N-Jaded, I think once we are pushed far enough, we all act out.
I was going to put this on the 'releasing' thread but realized it really belongs here. Telling one on me. Big time.
Where I work, we seem to accumulate people with major personality disorders. Not everyone there, I hasten to add, but certainly many of 'em.
We used to have one flaming borderline who liked to wait until everyone else had gone home - I come in later, stay later than most - and then show up in my office and shriek and scream abuse at me, over stuff she'd imagined, entirely.
First time it happened I thought she was psychotic. Second time it happened I had described her to my t, who told me to read about BPD (and I'd checked around among other reasonably normal people to see who else had gotten this: surprise: most of them) so I sat back and crossed my arms and when she was through said, 'thanks for sharing' and went back to my work.
That wasn't enough to stop her, so the third time she started it, I looked up at her, curled my upper lip back from my teeth, and started growling. Then, I began to stand up, verrrry slowly, keeping my eyes on her the entire time, and growling more and more loudly. More like a dog growl than a cat growl.
That solved the problem. Not only did she disappear immediately, but she sidled along the wall whenever I saw her in the hallway. Didn't take long after that for her to leave. The workplace. To much surreptitious applause.
Of course, until she left, whenever I encountered her in the absence of witnesses, I did the lip-curling thing again, with a short snarl.
Gotta keep reminding them, you know.
Not entirely proud of it, but I suspect it is the only example of perfect communication with a majorly dysfunctional oik in my entire life.
