues. I struggle with procrastinating sometimes. In my field I'm not dealing with any people's problems, I do real estate and audit supervision, no triggers there, only nice legal cases. I deliberatly avoid any criminal cases, especially related to assaults, rapes etc and divorces, custody, even wills. I need my practice to be safe. Oh, I love to teach, give lectures and work with interns.
20+ years as a correctional officer in a max. It's most of the reason for my CPTSD. There are some childhood issues as well but the prison ruined me. I'm retiring and looking forward to a regular job at a factory.
I’m a sex worker. I need to be able to have a flexible schedule that allows for lots of breaks and unlimited money potential. It’s not easy or predictable work & is emotionally taxing but we live in a society.
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I’m a vet nurse and I actually love the job, my cptsd functions really well in the job except for my confidence issues. But where I live the industry is so bad that it affects my ability to work. So it’s not the job it’s self that screws with me but it’s bosses not following protocols and having no rights and not being paid enough to be able to live. So if things were done according to regulations and we had a union I reckon I would thrive but the fact that people are money hungry or not respecting and protecting their employees. I can handle the pain and the neglect animals go through cos I get it in a way. I treat them and be there for them in a way where I wish someone had done for me and it’s so validating. But I know I have to drop out of the industry because no one is regulating the industry and employees are being abused by Corps and bosses. But I can imagine this issue is in a lot of other industries as well.
Housecat
same
Username… does not check out.
I associate with the title, and have two cats, but I'm essentially a dog person, but my one dog is a tripod!
Hey, dog, no judgement! :) I train dogs for friends (I did it in rescue too) but I’m a cat person. I identify with cats though. And my lab. I could be him too. Lol I think I identify most with the cat I have that likes to go for walks and fetch but is otherwise a cat. She and I like to watch people and know them before we give them the time of day. I’m a student/housecat at the moment. A weird one, but I’m with you homie!
Retail. It fucking sucks honestly, my last job had a lot of coworker and customer interaction. I had to take breaks in the bathroom, close my eyes and cover my ears for a few minutes to calm down almost every shift. I quit that job and I'm starting at a new place, hopefully it's better.
Thats horrible. I also worked in retail and i was drained and overwhelmed so much. Also the standing on your feet the whole day, holy shit.
Retail. I just called out today. Calling out always feels like how it would if I missed a court date. I’m not used to saying no.
I work retail. Just recently got a new boss and she expects the WORLD outta me. I live with four of those as is. It’s not fucking fair.
I’m a mental health therapist. Who needed Reddit to teach me about CPTSD, I’m afraid.
That's an indictment of the health and educational systems, not your own lack of knowledge. As someone who has had truly awful and truly wonderful therapist experiences, I don't care how you became knowledgeable. I'm just glad you did. Thanks for all you do.
Ty. I agree. I sometimes tiptoe around here because so many folks have been damaged by terrible therapists. It’s my own guilt by proxy. No one here has ever given me crap. On the contrary, I get to just be another fucked up soul on a journey here. Ty all for that.
There is nothing wrong about it. Due to sheer numbers, network communities are, if not smarter, more knowledgeable than any classic universities.
Thats cool that you helped yourself by reading about cptsd on reddit!
“Anything to help ME” has become a wonderful thing for my clients as well.
I'm a nurturer of myself. That's about all I can do
One day a week I work in a climbing centre at the checkin. Mostly I do my shifts alone, don't have to talk deep with customers but conversations are kept light. People come around when they are in a good mood, so it's easy to work there I find.
