The Hidden Workplace Cost of Unhealed Betrayal: How Personal Trauma Impacts Professional Performance

The Invisible Problem Affecting Your Workforce

What if I told you that a significant portion of your workforce is operating at half capacity—and they’re too afraid to tell you why?

We’ve had over 100,000 people take our Post Betrayal Syndrome® assessment to determine to what extent they’re struggling after experiencing betrayal. While we know that unhealed betrayal affects us mentally and emotionally, most people don’t realize how profoundly it translates into the workplace.

You might think personal issues stay outside the office. The data proves otherwise.

The Staggering Statistics: How Betrayal Manifests in the Workplace

Let me share some eye-opening statistics that reveal exactly how what you think you’re keeping outside of the office is actually creeping into every aspect of your professional life.

84% Struggle with an Inability to Trust

Imagine a workplace where 84 out of every 100 employees struggle to trust. This isn’t just about being cautious with a new collaborative partner, boss, or coworker. The implications run far deeper:

Impaired team collaboration – Projects stall when team members can’t rely on each other
Resistance to feedback – Constructive criticism feels like an attack
Increased conflict and misunderstanding – When you don’t trust, you question whether someone’s intentions are genuine or well-meaning

When trust is broken in one area of life, it creates a ripple effect. Suddenly, every interaction is filtered through suspicion and doubt.

88% Battle Extreme Sadness

You might think, “Well, I just can’t be sad. Game on. I have to be at the top of my game when I’m in the office.” But extreme sadness doesn’t take breaks. It shows up as:

Reduced motivation and engagement – Tasks that once excited you now feel insurmountable
Withdrawal from colleagues – Social interactions feel exhausting
Impact on creativity and problem-solving – When you’re sad, how creative can you really be?

Those creative resources that once fueled innovation are now being diverted to manage emotional pain. You simply can’t access your full potential when you’re battling extreme sadness.

47% Experience Weight Changes and 45% Experience Digestive Issues

This statistic reveals a physical manifestation that’s incredibly common. In the beginning stages of betrayal, many people can’t hold food down. Later, food becomes comfort, leading to significant weight gain. Others develop serious digestive conditions like Crohn’s disease, IBS, or diverticulitis.

Now consider the professional implications:

Difficulty with client-facing roles – If you’re uncomfortable in your own body because you’ve been emotionally eating and gained weight, how confident are you promoting your products or services?
Challenges with public speaking – I remember speaking on a stage with two jumbotrons, and my first thought was, “Is everything jumbo?” When you’re self-conscious about your weight due to betrayal-related emotional eating, how focused are you on your content? You’re thinking about whether things are sticking out, whether you look right.
Reduced networking and business development – Putting yourself out there requires confidence that physical discomfort can shatter.

78% Feel Overwhelmed

Overwhelm in the workplace leads to:

Increased mistakes and errors – Details slip through the cracks
Missed deadlines – Time management becomes nearly impossible
Increased risk of burnout – The constant state of overwhelm is unsustainable

68% Have an Inability to Focus and Concentrate

This is perhaps one of the most professionally damaging symptoms. It directly results in:

Decreased productivity and efficiency – Tasks take twice as long
Poor quality of work – Details are missed, standards slip
Difficulty in learning and development – Professional growth stalls when you can’t absorb new information

Whether you’re the one struggling or you’re a leader managing a team, this matters. If you’re a CEO or executive, your people are struggling with these issues. And here’s the critical part: they’re not going to tell you.

Within The PBT Institute, we hear it constantly: “Oh my gosh, I’m going to lose my job. I can’t hold it together. I can’t focus. I can’t concentrate.” But they’re afraid to let leadership know. They’re working well below their capacity, and they feel they can’t be honest about why.

