I recently did a study of Joseph Shannon, Ph.D.’s work on Noxious People. He defines noxious people as problematic relationships that can cause us many problems, anxiety and chaos. He also calls them extremely ‘high conflict people’ and ‘toxic people’. Here is a list of some of the characteristics of noxious, toxic, high conflict people he presents:
- They have profound problems with anger and outbursts and tend to be very aggressive or passive/aggressive.
- They have a conflict orientation to life and are high maintenance people.
- They have a history of troubled relationships.
- They view relationships as “all or nothing”, in black and white terms. They either admire and love you and put you on a pedestal, or hate and despise you.
- They have a pathological need to be the center of your life and the center of your attention.
- They act like spoiled kids and throw temper tantrums.
- They have a strong sense of entitlement.
- They have a remarkable ability to create psycho drama.
- They are always the victim and look for heroes to help carry their pain.
- They have intense emotions that overrule rational thinking.
- They feel they must act IMMEDIATELY on every feeling they have.
- They are very paranoid and unduly mistrustful of the intentions and motives of others.
- They have profound problems with impulse control and judgment.
- They have delusions and cognitively distort truths and facts. Their reality is much different than the true facts.
- They are boundary violators and push and push and push. They want no boundaries set by others; and if they do set boundaries, they simply violate them.
- They have an appalling lack of empathy, or appear to have no empathy at all.
I knew these facts, but he summarized these and many more that were once again eye-opening for me and I wanted to pass this along to you. Seek out Christians that uplift you and join you on the journey to your best self.
The 4 audio CD’s can be purchased through the Institute for Brain Potential.
Blessings!
Dr. Baker
www.drsherrybaker.com/