I would give my right eye ..
Apr. 4th, 2007 04:16 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
lihan161051.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
techrecovery.. for a model procedure to use with any end user whose issues can be readily found in the DSM.
I have had it up to my (receding) hairline with people who won't focus on any one thing long enough for me to get any kind of picture of what's going on and how much of it is real and how much of it is their favorite delusion of persecution or whatever, burning up hour after hour asking questions like "Does X do Y, *yes* or *no*?" and getting answers that start with "Oh, and when I do Z it sometimes does such and such and I just *know* it's sending my email to the CIA, and ..", until I'm not even sure what color the sky is.
It isn't healthy to be on the phone with someone whose grip on reality is that tenuous for that length of time. I tend to need to buttonhole sane intelligent friends after calls like that and beg them to say something, anything, coherent just to anchor me in reality again, especially if it's someone manic enough to not even seem to need to breathe or otherwise leave any gaps for me to squeeze a word in edgewise. There really should be some commonly accepted protocol for shutting down that sort of psychological torture, preferably one that doesn't involve deliberately hanging up on them. If they have some minimal grasp of reality to the extent that they're aware someone who's trying to stay sane is being forced to listen to them, sometimes the "there's no way for me to get detailed enough info to answer that question over the phone" approach works, but for the ones who seem to have lost their tinfoil hat back on Jupiter somewhere .. not so much.
*headdesk*
I need another vacation. I need them way too often.
I have had it up to my (receding) hairline with people who won't focus on any one thing long enough for me to get any kind of picture of what's going on and how much of it is real and how much of it is their favorite delusion of persecution or whatever, burning up hour after hour asking questions like "Does X do Y, *yes* or *no*?" and getting answers that start with "Oh, and when I do Z it sometimes does such and such and I just *know* it's sending my email to the CIA, and ..", until I'm not even sure what color the sky is.
It isn't healthy to be on the phone with someone whose grip on reality is that tenuous for that length of time. I tend to need to buttonhole sane intelligent friends after calls like that and beg them to say something, anything, coherent just to anchor me in reality again, especially if it's someone manic enough to not even seem to need to breathe or otherwise leave any gaps for me to squeeze a word in edgewise. There really should be some commonly accepted protocol for shutting down that sort of psychological torture, preferably one that doesn't involve deliberately hanging up on them. If they have some minimal grasp of reality to the extent that they're aware someone who's trying to stay sane is being forced to listen to them, sometimes the "there's no way for me to get detailed enough info to answer that question over the phone" approach works, but for the ones who seem to have lost their tinfoil hat back on Jupiter somewhere .. not so much.
*headdesk*
I need another vacation. I need them way too often.
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-04 10:35 pm (UTC)Caller: "blah blah unnecessary information blah"
Me: "No, sir. Do you need X? Yes or no."
Caller: "blah same pointless bullshit blah blah"
Me: "NO, sir. Yes or no. Those are your only options. Which is it?"
Caller: "Er, yes?"
Me: "Good choice, sir. Your name/address/phone number, please."
My supervisor is aware that I do this, but he's as patience-impaired as I am, and I work alone on my shift anyway, so I'm in no danger of being yelled at for it.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-04 11:53 pm (UTC):D
no subject
Date: 2007-04-05 12:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-05 01:00 pm (UTC)<devil voice> We are sending in the black helicopters. Do not try and run and was that a yes, sir?
no subject
Date: 2007-04-05 04:40 pm (UTC)I am fortunate enough that I have very few story tellers at work. And the few that we do have generally include enough information in their drivel that I can (usually) decipher what the hell they need. Plus, I have a (management approved) bad habit of telling people to open a work order if I'm in the [middle of something(more difficult|interesting)|in the can|eating lunch]