Toxic coworkers can have various effects on you, including an increase in your stress levels and an increase in your mental health issues. The fact that someone on your team is so rude to you, and at times even to their direct manager, can cause you to question yourself and your career and possibly even become your first cause for concern regarding your company values.
Although this post isn’t meant to diagnose you with any particular disorder or give you a prescription, it is important to understand that certain types of people are toxic. This kind of behavior will only worsen if ignored.
Your opinion of yourself is intertwined with how your coworkers react to you, so let’s take a look at the most common toxic behaviors that might be hurting your career and self-esteem.
Toxic coworkers can undermine your self-worth
If someone is making you feel devalued or like a bad person, they are making you believe that your opinions don’t matter and that they can have you fired or have you speaking to HR on their behalf. The opposite of this is the toxic coworker who makes you feel valued, praises you, and tells you that your opinion is valued and needed.
An example of this would be if a toxic coworker is always telling you that you are doing a good job, so you come to believe that you are good at what you do.
One of the most harmful behaviors that are harmful to people’s self-esteem is to have a coworker constantly undermine your role in the office or act as though you are incompetent.
Toxic coworkers can make you feel stressed or anxious
Toxic coworkers can increase your stress level and worsen any existing psychological issues that you might have. If you have any doubts that your coworkers are toxic, they can also make you believe that you need to leave a company or that the company should get rid of you.
There is no need to settle for this kind of treatment.
The key here is to take the initiative to take control of the situation. Say something like: “I know this conversation is always coming up, and I don’t want to have to have it, but I feel like you have such a negative attitude towards me, and your negativity is making me feel stressed out and overwhelmed.”
Another good tactic is to speak to the executive and HR departments to see if you can pinpoint any potential issues or be made aware of any unfair treatment. If they refuse to help, that is also another indication that something is definitely going on and that you need to speak up.
Toxic coworkers will make you doubt your abilities
Businesswoman working at desk in modern office
Some of the worst examples of toxic behaviors are when a toxic coworker makes you feel like you are not doing a good job or that you cannot work at a level that you could. Being told by someone that you are “failing” is damaging to your confidence, which can negatively affect your work.
If someone constantly tells you that you are lazy or that you are not talented enough, it can make you question whether you have the abilities to achieve your goals or whether you should have chosen another field of work.
If you feel like someone is making you doubt your abilities, you need to be proactive in speaking to your manager, or your manager, if you have one. Your manager is in a much better position to know if this is a problem, and if it is, they can certainly address it and try to fix it.
If they aren’t aware, it is something that you need to deal with. Likely, they are not aware of your coworker’s toxic behaviors because they either ignore it or do not have the tools to deal with it, like looking into whether your coworker is legitimately toxic or something else causing it.
Toxic coworkers will make you sick
Finally, there is the poisonous coworker that causes you physical health problems. The sickest examples of toxic behavior are when you come into work or are told to come into work sick because you have to work with that toxic coworker.
The risk of this is that your health will suffer if you catch an illness from your toxic coworker. This can be even worse if it’s an illness that you have an immunity problem with, such as a cold.
Taking this into account, it is best if you stay away from toxic coworkers and always avoid coming to work if you feel unwell. Remember, your health is the most important thing to deal with, especially if you have a family to care for.
If you work in an office, it is best to find a company that you can work with and that will be suitable for you, as this will enable you to avoid toxic coworkers. If you work in an office, it is best to find a company that you can work with and that will be suitable for you, as this will enable you to avoid toxic coworkers.
Toxic coworkers will make you feel useless
When you work with someone who has a toxic attitude towards you, it makes you feel worthless. It can feel like you have no impact on their day, and they have no regard for your contributions.
If you find yourself at this point, you should seek out a manager or someone in higher management to see if you can address the problem. You need to speak to your manager and see if they can chat with your coworker and see if they can help make the environment better.
Alternatively, if you find that your coworker is making your job difficult, it may be that you need to look for a new job because you just cannot take their behavior anymore.
Toxic coworkers will make you feel insecure
Finally, the toxic coworker makes you feel insecure, like they are judging you and that you do not have their approval to do a good job. This can make you feel unsure of yourself in the workplace, and your performance suffers.
If you feel insecure in your role, you may begin to doubt your abilities and start to question whether you should even be working at that company or if you can truly fulfill the role of that role.
If you feel this, it is best to speak to a manager and talk about this with them. If you speak to a manager, they will be in a better position to address this issue.
Toxic behavior is no good for the mental health of you or your colleagues, and it is better if you can deal with it sooner rather than later.
