Prof. Nevzat Tarhan described 'toxic' people!

Pointing out that there is a global increase in toxic people, Pyschiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that “These are greedy and insatiable people. They always say, ‘me first’, and they only think about their own interest. They do not care about the rights of others and try to see themselves at the center of the world.”

Prof. Tarhan stated that “For example, nepotistic people are toxic people because they cannot provide justice.”

President of Üsküdar University, Psychiatrist Prof. Nevzat Tarhan evaluated the issue of toxic people.

Where did the word toxic come from?

Stating that the word toxic, which literally means poisonous, was chosen as the word of the year by Oxford in 2018, Prof. Tarhan expressed that "There was a need to conceptualize the word toxic. Especially in business management, business relations and human relations, toxic people seriously reduce the efficiency at work. They increase layoffs, disrupt order in political life, disrupt order in the family. There seems to be an increase in toxic people globally, and the need to identify it has emerged. Later, it entered the literature as toxic relationships and toxic leadership."

Tarhan: "People with toxic characters accept that what they do is normal"

Explaining that these people in toxic relationships are people who work only for their own benefit. They lie, break the rules, have bad intentions, approach events with the worst intentions, spread gossip, look for the flaws of their colleagues and bully others, Prof. Tarhan stated that these employees act in this way sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously, as the nature of their character.

Who is a toxic person?

Stating that people with toxic characters accept this as normal, Prof. Tarhan said the following remarks:

"This is the most dangerous thing. They are like mixers, and they mixed everything they are involved in. There is no peace where they are, and it is an area where a lot of work is done on how to treat such people. When we investigate psychiatrically, these people, especially paranoid people, also fall into these people, skeptical and suspicious people.

Tarhan: "These are the characteristics of a person who blows hot and cold and, they focus on their interests"

For example, if a person is obsessive, but if they are an arrogant obsessive, that person will be paranoid. On the other and, if a person is an arrogant paranoid, this will be more obvious because they cannot make their own self-criticism, and they cannot improve themselves. Or there are playful personalities. They make everything theatrical, that is, they are unstable personality traits. They act with a focus on interests. Another personality trait is narcissistic personality traits, and all of these are considered toxic personality traits."

Tarhan: "They always think ‘me first’, they only think about their own interests, and they do not care about the rights of others"

Noting that such people do not easily trust in their relations with other people, and that they see everyone as bad at first, and that they start to say 'he is good' when they see good behavior from him, Prof. Tarhan said that "In other words, doubt is essential and trust is an exception in these people. They also despise others, laugh up in their sleeves. Sometimes they hinder the work with passive-aggressive behavior. For example, they take a job, they say, 'Okay, sir, I am doing it,' and they do not do it. It is called passive aggressiveness. For example, if they have power, they use that power in the form of punishment, immediately waves his finger and oppresses one. In other words, they are people who have made bullying a method. They are constantly thinking about their own space, and they are thinking about growing their own space. They always think ‘me first’, they only think about their own interests, and they do not care about the rights of others. And they always try to see themselves at the center of the world.”

Toxic people increased

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that toxic people have increased because the world is an 'electronic village' and the rate of spread of evil is 6 times higher than good, and said that "A bad reaction, a reaction to negative information is 6 times faster than a reaction to positive information." Prof. Tarhan said that evil has also become global, and the definition of post-traumatic stress disorder was changed after the twin tower bombing in 2001. He noted that with the globalization of communication, post-traumatic stress disorder is also seen in those who do not experience the event.

'Bad World Syndrome'...

Stating that it is defined as 'Bad World Syndrome', Prof. Tarhan said that "Some people feel like the future of the world is not safe, some become withdrawn, some become aggressive, some become passive, so the personality emerges. In other words, humanity has had a lot compared to the past. The level of material well-being has increased; however, the level of psychological well-being is not in parallel. People have also tended to find solutions."

Prof. Tarhan also said that it is necessary to learn how to treat toxic people and how to treat them consciously if there is such a person in the family.

'Crab Bucket Syndrome'...

Drawing attention to the 'Crab Bucket Syndrome', Prof. Tarhan stated that "If there is a single crab, it tries to get out of the bucket and gets out. However, if there are not one, but five or ten crabs in the bucket, and one of them tries to get out, the other crabs in the bucket try to pull it from below. This is explained by the sense of group there. It says, ‘do not leave the group, and there is danger’. They are all in danger. There is such a thing, for example.”

Tarhan: "Nepotistic people are toxic people"

Reminding that the definition of nepotism in English comes from the word 'nephew', Prof. Tarhan stated that "In other words, favoring your nephew, favoring your relative. In our country, it is called my nephew or my niece, or the relatives… Well, it seems the word used for the only nephew there. Nepotism, that is, favorism. For example, nepotistic people are toxic people because they cannot provide justice.”

Stating that it is being investigated whether the sense of justice is genetic or not, Prof. Tarhan said that the existence of metacognitive genes in humans is being investigated and said that "Is there a genetic code related to this? Does it have software? What is in the human brain?"

Noting that emotional neglect in the family is also a childhood trauma, Prof. Tarhan said that "For this reason, justice is also important in emotion."

Tarhan: "Burnout syndrome does not happen in a multitude of jobs. It is because you cannot work peacefully."

Stating that if there is a lot of 'Burnout Syndrome' in a workplace, there are definitely toxic leaders or toxic personalities, Prof. Tarhan expressed that "Burnout syndrome does not happen in a lot of work. It is due to not being able to work peacefully. Most of all, it negatively affects corporate commitment, organizational commitment. In the studies conducted on 'What affects a person's corporate loyalty the most?', 'Liking the workplace the most, feeling safe in the second place, and the direction they take in the third place affect them'. It is much more important to be attached to the institution and to come to the institution with pleasure. Injustice disturbs one’s willingness to come to work.”

Prof. Nevzat Tarhan stated that "It is necessary to create a fair environment to prevent toxic people," and said that excessive competition negatively affects success, and that extremely toxic people cause non-peaceful competition.

Tarhan: "Toxic people are closed to criticism"

Stating that toxic personalities have dark sides, Prof. Tarhan expressed that "Where there is no open communication, the dark sides remain hidden and trust weakens. When trust weakens, fear increases. That is why it is the case with those who seem to be violent in competitiveness, in chauvinism. In other words, people who see their own culture and race as the superior race, or who have sexism, male sexism, female sexism, a rigid sense of identity, rigid role sharing, and who see themselves as perfect are toxic people. They are closed to criticism.”

"If there is an open, transparent and accountable environment, toxic people cannot grow there"

Explaining that toxic people cannot grow if there is an open, transparent, and accountable environment, Prof. Tarhan said that "The solution to this is to create an open, transparent and accountable family environment, workplace environment and community environment. What is the best way to fight the darkness? To light a light is to light a candle."

Prof. Tarhan said that "When you establish a relationship with a toxic person, but they do not set boundaries by saying that there should be no problems, they violate the boundaries” and noted that a person can say the hardest, heaviest word in the most gentle way to these people, "Look, you are a good person, but I do not find this action right", and the person who succeeds in this will draw the line for the toxic person.

Prof. Tarhan said that one should say ‘Can you speak a little quietly? Because I want to understand you’ to those who shout and frighten and have made this a method. Stating that results can be obtained when it is said, Tarhan expressed that "In other words, if your spouse throws a plate at you at home, if you throw it at them too, it will be over. It is not just telling the toxic person, 'You are a good person, but I do not approve of this behavior you are doing.' This time, we are working on the ability to say no to that person."

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)