Most of us find working with people with different personality traits a rewarding experience. Successful team work often depends on the right mix of people with different personalities who work to achieve the objectives set for the team. But personality traits are not the same thing as personality disorders.
It is not that difficult to identify cases of depression, psychosis and even substance abuse and alcoholism in most workplaces- John Cassar White
It is not that difficult to identify cases of depression, psychosis and even substance abuse and alcoholism in most workplaces. These serious conditions often create tough challenges for the organisation.
But personality disorders are certainly more difficult to label as they are rarely diagnosed officially and those who suffer from such disorders often do not acknowledge that they need help.
I have recently come across two cases that reveal the debilitating effects on workers suffering from bipolar and paranoid personality disorders.
These workers show no physical symptoms of their disorders and one can hardly suspect that they suffer from any debilitating personality problems when interacting with them occasionally on a social basis.
There are no obvious abnormal signals that one usually notices in those suffering from depression or alcohol abuse.
Yet, those suffering from personality disorders create significant hardships to their colleagues as they cause repeated and subtle disruption in the workplace and the decision-making process.
People with personality disorders may be found both in the board room as well as the shop floor as these disorders are not linked to the level of academic achievement of an individual. Employers therefore need to give careful attention to those employees who show signs of personality disorders.
One of the most debilitating forms of personality disorders that affect the workplace is the paranoid personality.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, people suffering from this disorder “suspect, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting them harmfully or deceiving them; they are preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends and associates; they are reluctant to confide in others because of unwarranted fear that the information will be used maliciously against them; they read hidden or demeaning meanings into benign remarks or events; they persistently bear grudges, i.e. are unforgiving of insults, injuries, or slights and perceive attacks on their character or reputation that are not apparent to others and are quick to react angrily or to counter attack”.
There are, of course, varying degrees of these disorders and many affected workers may function normally for most of the time only to show signs of these disorders in times of stress. The affect of such behaviour on their colleagues can be quite devastating. People with personality disorders tend to think that the problem resides with others in the environment and not within themselves. When confronted by their colleagues they fail to acknowledge their problem and the same behaviour is repeated over and over.
Few organisations have access to psychologists who can identify the cause of the disruption in the workplace caused by these damaged people. The colleagues of people with personality disorders often find it difficult to understand what is going on around them.
Because of their lack of experience or knowledge on these conditions they rarely show sympathy with the affected workers. In the absence of decisive action by the management of the organisations where these realities prevail, interpersonal relations are often very strained thereby affecting staff morale and productivity.
Other personality disorders like obsessive personality, antisocial, narcissistic, histrionic, and bipolar have different symptoms but cause equally disruptive effects on the functionality of teams in the workplace. Varying statistics exist on the prevalence of these conditions but they are certainly not uncommon.
Like physical illnesses, personality disorders need to be addressed in the workplace if we aim to provide a healthy working environment for all employees. Workers face increasingly difficult work conditions in today’s workplace where stress levels have increased as a result of tough economic conditions and the constant struggle to balance professional duties with family priorities.
Academic training in management skills often do not address the issues of dealing with mental health problems in the workplace possibly because of the lack of awareness of the prevalence of these problems. The social stigma associated with personality disorders also discourages discussion on this important subject that affects both the colleagues and the families of those who suffer from these conditions.
Employers need to be more aware of the incidence of personality disorders among their workforce and they will do well to seek professional advice on how to deal with this debilitating phenomenon.
jcassarwhite@yahoo.com