Shirley Crandall (her name and circumstances have been altered slightly in the interest of privacy) has been a patient in my office since late October last year. She’s a hard worker who’s held a demanding job for many years as the financial manager in a home improvement business. She’s survived a fair amount of hardship in recent years-- a divorce, pain from gallstones and then surgery, a temporarily disabling knee injury—but she’s always bounced back.
Things changed, however, this summer when her boss went on a rampage, violently slamming his fist on her desk, yelling to her face, looking for a victim upon which to blame his own business failures. She became frightened, unable to sleep, unable to eat properly. She felt jumpy and was unable even to drive in the direction of her work without developing feelings of intense anxiety. She had developed a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.
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