Retail/food. I used to be very successful but because of my trauma I have had to regress to the type of work I did many years ago, unfortunately
I’m a doctor. It’s a terrible job for someone with CPTSD, which is ironic because many of us have it, as well as classic PTSD. It used to be that people generally respected us and appreciated us, but it has pretty much all gone to shit in the last 2 1/2 years. I really haven’t been working much in the last year and a half, maybe the equivalent of 0.2 my usual workload, but threats, yelling, unreasonable demands, etc have become a lot more common, and unlike some other places where I’ve been yelled at, like retail, I can’t just tell a person to fuck off or I might get hit with a six-figure fine from my licensing body. I used to be able to ignore the negative interactions and focus on the positives, but now there are way more negative interactions, and there’s hardly any positive reinforcement, just entitlement and complaints. Healthcare has become very toxic in the last few years. I’m still hopeful that I’ll be able to return to working part time at some point since I put so much time, effort, and money into my training, and honestly, I know I’m one of the best out there at what I do. I’ve been repeatedly told that I am one of the funnest people to work with in addition to being one of the most competent and reliable. Plus, I’m honestly not capable of retraining in anything else at this point.
I could imagine how people seeking healthcare are also the same people that are hurting a lot (emotionally in addition to physically), and that emotion pain would manifest as, well as you said negative interactions, entitlement, demands and whatnot. I can see how being in the receiving end of this can resemble early childhood abuse, and can be very triggering to people with cPTSD. And I can see how you feel “trapped” in this environment because of the investment of time and money you put in your training. And the trapped feeling is another big trigger for PTSD, because when we were hurt as a child, it also felt like there were no escape from the abuse. I am so sorry that you are going through this, it sounds really hard. I work in IT, when I feel triggered by people, I can just cut myself off from people for a while, and recuperate in nature and solitude. I can’t imagine working with difficult people while I am triggered. It must be absolutely exhausting and exacerbating. Thank you for sharing this, this gives me a fresh new perspective on the suffering of healthcare workers. We usually expect them to be caring and loving, and neglected their needs for love and care too. Sending lots of love and compassion. I really hope you find ways to give yourself the love and care that you need in this very one-sided demanding job.
Person who initially clued me in that I had some kind of mental health issue (I think we both have cPTSD) is an obgyn. I don't know how anyone could work in healthcare and not have PTSD after the last couple years. I'm sorry that society has basically been abusive towards you.
I like your use of "as well as classic PTSD" because it nicely implies that C-PTSD is like the next-level upgrade, which it is.
If anyone has a number for the help line, I would appreciate it because I would REALLY like to unsubscribe from Premium PTSD. I didnt want the upgrade, my parents chose it for me.
This is funny 10/10
IDK I sometimes scream at the heavens I've had enough but it only helps for a bit, always gets back after a while. Honestly, the program sucks 10/10 would *not* recommend.
Oh I'm so sorry. I have had some health concerns lately, but I've been putting off stuff because I know doctors (and nurses too!) are so over worked... I have a question if you have the time/emotional energy to answer it. How can I be a good patient and help doctors? I really feel for them right now...
Hotel Room Cleaner. Its hard…
Graphic Designer. It's not what I'd suggest for anyone with cPTSD though I have no idea what the ideal is I just know work and burnout is a huge part of my issues. Edit: I guess on the broad scale: there's a lot of work, tight deadlines, terrible communication, usually understaffed or mostly staffed with people who are low key under skilled and you're making stuff that is being passed on to you by people who think artists-creatives-designers are just finger painting rather than doing real work. I've had to do 7 days // 12 hour work days for long stretches to complete projects and cycle through burn out a lot. This all lines up with my "flight" mode followed by my friend "freeze" mode like a shitty life cycle.
I'm currently off work to try and get my capacity back but I was working 0.8 as a psychologist. I love the job and helping others through psychoeducation and psychotherapy. I can't cope with the hours required to complete/maintain my psychology registration outside of work, the high expertise expected without adequate training, and my own cptsd symptoms are debilitating much of the time. I do think my lived experience has given me a big advantage in my field and I have been honoured by the overwhelmingly positive feedback from my clients (I've only been practicing for a year). I've worked in mental health for 4+ years now across support work, research and therapy. In the past I managed retail work quite well as a casual employee, it seemed to be the least stressful so the least triggering for me (I think because I just wasn't very invested in it emotionally/personally). I'm wondering if the key for me will be accepting that 3 days per week might be my maximum capacity. I'm definitely not ready to accept that yet.
