Category: Psychological Storybook

Categories
Hoarding Disorder Psychological Storybook

Horus’s Problems at Work

Storybook

This is a snapshot story from a storybook that contains clinical presentations of various mental disorders. The characters present maladaptive (and adaptive) psychological features that are associated with their disorders.
This particular story is about Hoarding Disorder.

“Horus, are you going to tell me what are we gonna do about this?” Sara asked Horus, pointing towards a pile of empty packs of cigarettes and matchboxes right underneath his desk.

Horus sighed.

Sara was an attorney and Horus was her assistant. She was not the only one who had noted the cigarette packs gathering at the foot of the desk. The cleaning lady had often brought this up, asking for Horus to dump this extra trash.

Horus had started gathering the cigarette packs for months. He had had a constant habit of misplacing his ashtray, and he found the empty boxes to be more convenient, as he had a lot of them and well – he did not have to deal with the excess ash and cigarette butts lying around his cubicle.

“Sara, I’ll get this mess away. First thing in the morning. I promise!”

This was also not the first time Horus had promised this. But this promise was never really fulfilled. He had tried to bring himself to do away the boxes.

 It was just that they were convenient to use as ‘trashcans’ and containers to hide his lighters in. Plus, it seemed like a huge hassle to do away with such a large number boxes. He had lost track of what he had hidden in each box. But they were there when he had misplaced his lighters too. He could just pop a few of them open, and usually he’d find a half-usable lighter.

It’s not like he had not tried to get rid of the mess. Sara had once forced the cleaning lady to take out every box littered in the cubicle. Horus did not like it. He did not know where he could hide his lighters or even the change that the clients would give him as tips – other than in the cigarette boxes. His pockets and his bag always seemed too full.

Nevertheless, Sara was not going to wait around for Horus to keep on putting off this issue. Many clients had complained about the smell of stale cigarettes that emanated from the pile of trash.

Moreover, some had even tried to get away from the cubicle as soon as possible, preferring to delay or call off the meetings than to stay.

While Horus had been a diligent paralegal, his habits were now causing their office more harm than good. He was aware that Sara seemed to have an issue with it, but no client had directly told him that there was a problem with his office.

Plus, Horus felt that the work was too consuming and the boxes to convenient for him to just discard them. Rather, the pile was actually a source of comfort that he would always his essentials with him. No issues with the lighters, change or ash flying around as long as the boxes were around.

When Sara had the cubicle cleaned the next morning, Horus felt as if his privacy was invaded. Moreover, he was now unable to find his lighter as he sat down, cigarette between his teeth.

So, he brought out an empty cigarette box from his bag and took out an older lighter from it.

He could not foreshadow that Sara was going to fire him the next month over a new pile of cigarette boxes.

Categories
Psychological Storybook Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Oben’s Problems at Work

Oben could not stop thinking about what just happened. The day was going fine, he had had a good bout of meetings with his clients. Everything was going great in fact. But his heart dropped when he went back into his office.

Oben had a neat array of fountain pens, always on the right side of his desk. They were color-coded. And each pen was aligned neatly, the capped nib facing his revolving chair. But when he came back into his office, he noticed that one of the pens was missing.

It was his midnight blue pen, one that he had just gotten this summer.

His mind started racing as he began to think about all the places that he might have dropped his pen.

It couldn’t be that far from my office – I never take these pens off my desk unless I have to! He thought.

So, he began searching. Oben began by shifting the table to see underneath it. But then, exasperated, he began emptying the drawers. The notebooks that he threw out made heavy thuds against the floor and the furniture. People from outside his office started noticing until a colleague, Roma, who he was dating opened the door.

“Oben, is everything alright?” But then she stopped.

Oben was frantically now skimming through the shelf behind his chair, clearing all the papers and files out onto the floor.

“It was just here! I don’t believe how it could be anywhere else!”

This was not the first time that Roma and several other colleagues had seen Oben ‘lose his mind’ over very small things. He had had a similar breakdown when he noticed that a paper weight was missing.  

And Roma had only borrowed it. Well, she should have told him beforehand, but she thought, that’s nothing to freak out over, right?

Hearing the commotion, a colleague of Oben’s summoned the HR. Safe to say, Oben was not liked. But it took more than 10 minutes for the HR team to convince him to join them in the conference room.

Oben felt exasperated. But he also knew he was in trouble. He had promised them that he would be taking regular sessions with his shrink. But, this time he could not control himself.

Because of the damage that was caused to the shelf and the desk and the ‘disruptiveness’ of Oben’s actions, he was given a 2 week suspension from work. This was not the first time Oben had had such a mental breakdown.

But the HR representative’s message this time was clear:

‘Get your act together, or do not join the office again.”

But Oben felt hopeless, powerless.

2 weeks later, Oben returned. He had had made an active effort to not lose it anymore. Roma met him at the door and greeted him with a donut. While Roma and Oben had had conversations within this time, he told her that he was busy working on himself.

‘So, what’s up? How do you feel?’ Roma inquired.

