From Difficult to Disturbed: Understanding and Managing Dysfunctional Employees

Chapter 7. Working Wounded: Mental Disorders on the Job

The previous five chapters discussed workers with a variety of personality styles and disorders that, although they may cause significant problems, are generally perceived to be part of the individuals’ selves, as the core of who they are. The next three chapters describe syndromes that are usually classified as mental disorders. That is, they are typically regarded as syndromes the individual has, as opposed to core characteristics that define who he or she is, although, in the real human world, the dividing line between personality and psychopathology is never neatly drawn.

It’s also important to understand that these disorders span a wide range of severity levels and the people described ...