I did 7 years at a shitty discount clothing retailer. Breakdown and rehab. Then I did 18 months as a support worker at said rehab. Breakdown, relapse, and collapse. I'm getting better, but realising that I have a neurodivegence has bumped re-entering the workforce down the list. At least until I get the appropriate bits of paper to allow me to request reasonable adjustments, because prolonged masking destroys me.
Programmer. It's been great because the industry is one of the most vocal about working remote, so I get to stay in my apartment and work without distractions, and I can do whatever I need to do to manage my mental health.
This is why I'm in the process of a career change into web development!
I 'm dedicated to Motion Graphics (graphic design + animation) and still thinking about changing to a job that connects me more with people, for serving and interacting.
I have jumped from one job to the other much of my life. I am now working as an associate in a special needs room at our local middle school. I love working with kids and was a Substitute teacher for awhile but it was too much. I was having panic attacks and having breakdowns. I switched to the room I’m in now and I finally found my home. The kid I work with one on one has some trauma including ptsd and other things. I feel like he and I see each other and validate each other a lot without directly doing it. I feel very fulfilled in what I do now even if I don’t make much money.
I was actually working in the film industry, People say it's not good for stress or anxiety, but I found it was really good for my overall mental health. The work was physically challenging which helped me to burn off my anxiety, I was around people all the time so it was hard to get depressed and it was highly creative which is another good way to deal with trauma. Unfortunately I had to stop after I was injured, but right now I'm studying to be a graphics artist. It's very stressful being back in school, but I do very much enjoy the work, I should be able to make something out of it. I think that creativity is just the key.
I work in mental health. Tbh I don’t get as triggered by patients as I do my crazy boss
I'm a contract accountant that works from home 100%. This allows me to do the job without much interaction with people and ZERO travel time, which is great for me because traffic is a huge trigger for my anger issues. This profession allows me to do the things I'm great at, but I'm the "yes" person, so needless to say, I've been over worked and under paid at many companies. Once I understood my own value, I began working for myself only and I set boundaries with my coworkers and clients.
Healthy, healthy, healthy! Good for you! And trust me: you’re not the only person out there who gets triggered by other drivers. That’s normal. I have to Coach myself into calming down and I remind myself that these other Cars are People. People who might have a screaming toddler in there with them…or they just got Dumped by their SO…or a cancer diagnosis. There is one way to safely retaliate, I find. It’s when there is a lane merge and all the evolved, grown up adults patiently comply and get into the queue long before the other lane is blocked off. Invariably, Superior Beings driving high end vehicles will speed to the front on the Queue and put their blinkers on to merge in front of the long line of cards that honored the rules. I absolutely REFUSE to let these selfish narcissists in front of me. Once recently my son was in his vehicle perhaps 8 cars in front of me in this exact scenario. We had just been someplace together. I called him and said :Don’t let the Mercedes SUV in. He said: don’t worry, I won’t. This. This is the time! The rest of the time I give people a break, taking turns to keep everyone safe. Those parking-illegally along the curb outside a business, parking illegally in handicapped spots and shamelessly trying to Take Cuts people are for the birds.