‘Everything’s fine, Roma. Absolutely fine!’ Oben cheerily replied, as he began arranging his pens neatly on the right side of his desk.

Categories
Psychological Storybook Agoraphobia

Agra’s Problems at Work

Storybook

This is a snapshot story from a storybook that contains clinical presentations of various mental disorders. The characters present maladaptive (and adaptive) psychological features that are associated with their disorders.

Agra felt a surge of dread wash over her as her assistant, Fera, said that she had parked her car in the parking lot.

It was Agra’s practice to park her car in front of the building of the software house. She had asked special permission from the CEO of the company, to allow her this. Unfortunately, today, she had made the mistake of giving her car to Fera to fetch breakfast for her. And the assistant had decided that the parking lot was to be the best place for a car to be parked.

Agra began shouting at Fera.

“I gave you one job! You know I cannot park my car anywhere other than the front of the building!”

But the assistant was simply clueless. Agra had kept her fear hidden from the people around her for over a year. She remembered this and she tried to calm herself down.

Agra had never been a fan of airy, vacant spaces. They seemed to stretch on forever. It had always felt like the scariest thing in the world, crossing from one end of the road to the other when she was trying to get to home from college later in the night. She had been an employee at this software house for 2 years and she had never really liked the parking lot either.

It seemed vacant. And endless.

And then, a year ago, a colleague of Agra’s was robbed in the parking lot. That was the final nail in the coffin. She could not go there. Even after the firm had assured all the employees that security was now tighter than ever, she could not walk towards the lot. As soon as she entered the space through the basement floor, she felt that she could either just not move or she had to run to her car.

Who knows what could happen in this empty, endless vacuum of a place?

To quell her concerns, the CEO had allowed her to park the car in front of the building. Even that seemed a bit of a hassle. But Agra knew that this was the best he could do about it.

But Agra let the work consume her for now. She buried her face back in the files.

Finished with work, she packed her stuff. As she remembered that the car was parked in the parking lot, she felt a surge of dread. She tried calling her assistant, but then remembered that Fera had taken off earlier as she had to run some errands.

Agra felt cold as she walked down the basement. The stairs seemed unbearable. As she opened the door to the lot, she frantically spotted her car and sprinted towards it. It was like she could hear her heartbeat and each running step seemed to take her only a little closer.

Finally, she got to the car, fumbled with the car keys, got in and slammed the door shut.

She then took a deep breath and hurtled out of the parking lot, toppling a bin over on her way out.

Categories
Panic Disorder

Paneck’s Problems at Work

Storybook

This is a snapshot story from a storybook that contains clinical presentations of various mental disorders. The characters present maladaptive (and adaptive) psychological features that are associated with their disorders.

A 35 year old male, Paneck was employed as a manager at a beauty salon. This was his 3rd year at the salon and he had had a troubled experience dealing with the recent issues at work.

Thanks to the marketing team and the staff’s work, the beauty salon had recently gotten a boom of new customers. This obviously required the staff to work that much harder than they normally were used to.

While Paneck liked that the owner, Ms. Rey increased his income, he found it difficult to manage the staff at times. The work hours had become more hectic. As a result, some of the employees had demanded an increase in pay. But Paneck’s duty was only to manage the beauticians. While he could recommend some employees, he was concerned that if he tried to vouch for everyone, the owner of the salon would stop taking him seriously.

And he did not want to quit his job.

A week ago, Paneck was approached by Rey and was scolded that he was cutting corners. Paneck had been taking off from work an hour earlier than normal. But that was only because he had to go home and take care of his mother, who was battling cancer.

However, this had cut short the end-of-day customers. The owner was not happy and she demanded Paneck to stay overtime to compensate for this.

During this conversation, Paneck became aware that his heart rate was increasing rapidly. He also felt his breaths become shallower. In a few minutes, Paneck was reaching out for some chair, doubling over, panting and sweating. Rey called the other employees for help, and a crowd gathered around Paneck. He was offered water. Rey then took him inside her office and Paneck calmed down after about 10 minutes. Paneck apologized but he felt that his heart was about to burst from his chest.

In the week that followed, Paneck experienced these instances where his heart rate seemed to increase drastically in a very short period of time. Each time this happened, he found it difficult to breathe and he had to sit down, separate himself from the environment he was in for a few minutes. After that, he found it somewhat difficult to work, but he tried his best to remain at the salon until it was off-time.

The coworkers were apprehensive. They were generally satisfied with how Paneck conducted affairs at work, but these new problems that Paneck reported feeling made them sure that he needed a break from work. On days where there was greater workload, the employees noticed that he felt more distressed, often leading to these ‘attacks.’

But Paneck wanted to work. He did not understand why he was going through this. All he knew was that at times his heart-rate seemed to shoot up. In fact, he noticed that his heart-rate went up particularly when he was in the lobby of the salon. He was becoming increasingly afraid of the next time he was going to feel this rush of bodily fluctuations. The worst thing was that he did not understand when this would happen. It looked as if it could happen at any time.

