Skip to main content

A Bully in the Workplace - Basic Concepts

A Bully in the workplace           Basic Concepts


The Bully is at the source of stress. They are the trigger,  the stressor. How the Body and Mind respond to this (these) stressors determines the extent of damage inflicted.

The sequence of Biological stress is well known. There are three stages:

1. The Alarm: The turning on of the body's defense systems that are designed to be brief for it is truly widespread in its effect through the body. It enables the ‘flight or fight’ response in the face of danger both physical and psychological. The body reacts the same to fright from the impending pounce of a tiger as it does to the insult from of Workplace Bully.  Alarm triggers the sympathetic nervous system and the Releases of Adrenaline, in addition to many other functions.

2. Resistance. The maintenance of an alert stage of the body. Resistance to the bully and all that that this requires depletes the body's defenses. If you stay in Resistance too long, the body will rebound when it's finally turn off.

3. Exhaustion. Which can lead to death if the stressor never disappears and the body and mind must fight indefinitely. Exhaustion is a full system break down, mentally and physically. It demands that the stressor be removed, or it will claim your life. To get to exhaustion, you have to ignore all the warning signs that your body is giving you both physically and psychologically.

The following are some of the psychological and physical effects of this sustained Stress.

Emotional/psychological effects from mild to severe

  • Poor concentration.
  • Stress Anxiety,
  • Irritability.
  • Mood swings, Spontaneous crying.
  • Loss of sense of humor.
  • Indecisiveness.
  • Social withdraw from co-workers, family, and friends.
  • Panic attacks, depression.
  • Feelings of insecurity, being out of control.
  • Nightmares about the bullying.
  • Obsessive thinking about the bully.
  • Anticipating the next attack hypervigilance.
  • Loss of sleep, Fatigue
  • Shattered faith in self-confidence and feelings of worthlessness.
  • Shame and harassment and guilt. Posttraumatic stress disorder. Possible suicide following a prolonged clinical depression that goes untreated violent and displaced rage.


Physical / Biological effects mild to severe


  • Reduced immunity to infections, colds, flu.
  • Stress Headaches.
  • Indigestion
  • Arthritis.
  • Asthma.
  • Hyperthyroidism.
  • Hypertension . . .
  • Peptic ulcers.
  • Coronary thrombosis.
  • Heart attack from long-term stress.


Bully Tactics.

Direct Verbal - (It’s all about Power)
  • Yelling,
  • Angry outbursts rude,
  • Accusations of wrongdoing,
  • Put down insult
  • Belittling comments,
  • Threat of job loss
  • Discounting a of thoughts or feelings of the target
  • Personal criticism
  • Attempts to belittle and confuse
  • Openly breaks their own rules and policy but is very harsh when a Victims does the same. “Do as I say not as I do.”

Indirect verbal

  • Initiating untrue rumors or Gossip.
  • Breach of confidentiality shares private information about a person with other workers.
  • Assigning meaningless or dirty tasks as punishment.

  • Withholds or denies opportunities or resources.
  • Steals the credit of work done by the target.

Behavioral nonverbal bully tactics:
  • Aggressive eye contact, glaring.
  • Avoids eye contact with the target speaks.
  • Ignores by giving the silent treatment.
  • An intimidating gesture such as the slamming things, throwing objects.
  • Negative reactions to contributions made by the target.





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER - by Dr. Maria Hsia Chang

This is one of the BEST articles on NPD that I have used most extensively over the years. NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER http://www.unr.edu/cla/polisci/famaria_hsia_chang.htm By Dr. Maria Hsia Chang, Professor, Political Science, University of Nevada , Reno mariac@unr.nevada.edu In psychology, personality disorders refer to individual traits that reflect ingrained, inflexible, and maladaptive patterns of behavior that cause discomfort and impair a person’s ability to function--including her relations with friends and family. At least ten distinct personality disorders have been identified, one of which is the narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) that the American Psychological Association (APA) classifies as a “cluster B” disorder. NPD is a highly complex psychological - behavioral syndrome that confounds and baffles those close to the afflicted. Once understood, however, one achieves clarity of vision. Socio-biologists maintain that narcissism is natural f...
Post a Comment
Read more

What’s the Smear Campaign All About?

  What’s the Smear Campaign All About? Sociopaths know the end is coming. Before it hits they need to position themselves to come out smelling like roses. It doesn’t work. They smell like poop. Always. When we fall into these traps  we think its true love with a real person. The sociopath knows things we don’t… like that none of this is real. They aren’t what we think they are. The sociopath is obsessed  with making sure no one ever catches on to just how heinous they are. Looking like the victim and the “good guy” are their ploy to that end. They go to great lengths to conjure themselves into the role of “victim” in the eyes of their “fans” and other prey in order to keep empathy falling into their slimy laps so they can keep taking and using and getting away with it. It’s smoke and mirrors. Smearing is a special brand of Hoovering. If we respond, they still have us. Love-bombing, complimenting, adoring, insulting, Hoovering, smearing. It’s all bait – our ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Co-Narcissism: How We Accommodate to Narcissistic Parents

Co-Narcissism: How We Accommodate to Narcissistic Parents Alan Rappoport, Ph.D. Abstract This article introduces the term “conarcissism” to refer to the way that people Accommodate to narcissistic parents. I use the term narcissism here to refer to people with very low self-esteem who attempt to control others’ views of them for defensive purposes. They are interpersonally rigid, easily offended, self-absorbed, blaming, and find it difficult to empathize with others. Conarcissistic people, as a result of their attempts to get along with their narcissistic parents, work hard to please others, defer to other’s opinions, worry about how others think and feel about them, are often depressed or anxious, find it hard to know their own views and experience, and take the blame for interpersonal problems. They fear being considered selfish if they act assertively. A high proportion of psychotherapy patients are co-narcissistic. The article discusses the co-narcissi...
Post a Comment
Read more