Bullying

A man joined the department in which I worked. He was good to most of the staff. He was discourteous and abrupt to me. 

The colleague pleased our manager. I thought the manager liked him.

When the manager was watching, the colleague was polite to me, but not at other times.

The department was accommodated in one large room. I heard the colleague's voice whenever he spoke. I was aware of him whenever he walked past me.

The colleague often talked on the phone. He spoke loudly. He used words and phrases like "paranoid", "cuckoo", and "his mother didn't want him" amongst business talk.

Sometimes I found myself synchronized with the sounds and body movements of third parties.

I felt pain and fear. I couldn't concentrate on my work.

I tried everything I knew to change the situation. I regularly said 'Good Morning' to the colleague. Nothing changed. I tried ignoring him. Nothing changed.

I couldn't complain, because he did nothing illegal.

I heard about bullying. I read books and looked at websites on the Internet. I felt some consolation. However, the kind of behavior that hurt me wasn't included in the definitions.

I felt anxious, frustrated and hopeless.