Still, Paneck was managing everything. His family needed the money. And he figured that the next time it happened, he would simply have to seclude himself from everyone else, in order to not cause anyone else any problems. Moreover, the way the crowd gathered around him made him even more confused and angry at himself.

Life at work was not really going that well. And Paneck had an idea that this was only going to get worse.

Categories
Uncategorized Social Anxiety Disorder

Sonata’s Troubles at Work

Storybook

This is a snapshot story from a storybook that contains clinical presentations of various mental disorders. The characters present maladaptive (and adaptive) psychological features that are associated with their disorders.

Sonata, a middle-aged woman, had major issues whenever it was her time to present at work. However, this presentation was important as this time it was to be given specifically to a team hired by a potential investor to get the know-how of Sonata’s firm.

Sonata was a hardworking woman. She was always a little wary of social gatherings, avoiding them as much as possible. However, for much of her life she had still tried to do her best to manage this condition.

Often when presenting or even standing in large groups of friends or family, Sonata had a feeling that others were judging the way she looked, talked and behaved. This feeling made her loath the times she had to speak out at work. Nevertheless, she had tried to adapt. She was getting better until the CEO of the company commented on her meekness while she was presenting to a foreign client.

Her reaction, which was of puzzlement and fear became somewhat of a hidden joke at work. Sonata didn’t find it funny. In fact, for much of the past year since this event, she had shirked away from most social events at work. Even when giving a monthly report she mostly tried to run through the slide, terrified that someone would make a comment.

Sonata also did not like how her face would turn red before she was to speak out. She could feel her heart racing and her head getting hot and she did not like to think what others could make of it.

That is why she mostly remained to herself. That is not to say that she did not have friends at work. She did talk regularly to two other coworkers. But presenting in front of an audience was simply too much.

However, this time, there was no escape. The clients were too important. Plus, Sonata was actually proud of the work she had done in the last couple of months. But she had not slept the entire night before the presentation day. She felt tired, nervous and very low.

Just before she was about to leave for work in the morning, Sonata tried priming herself in her car. She tried to justify the presentation, tried to minimize her anxiety by relaxing, repeating encouragement to herself.

It worked a little, and she drove herself to work.

However, seeing the spacious hall, the special arrangements, and the investors seated along with 100 other people, Sonata began feeling faint.

She went to the podium, feeling light-headed. She tried to start speaking, but she felt herself choking. Suddenly, she was even more aware of how hot her face felt. There appeared to be a thousand eyes staring at Sonata.

She hurriedly went through the slides, read them out aloud and walked off the stage.

Categories
Psychological Storybook Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissus’s Problems at Work

Storybook

This is a snapshot story from a storybook that contains clinical presentations of various mental disorders. The characters present maladaptive (and adaptive) psychological features that are associated with their disorders.

Narcissus was a young, 24 year old man.

He had just begun work at an online start up as a marketing specialist after he passed the interview with flying colors. He considered himself to be the best financial adviser and had hopes of achieving a lot in his career. At work, his performance was generally good and he was meeting a significant portion of the goals that were set out for him.

One very odd thing about his conduct at job was that he excessively talked about the great things that he is doing and things he will do in the future. While his colleagues thought that he was reaching too far, they didn’t say much as he was doing well at the workplace. On the contrary, some of the employees actually enjoyed the way he talked – as if he was sure about everything. The way he talked was also charismatic, often using a firm but dramatic tone of voice.

He quickly befriended his superiors and began hanging out with them after work.

However, just 6 months in the job, his colleagues started noticing that there were major issues with his conduct. He did not seem to take criticism constructively. In fact, when his colleagues pointed out ways in which he could improve his reports, he responded by pointing out mistakes in how the directions were not clear and that he was doing ‘the best work that could be possibly done.’

Narcissus’s boss understood that some of his concerns were valid. However, Narcissus criticized others often using harsh and inconsiderate language. He routinely used the word ‘idiot’ and ‘smooth brain’ to detract others who criticized him.

But Narcissus’s behavior with the boss was fine. Rather, he often told the boss how he wanted to get to his position eventually and make a lot of money.

One day, the boss criticized Narcissus’s report, pointing out major errors. His voice was raised and a few people around started to notice. Narcissus lashed back by telling the boss, “If you really knew how to write better, you wouldn’t be stuck in this place!”

The entire hall went silent.

This took the boss aback. Narcissus also realized that a lot of people were looking. He then exclaimed, “No one here is even capable of the work that I’m doing!”

And then, he stormed out of the hall.

He didn’t quit the job. Narcissus came back the next day and implemented a few things that the boss had recommended before.

Gradually, in person, Narcissus’s relationship with his boss seemed to get better. However, this was until one of Narcissus’s colleagues told the boss that Narcissus was ‘talking shit’ behind his back. The colleague reported that Narcissus often talked about the boss being a ‘slowpoke’ and that if Narcissus ever got the chance, he would easily surpass the boss.

The boss didn’t confront Narcissus over it. However, the other colleagues soon grew wary of Narcissus’s harsh criticism and an overly ‘high’ view of himself.