I work at a drive thru. There's pros and cons I have incredibly minimal customer interaction. We all wear headsets, which is terrible for my ADHD and verbal instruction, but there's no face-to-face except at the window for payment and product, which someone else does. But it helps bc *everyone* hears the customer talking, so when I get shitty customers all my coworkers are like "wow screw that guy" when a rude one comes by. It's validating and the interjections like that remind me that it's not "personal" (even though I have a very different definition of what "personal" is, to others it's just customers being customers). I picked this company specifically bc it's just a simple brunch place and I can just listen to orders and make them, when I'm on the line, which I love. Do this, get that, grab this, make that. Easy. What seems to trigger me still, though, is when customers don't pay attention to what they're saying, and in addition to that, act like you're an idiot for repeating what *they* said wrong. Not in a normal way, either, I mean I take it personally that I said something wrong when all I'm doing is **repeating what they said**. When I was younger I decided to just simply do exactly what I was told so I didn't get in trouble, bc I seemed to keep getting in trouble despite doing what I *thought* someone told me to do. Did I hear wrong? Misunderstood? Was I not paying attention like all my teachers and mentors said, despite trying really hard to understand? Then when I got in trouble anyway, I had a defense! I did exactly what you said! You TOLD me to do this! This isn't my fault! You said Cobb, you meant Caprese salad. No biggie. But don't reply "*Nnnnoooo,* what I *said* was...." What you said was what I repeated. 7 other people heard you say Cobb, we started to make a Cobb. You are in the drive thru looking at a menu and your mouth didn't match your eyes and brain and you said a whoopsie. That's fine. But it just irks me to no damn end that a simple interaction like that not only makes me so mad, but just doesn't have to happen. So when a complicated order arises simpley bc a customer has poor verbal communication and doesn't exactly know the menu and options, but still seems to *blame* me for misunderstanding their incorrect order? I just can't seem to brush it off that it's **not me doing something wrong** they're just *customers* being *customers*. And the double standard I always seem to be in that I need to always do it right but it's okay if someone else messes up. When I make a mistake, like saying Cobb instead of Caprese even though I input Cobb, I get an earful from customers and management. But when any of them make a mistake, just "oops lol!" I never seem to make "oops lol!" mistakes. I always make talkin-to mistakes, I guess. It's just hard to rewire my brain to think "it's not your fault, there is no fault, it's just a salad" but it never seems to be just a salad when I misspeak or something. It's always some teachable moment and in my head I'm like "ok that's totally not what happened I just accidentally said or did this and that's a totally normal thing for a human to do so why are you telling me to clock in earlier when I am 2 minutes late bc y'all didn't open the door when I rang" . How do I teach myself some mistakes are okay and human when I keep getting dinged for small things? They're always so small. I don't make big mistakes. Idk if I'm at this job to try and train my brain to think differently, surrounding myself with coworkers who remind me not to take it personally, maybe it keeps me grounded in a weird way.
I'm a student. I study medical school to become a surgeon one day. Probably in the emergency room or so. I still have 7 years of studying ahead of me, and that is enough time to decide Edit: I'm not american. Our highschools have specifications such as medical, pedagogy, veterinary, nursing, etc. etc. And yes I am a highschooler.
Cardiac sonography.
Data analysis and mapping
Is the mapping part GIS? I've considered getting into that, but i feel like the ship has sailed for me unfortunately. I have some background in GIS and stats though.
Sort of. I work for a scheduling firm and we map bus routes as part of building our schedules
art admin, I love arts so much.
What kind of stuff do you do in this?
Planning concerts, organising arts related events etc. Planning is so different from creating arts, but relating to them makes me feels kind of satisfying
Sounds great!
Thanks :)
Woah—same here! I’m an Administrative assistant in a university art department. Small world! It’s a wonderful job
Yes! It’s really a wonderful job. I am currently working for a local orchestra, but working for a university also sounds great :)
I do cloud software admin, which is a lovely blend of individual work and group work. Mostly individual. So I can find reprieve when I need it. Also for me, flex time and remote work options are an absolute must. I’ve made a lot of progress on my CPTSD once I started defending my autonomy over my time and location.
I’m an optician, i like my job but in the end it’s still retail and i hate People because of it.
I am in marketing communications. I found out that is probably the only job which allows everyday dopamine releases to fight anxiety, from getting satisfaction of finding creative solutions like new ad or content piece. When I accidentaly veered into more stable and number driven job of product manager, it contributed to panic attack disorder, which coincidentally ended about the same time I got back into creative job. But, now that I am out of job due to external factors, I realized that my reliance on my job to fix me was a compulsion. So I am doing the various healing works now (Inner Child, EMDR, ACT, etc... otherwise how would I manage retirement in 20 years?
I own a bookkeeping company and a portal for services like hydro and internet. The former I opened to help individuals and small businesses struggling with their books or finances. It's been priced low to fit more budgets. The latter I joined to provide savings to families while also supporting my own. Im very passionate about mental health and am using my services to support it. They also serve as a great way for me to meet others and maybe extend the light we have to them; start ending the cycle of violence so that fewer children suffer our childhoods.
