Tuesday, September 21, 2004

What is bullying? The twelve types of bullying, bullies tactics, how bullies select their victims, the difference between bullying and harassment

What is bullying? The twelve types of bullying, bullies tactics, how bullies select their victims, the difference between bullying and harassment I have worked in the same office for two years. For the first year and a half, I was depressed, and quite literally scared to come into work. I would call in sick a lot. Avoid. Why? Because a bully lurks in our office!!! We'll call her Sheila. Sheila takes great joy in belittling the newest employee. Marking her turf. She doesn't run the office officially, but everyone knows it, even the boss. At first, I thought that I had done something to deserve this. Yes, I was new and prone to making mistakes, but nothing life-threatening. It's an OFFICE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! I started to see a therapist. I took an anti-depressant for awhile. The one person in my life that really helped me through it all was my husband. He held me during my crying fits. Took my spastic episodes. And the depression. It was horrible. Then, some time around March, I realized that I truly was in the last phase of getting out of the depression. I was picked on less by Sheila, but the newest co-worker was starting to go through was I was just coming out of. It was horrible to watch. Lately, Sheila has been acting quite friendly to me. I sort of "trained" her how I like to be given certain information. I get her to laugh. She doesn't really yell at me when I make a mistake anymore. In fact, our entire office had a meeting with the real boss recently, without Sheila. I don't think much came of the meeting, other than our boss realizing, that yes, everyone does have a problem with Sheila. Even the workers whom were previously thought of as even-tempered and the quiet type. Why did I blog about this? Well, besides being at work with practically nothing to do, I was wondering if there was anyone else out there that has experience with office bullies? Have you done something about them?