83% Feel Anger

Anger in the workplace is particularly destructive:

Conflicts with colleagues – Small disagreements escalate unnecessarily
Increased stress for everyone – Anger creates a toxic environment
Reputational damage – Outbursts can damage professional relationships permanently

Think about it: someone discovers that their family member, partner, friend, or coworker has betrayed them. That anger can easily be misplaced. A minor issue with a deal, prospect, or office situation can get blown completely out of proportion because the anger stems from somewhere else entirely.

80% Battle Stress and Anxiety

This leads to:

Paralysis by over-analysis – Decision-making becomes excruciating
Health issues – Physical symptoms manifest
Burnout – Chronic, unmanaged, prolonged stress from unhealed betrayal will cause symptoms, illnesses, conditions, and even stress-related disease

You can treat all these symptoms individually, but you’re just hacking away at the leaves. If you don’t address the root cause—the betrayal—you’re managing symptoms at best.

81% Experience a Loss of Personal Power

This manifests as:

Decreased productivity – A sense of helplessness pervades everything
Difficulty in collaboration and trust-building – Working with others feels impossible
Difficulty in decision-making – Every choice feels overwhelming

If you’re a business owner making big and small decisions all day long, betrayal affects your ability to make those decisions. Add the trust component, and it becomes even more complicated. You don’t trust your ability to make decisions because you don’t trust yourself.

The internal dialogue goes like this: “Where was I? How did I not see this coming? How did I not know? If I couldn’t trust the person I trusted most, how can I trust myself? How can I trust anyone else? How can I trust my own judgment?”

Everything feels shattered.

The Reality Leaders Need to Face

If you’re in leadership, here’s what you need to understand:

Your team members who are struggling with betrayal trauma are not operating at full capacity. They physically and emotionally cannot be. And they’re terrified to tell you because they fear losing their jobs.

You might be looking at performance issues, missed deadlines, decreased quality, or interpersonal conflicts—and attributing them to lack of skill or commitment. In reality, you may be looking at the symptoms of unhealed betrayal.

The Path Forward: From Betrayal to Breakthrough

Here’s the beautiful part: it can all be rebuilt so much better than before.

When you’ve been betrayed, you’ve been initiated into a transformation. You don’t just bounce back—you bounce back better. But this doesn’t happen automatically. It requires moving through the five proven, predictable, research-based stages from betrayal to breakthrough.

Healing is not only possible; it’s transformative. The key is addressing the root cause rather than just managing symptoms.

Creating a Supportive Workplace Culture

As a leader or colleague, here’s what you can do:

Recognize the signs – Understand that performance issues may have deeper roots
Create psychological safety – Foster an environment where people feel safe being vulnerable
Provide resources – Make betrayal recovery support available for those dealing with trauma
Lead with compassion – Extend grace while maintaining standards
Address the whole person – Recognize that personal struggles don’t stay compartmentalized

The Research Proves It-You Can’t Leave It at the Door

You may be trying to keep personal struggles outside of the workplace, but it simply doesn’t work that way. Unhealed betrayal will creep into every aspect of professional performance—trust, collaboration, decision-making, creativity, and productivity.

The question isn’t whether betrayal affects the workplace. The question is: what are you going to do about it?

If you’re seeing these effects in yourself or your team, support is available. Healing is possible. And when you move through betrayal intentionally, you don’t just recover—you transform into a stronger, more resilient version of yourself.

Ready to move from betrayal to breakthrough? Reach out to learn how the five stages can help you or your team heal and thrive.

Dr. Debi Silber, Founder and CEO of The PBT (Post Betrayal Transformation) Institute and National Forgiveness Day, is an award winning speaker, top rated podcast host, and a 2-time #1 International bestselling author. Her PhD study on how we experience betrayal made 3 groundbreaking discoveries that changes everything we’ve known about how to fully heal (physical, mentally and emotionally) from this specific type of trauma. Creator of the #1 betrayal recovery certification program for life, business, health and leadership coaches, Dr. Debi certifies practitioners globally using her evidence-based framework. A sought-after expert, she specializes in predictably helping industry leaders, visionaries and executives move beyond betrayal and break through the blocks standing between them and the exceptional life they want most.