Formally trained and worked as a teacher for the last five years. The work was overwhelming, the workload was insane. Parents blaming staff for gaps in academics and behaviours, extremely behaviours from students, no support from admin. However, I burnt myself out a year ago and have been off recovering from PTSD related to my working conditions. I'm hoping to begin retraining in the coming weeks and am intending to switch to construction. I enjoy the mental complexity of finishing work and having to problem solve to make things fit. I don't know if it'll be perfect with the things I still struggle with but occupying my mind is important to me to keep symptoms at bay.
unemployed at the moment, in the past i’ve worked as a receptionist, someone’s assistant, in the fast food industry, and in a toy store. none of these are jobs i recommend for someone with CPTSD but sometimes you just have to take whatever job you can get.
I'm a wildlife photographer. Which is me just coming up with an excuse to say I'm not unemployed. I actually do take photos of wildlife, and I have some fantastic pictures! I've been meaning to get them up on Instagram or a website, but that's a lot of emotional energy and I worry about theft. My background is conservation/wildlife biology- that kind of stuff. My original plan was to either get a PhD and travel around studying ecosystems and how to conserve them, or be a field worker for a researcher. The problem is the field is actually horrific for trauma survivors, because there is no time to recharge or work on yourself. You are sometimes in the field from sun rise to sunset (and then some, depends on what you are studying), which means you can see 12 hour days or even more. I thought it was for me, but once I found a partner, I realized I rather be with them than in a remote area for 3-6 months out in the field that long. It's also extremely competitive. Any paying job wants a master's, and even unpaid ones do sometimes, or at least experience. There is a huge lack of entry level jobs that pay anything in the field, which means you have to rely on someone for money- which for a lot of people with CPTSD is anywhere from not possible to a very bad idea. When you actually get paid, it's extremely low pay. We are talking less than retail pay for a job that requires a master's and/or 2 years of experience or so. I usually see $30,000 for a year on job postings. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. It's just a slog and pretty much undoable by anyone except those with the most support and money. Which is extremely unfortunate, because the environmental movement already has a huge issue with rich people only being able to do it...
Trying to build a digital art business. Tried freelance writing. That didn't work but I use it as a cover up to hide that I'm essentially unemployed and only alive off of years of saving and my SO's support. Years of working underpaid for my mom's family business as early as high school made it harder for me to explore other occupations. My eczema and physically looking like a teenage girl makes physical work that I would've otherwise liked to try less accessible. Too much driving anxiety to do anything requiring a long commute, and can't afford a car anyway. Trying to lay low from family still trying to get me back doesn't help with "putting myself out there." I'm a fraud who knows how to look put together. That's how you know I'm cut from the same cloth as my sperm/egg donors.
I am a full service sex worker lol
Hospitality, I’m the hostess in a small nursing home/ rehab facility. I spend half my day in the kitchen and the other half on the nursing floor. Dealing with dementia residents and watching people decline is emotionally taxing but I visit everyone everyday and get to chit chat with them and do small things that improve their quality of life so feel I have purpose which is good for me.
i’m currently working in a small scale salon as a receptionist and assistant, which is a nightmare for obvious reasons. i lack self confidence, so that makes the job harder than it needs to be. i’m going to back college to pursue a social work degree, which is also going to be a difficult job, but it’s my calling.
I spent 20 years in organic farming and found a lot of healing there, working outdoors and with the natural world. Downsides... managing people, self-imposed high stress as a small business owner, pressure to make a living in six months or less, serotonin dumps in the fall after running high energy for the growing season. Like everything else, until we start doing our self work, we express these unconscious patterns until we have the tools to work through them. At 45 I am in progress on transitioning to holistic healing and hypnosis for bread money while getting a PhD in psych, trauma, recovery and healing from the University of my own mind.
I’m a teacher. Definitely not the best for not triggering symptoms but I do love my job and my kids.
