How to return to academia after "don't walk, run"? It seems the phrase "don't walk, run!" is somewhat of a meme on this site. It roughly means "leave your current advisor/university/PI/whatever and don't look back".

While this at times may be good advice, although most often controversial, I'm wondering how one should handle the running if one remains willing to work in academia. (Just somewhere else) I mean, the suggestion sounds a lot like 'burning bridges' (with only one person at best, but with an entire department at the worst). Burning bridges is commonly understood to be a quick way to kill your career. 

So, I'd like to have a well-thought answer to the question: 


How (if it even can be done!) can I run from an abusive professional relation or otherwise unmaintainable position without ruining my career?


Perhaps this is already explained in some post given the "don't walk, run!" advice, but I think it is worthwhile to have answers to this particular question. Advice from academics who have in fact 'ran away' and proceeded within academia is very much appreciated. (this would at least answer whether it can be done)



Finally, to prevent any confusion: I'm currently not in an abusive professional relation or otherwise unmaintainable position. I'm merely interested in how one should act, for future readers in that situation. (Who knows, I could even be unfortunate enough to end up in such a situation one day!)



To clarify, this is a question asking for general advice for after leaving. To be clear, the 'running part' refers to 'not leaving in a nice and orderly manner' (Imagine a grad student literally running away from the campus, leaving a trail of thesis papers behind, if that helps). Most answers to the question suggested as duplicate essentially tell to 'walk', but here I have assumed to have already 'run' (whether that is a good idea is besides the point) and with that given, want to know what the best course of action is and the advice on the other question is too late.
“Don’t walk, run” is a shorthand for taking immediate action to extricate oneself from a rapidly deteriorating situation. 

Note that this may not require leaving academia altogether, or even one’s current institution. You may be able to find a workable solution where you are by switching projects, advisors, or departments, as appropriate. 

But sometimes it is necessary to leave, for economic, personal, or medical reasons. You may want to return. In that case, it’s not really all that different from other cases. The critical step is explaining to whom ever you’d like to hire or admit you that whatever situation caused your previous departure will not affect the present situation. You’ll need to make that case clearly and convincingly so as to reduce the “risk level” of your potential boss. If you can’t make that case, then you may want to reevaluate if returning is the right move at the present time.