[Truwolf]

One thing I've learned is that even in the best work environments, small pockets of emotional and mental disease can develop, usually when too much power gets shifted to an abusive person or group. In many cases, this psychic rot spreads quickly throughout a department and sometimes an entire organization. It leaves the people whose livelihood depends on enduring this negativity day after day, stressed out and sick. It continues to add up until we've become a victim and/or a contributor to the problem.

Ideally, you can find a place where you can surround yourself with a strong enough network of friends that allow you to maintain a healthy perspective and weather such instances without getting blindsided by them. I think it's particularly important when conflicts arise, that we don't get caught in the trap of assuming that WE are the problem, that there's something wrong with US and that we should change to fit in, when it's entirely likely that we may be subjecting ourselves to a diseased work culture.

 

[millenniumman75]

Truwolf,

You are absolutely right. I left a poisonous workplace a year ago and ended up in a healthier one. I still had my share of problems with a co-worker, but that was taken care of. Long story short, I don't really assocaite with many people I work with becasue I can't trust them, especially for what I have been through this year.

Thank you for posting this!,

 

[Bon1]

Very, very true.................................

 

[Caedmon]

My mom is working at a place like that. She gets home exhausted and depressed almost every day. It makes a big difference who you work with and the environment. Even the physical building can have a huge impact on your mood and ability to work.

 

[Bon1]

100 percent true for me.......My work enviroment, comfort level, is part of my "benefit" package.......

 

[Truwolf]

Absolutely, physical environment plays a huge role. I was unfortunate enough to spend a short time in a place that handled millions of documents, each of which, I kid you not, smelled like some sort of rancid glue. The break room was filthy, and just stepping out of that building was like discovering oxygen for the first time. Not surprisingly, there were some very ill-tempered people there.

 

[cj]

Oh definetly there are some places to avoid working at. I have been temping for the past 4 years and the past two i have also started my own business. I would love to work strictly in my own business but temping is a necessity for now. Anyway, I have worked in some offices that the people are so overworked they are stressed right out. People want to do a good job but when they are over worked it is not always possible.

Places that have dated equipment, disorganized systems, or tyrants running the department are all things that i've encountered that seem to stress the employees out. Most of the time what i encounter though is a place where things are not running smoothly and no one is prepared to deal with the problems. That just drives me nuts. If something is not working well or creating problems for employees - find a way to fix it! Brainstorm, talk to the people, ask for thier input and ideas. A lot of companies just continue doing the same old and expect employees just to deal with it. It is like no one is willing to take the lead these days.

On the other end i worked at a place where i was a people count and nothing more - to fill the budget so they'd get funding for temps in the next year and not needed. I sat most of the day bored stiff and hating it.

Anyway my goal is to one day be totally independent in my company and not have to temp.

 

[Truwolf]

But anyway, I don't feel up to sustaining a rant right now. Too depressing.

 

[instil]

yeh i quit my job in May, i kept holding on to it, just cuz i felt i needed to hang in there and maybe i was just thinking negetively but i wish i had done it sooner, im tired of being treated like a piece of s*** or like a wierdo that people just make fun of

Me too, word for word what you wrote. I was telling myself, just suck it up...you gotta do it. I started working there with a mild depression and mild SA. I was completely out of place working with all these middle aged- to older women who all talked about each other or anyone else. So now i show up, new guy, young, with something *just* not right mentally (maybe this was impercievable to them, but i felt they were thinking 'whats his deal?')
2 months of whispering,giggling, and trying to make jokes at my expense (they were adults with low-paying,brainless,dead-end jobs, and didnt have anything physically attractive about them, so mean comebacks were easy)Making enemies and being standoffish only fueled the fire, one morning i was like...no more,yesterday was my last day.I never returned but i waited too long. Dealing with that has made any slight issues in my head or self esteem things turn into giant problems. Months later i havent gotten another job, paranoia is constant, i rarely leave the house. It really messed me up, worse than i was.

[/i]

 

[James of Maine]

I left a very toxic workplace when I started a new job at the end of June. I worked at the old place over five years. I had been trying to get out of there for over three years, without success (not for lack of trying; I bombed in more job interviews than I care to remember). It was especially hard because I was literally the odd man out. My supervisor and co-workers were all middle-aged women, in a very small, relatively isolated department. I never felt like I could fit in, especially with my "problem" and always felt excluded. There were always weird, petty little interpersonal politics going on between everyone. The stress of working there often made me literally physically sick.

I now work in a more diverse (age and gender-wise) and spread-out workplace. I've had some bad days, but overall it's nowhere near as bad as my old job.

 

[Strength]

My supervisor and co-workers were all middle-aged women, in a very small, relatively isolated department.

That was exactly like my old work place. I really had no one to talk to. But that wasn't the main problem.

The job itself was idiotic. I required to put in a lot of numbers in the computer system, but unfortunately it relied on other people in other departments giving me that information. A lot of them wouldn't cooperate. It also required me to go through lots of dusty old file cabinets, but a lot of the paper was missing. I'm normally a very hardworking person, but when I couldn't even get the information properly, it frustrated me to the point where I was always lethargic.

Add to that, my superviser is one of these people who liked to look over my shoulder, and did not have good people skills. She barely ever complimented me on anything, only criticized.

Also, everyone got a nice cubicle or big space by the window, but I got an old desk in the middle of the room. This meant that 2 of my coworkers were on my right FACING me the entire time (I was just facing a wall). I didn't know it at the time, but looking back at it, this is absolute torture for someone with SA. Everytime I picked up the phone, I was very conscious that they could hear me talk.

The moral of the story is that money isn't worth it if you're not enjoying your life.