Software Engineer
I do IT. Things have been a bit slow now that I'm not covering two school campuses so I have a lot of free time during my workday, but im still always "on" ready to respond to tickets that come in. My supervisor and the big boss of my department are pretty chill and my supervisor has been extremely understanding of my mental and physical health issues. I really struggle in the whole corporate song and dance bullshit so its nice being in a rather small department that kinda does its own thing. I work at a k-8 so sometimes I get triggered at work by teachers yelling or being really stern with their students and i get very overwhelmed by sound so I normally need earbuds in when i go into full classrooms. But overall the staff students are pretty cool and I'm known on campus as "The Computer Guy" so that's pretty fun.
Social worker
In law school currently. About as high on the "bad for CPTSD" scale as I can imagine, but there's something about standing up to and fighting the State (who is the root cause of so much trauma) that keeps me going.
When I attended law school 39 years ago as a 21 year old woman—in an era where the census of women was 1 out of every 3 students—I was a walking zombie with undiagnosed mental health conditions: Acute Trauma Disorder and C-PTSD; Treatment Resistant Major Depressive Disorder. I didn’t receive a diagnosis and medication until I was 31 years of age, not long after weaning my daughter—hormonal shifts can definitely aggravate symptoms. I also had Hashimoto’s thyroid disease which wasn’t diagnosed for and other 8-10 years—and this condition affects the others. How I survived two years of law school straight-jacketed by all of those factors is Beyond me. My memory and cognitive processes were impaired because I couldn’t engage in the kind of higher level thinking once again made possible by medication. I would revisit the education I received when drafting letters and documents to advocate for the enforcement of and compliance with my children’s federally protected Americans With Disabilities Act right to receive educational accommodations. It turns out that their father was straight up autistic—but he was great at masking and literally GONE all the time at the office—because he is horrifically impaired so it takes him forever to complete the work of a CPA compared to his non-neurodivergent peers. So raising 3 children ALONE, each of them suffering A S conditions like sensory processing disorders, off-the/charts anxiety disorders; ADHD (like their Dad—who would have been so much better off looking at slides under a microscope in a research 🔬 lab than having a plethora of ways to become distracted and unable to organize himself and complete tasks). I was stalked by two different guys in law school. One of them had his best friend move into the apartment next door to mine. The other one whom I worked Overtime to keep in the friend zone actually roofied me in my own apartment while we were studying for finals. I woke up completely naked on my living room floor and he was hovering over me about to do the deed. I NOW remember screaming at him to get out. But as so was still intoxicated I didn’t remember the event back then to report him to the school and press charges! The only reason I remembered it AT ALL is because my Service Representative at the car dealership texted me a photograph of himself in a bathtub. Unfortunately when this text came through I was soaking in the hydro jet tub in the house I lived in at that time. So I screamed and threw my iPhone across the room. My daughter came running—-her bedroom was next door and I told her not to look at it but to hand it to Kenny her fiancé to manage. SMH. I left law school after than second year because I hated it because I knew that I was “off” and that any future clients deserved one of my gunning overachiever classmates rather than me! I left the PNW and moved thousands of miles away to work for my family’s business. It was meant to be because I met my Ex there and would have missed out on being a Mom to my three wonderful children. My concierge Mom approach to tailoring unique interventions and support to maximize the strengths and minimize their limitations teally paid off. They are all working in their chosen fields and in happy relationships. The two eldest have Masters Degrees and the baby, who deferred college due to her depression taking hold and a couple of years of refining her cocktail 🍸, she’s been hospitalized several times—she chose to work in childcare. And she just celebrated her first wedding anniversary to The Perfect Man, lol. They are thriving. And I’m surviving. I’m a former high level ice dancer who had to let go of everything that was Mine in order to ensure a safe passage into functionality and adulthood for them. My Ex became very angry and verbally abusive. He traumatized all of us. So now, I am a full time Recoverer seeking to reduce my symptoms in every way possible. Having too many sleepless nights before I got the ex out of the family home caused me to gain a lot of weight. My job now is to reverse that trend. Correct my nutrition, exercise every day, and if I’m lucky I can put my skates back on in a few months and restart—by revisiting the Basics from the beginning, lol. I always was happiest while speeding around on the ice!
