Angela had been in the media industry for over a decade when she began to notice dismissive behaviors from others at a new job. There was rudeness in meetings, gatekeeping of important information, ignoring her contributions in Slack room discussions, and gaslighting about it all, including from a series of managers. It eventually all took a toll.
“It affected my self-esteem, big-time,” Angela, who is being identified by her middle name for privacy, tells Fortune. “‘Rude’ isn’t a performance metric. Basic human communication is not a part of what was discussed or expected, but that’s what we’re talking about.
To me it’s about basic respect.” She frequently thought about leaving, but her job was a good one, and she was hesitant. Still, she says, “I was boxed out .
.. At what point do you throw in the towel?” The behavior eventually got so bad that it sent her to therapy—and, finally, out the door.
Now, still shaken and questioning her skills as a result of the experience, she’s seriously considering a career change, noting, “It was really bad for my psyche.” And she’s far from alone. On Glassdoor discussion boards, there’s an endless scroll of people talking about being treated poorly at work—distrusting themselves because a boss questions every move, or facing aggression and gaslighting from coworkers to the point of experiencing “crippling dread and anxiety ” and even “ PTSD .
” It’s all part of what human resource experts see as.
