Miserable people

[11JB68]

It seems no matter where I work there are those folks who are just miserable no matter what. Any job / workplace has pros and cons. I get it that it's just a 'thing' to 'hate your job'. But really, I try to make the best of work, I'd rather be on a beach etc. but that's not reality. But then there are those who seem to be perpetually miserable no matter what and want to make everyone else miserable too. Gossiping, complaining, whispering, threatening to quit, etc. I'm not saying these folks all are PD or uPD...but I have at least one at my current job who I truly believe has a PD, and another who I just think likes to play people off one another and thrives on drama. What strategies have you all used in the workplace for this? For someone who tries to maintain a positive attitude it really makes for an uncomfortable environment. In fact, I've been called a 'polly anna' for trying to be positive and make the best of an imperfect situation. I find these folks (esp the one I'm talking about here) expect perfection from everyone around them, while they are NOT perfect themselves....very much like my uOCPDh.

[clara]

I suffered from periodic mild depression for most of my adult life--depression apparently caused by hormonal fluctuations that was unresponsive to any medication (and I tried them all) and which only lifted as I got older.  So I was often in a state of "working miserable" but I always knew why I was in that state, and when it got bad I just avoided people and situations where my being around wouldn't help.  Being that way made me aware of those who seemed to deliberately go out of their way to make everyone miserable.  They didn't seem to have problems or issues, even seemed happy and content, so I could never understand why they'd do that--what was their end game?  Did it give them some kind of strange satisfaction?  I now know a number of them were PD or narcs, and their behavior was driven by internal needs and had nothing to do with the work environment.  They just happened to be at work.  They were probably the exact same at home or anywhere else.   But the side effect of such behavior was always the same--dysfunction and discord.  They were always stirring the pot.  No matter how hard you tried to stay out of that pot, you always seemed to end up in it!  After awhile I just figured it was the way it was--they can't change, won't change, and all you can do is ignore the behavior (which they hate but eventually they leave you alone because they know they can't get a response from you) and do your job and go out of your way to find things or people that are pleasant in order to improve the day.  A toxic environment is a toxic environment, and  you need to take breaks from it in order to keep yourself healthy.  It also helps to realize that nope, it's not you, it's them (and they'll bend over backwards to make  you believe it's all you!)