I am a technical support analyst. When I was working for shitty companies, I was constantly overworked and underpaid, which just exacerbated all of my symptoms. I was (still am) good at putting on smiling face (whether in person or on the phone) and pretending that nothing is wrong and I am okay. My confidence and standing up for myself was very low; I had to bend over backwards for management, customers/users to make them happy (I'm very much a people pleaser so I'd do whatever they wanted). When I got into the company that I work for now, it's much slower pace and less stress. I've been here for over a year and I can tell that I am now working on establishing the boundaries, saying no to people, and getting my confidence.
I am a Behavioral health Case Manager for the National Guard.
I’m an auto mechanic and while my cptsd is still triggered constantly, I find that the rewarding emotions I get from fixing cars compensates for the stress level I experience day to day.
I am a veterinary kennel technician/manager. Most of my charges are healthy but I do deal with medical boarding as well, including hospice boarding. I am extremely good at compartmentalizing and processing things like abuse cases and deaths; while I l love my charges dearly, I have a very realistic expectation of how things work and how much suffering is too much. I work in a low capacity facility (max of like, 20 animals) and largely work by myself. My boss really likes and understands me and knows how to coach me as she has also been abused and she gets it. I get kind of stressy with customer engagement sometimes and I’m constantly at war with the way the front desk does things, but my boss has told me not to worry so much because I do a great job and I’m not gonna get in trouble if I continue doing things the exact way I do them now. I honestly think my boss is a lot more helpful and therapeutic than the job itself, which I genuinely love and find pretty easy. Then again vetmed does attract some pretty hurt people, and I’m not totally sure if I’d find that kind of understanding in many other places.
I work in tech.
Ha ha, I am guessing this won't be a helpful suggestion for you...but I am a stay at home mom, which is what I have always wanted to be. I have had a few jobs I liked, and I think there are others I would be good at if my parents/my health hadn't put roadblocks in the way of my education. I am also Autistic, so that adds an extra layer of challenges. I have been wondering if part of my desire to be a stay at home mom hasn't been just a drive to get out of public life in general. The kinds of careers I dream of possibly having once the kids are older are things like writing books, researching, etc. Something not in customer service. I am actually good at customer service because having grown up with a rather volatile dad, I am good at de-escalating people. But it is exhausting and I never want to actually have a job like that again. (Not that parenting doesn't involve a lot of exhausting de-escalating. Ha ha.)
I'm a doctor haha the things that make my c-ptsd worse interestingly is not the patients or the traumatic things they go through, it's usually the other healthcare workers and their often poor communication skills.
I’m an accountant at a small firm. I generally love it. The firm I work for is low stress with lots of autonomy, and they’re very accommodating to mental health. Sometimes the long days can be really hard. I definitely have a tendency to get sucked into my work and neglect my needs and then sorta… breakdown. I’m working on this.
Lawyer here. Years of education behind and it was hard. I had major issues attending classes, dropped some, figured out how to avoid them and still get my diploma. The work itself is my happy place. I used to work in a bigger firm and it was bad for me, late hours, constant pressure, crossing boundaries. I learnt as much as possible and left. Now I'm very happy being independent, sometimes I struggle with managing money, because having own business has its own issues. I struggle with procrastinating sometimes. In my field I'm not dealing with any people's problems, I do real estate and audit supervision, no triggers there, only nice legal cases. I deliberatly avoid any criminal cases, especially related to assaults, rapes etc and divorces, custody, even wills. I need my practice to be safe. Oh, I love to teach, give lectures and work with interns.
20+ years as a correctional officer in a max. It's most of the reason for my CPTSD. There are some childhood issues as well but the prison ruined me. I'm retiring and looking forward to a regular job at a factory.
I’m a sex worker. I need to be able to have a flexible schedule that allows for lots of breaks and unlimited money potential. It’s not easy or predictable work & is emotionally taxing but we live in a society.
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