Almost everyone has had encounters with toxic people in real life and online. The internet really seems to draw the worse out these personalities because of its anonymity. It is almost like road rage. A seemingly nice person becomes a totally different person when sitting behind the wheel of a car. Some behave differently after drinking too much alcohol. Some are just nasty 24/7. After being too involved with people with personality disorders, I have learned to identify them faster and keep interaction at a minimum. I am pretty much a people pleaser but some people do not appreciate that type of personality and just see me as an easy doormat upon which to stomp their feet. I just remove myself, knowing it is their problem and try not to make it mine. If it is a stranger online, it is much easier to ignore, even completely avoid the person. If it is a stranger in real life, the best defense is still flight, not fight because these people may be armed and dangerous.
If it is a close relative, a balanced person has no choice but tolerate the condition as best as possible to keep confrontation at a minimum. It is easier if I remind myself that the person suffers from a mental illness and there is alot of pain inside this person driving them to be nasty.
Another phenomena is when toxic personalities unite or when a strong toxic personality manipulates others to join them creating a mob mentality. When I see somebody else become a victim of mob mentality, I find it much harder to ignore because I care too much about the victim. Too bad we see this mob mentality way too often online and in real life. Even on reality tv shows! Then I have to pick and choose my battles wisely, reminding myself that most people do have empathy and care about others.
ETA: Just discovered Facebook offers the option to block the viewing of posts made by specific people! Ignoring this kind of person just got way easier on Facebook :)
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