Hmm, well i dont think hes being nasty to you. its his personality. just like you have your own personality. infact i am a bit of a cross between the both of you. i am very shy and dont make small talk with anyone, infact i could go a whole week without having to speak and id be very happy. unfortunatly i am forced to! i also do things a different way at work and people always ask why am i doing it this way, but i feel my way is better. so i let them think theyre showing me the better way, and then i go and do it my way anyway. screw them! whenever i talk people laugh at me too, they say im random and crazy and they dont get me. i am kind of a geeky person and they are like party people and that. but i am better than them so i dont care what they say. but i take the piss out of these people with my geeky colleagues, just like they take the piss from me. i think what your experiencing is a clash of personalities. you and him are different species, and at the end of the day you go home and get on with your life. if it bothers you that much, belittle him back the next time new people start. you show them round, the new people will always agree with the person showing them around, you dont have to say to his face that hes doing it a less better way than you, say it to them, and all have a quiet giggle, you'll feel much better.

You sound like you may be a bit scatterbrained. This is actually an indication of high intelligence, and the smartest people in history have been the most scatterbrained because they are thinking about 100 things at a time, but needing to only answer a question about one, so the words come out weird or just as "rambling"

The only thing I can recommend is not to try to answer someone's question right away when they talk to you, but tell them, "Let me think about that", then take like 3 or 4 seconds to clear your head of everything not related to that topic, THEN start talking. Sometimes I get anxious around people I do not even know, even when the topic is something I am very knowledgeable on, because I am distracted by 10 other things in my head. Try it out, see how it works.

I guess that he is older than you,and so he's the type that likes to boss people around that seem a bit submissive and a walk over.It seems like a little bullying to me.Is he your superviser? If not then i wouldn't hesitate to raise your voice to him and tell him whats what.Just stand up to him and be assertive and he will back down a bit.Don't worry about hurting anyones feelings.

He keeps undermining you all the time and you let him.Everytime he makes you feel like crap,he is succeeding in his attempts in making you feel small.Having someone watch you do things,especially fiddly repetitive things with your hands can make you feel a bit awkward.Are the others doing the same job? if so just focus on them.Take your mind off yourself and just be more of aware of your surroundings in your work place.Does anyone have a radio playing while you work? Just that when i worked in a factory before doing assembly work ,we had a radio to listen to which broke up the monotony of the job,and the time went quicker and you didn't feel pressured to do small talk all the time.

Hi, I can certainly understand your feelings of lack of enthusiasm as I too suffer from anxiety depression (in my case brought on by excessive stress at work). Depression is truly known as the disease of the strong because it builds up over long periods of time and we all try to fight it for as long as possible, but once it gets to us, it can be very difficult to find our way out. I am assuming that you are under treatment and I hope your councillor is as good as mine, because I have found my way back.

As to what to do at work, it is all about how you position yourself in the psychology of that environment. I'm sure that you have had the different personality traits explained to you - you know, the child (who is always open to bullying and intimidation), the adult who is strong and will reject bad attitudes from others and the teacher who may be benign (helpful) or bullying. We all move between these three states all the time, but for people like us, it can be a conscious decision (rather than something that just happens).

What you have to do is to maintain your own position by an act of will. Everyone makes mistakes - it is a natural part of life (I am a Chief Executive of an organisation with a large turnover and many staff, but even after 30 years, I still make mistakes every day and so do my staff, indeed I like to reward failure (occasional failure) because if people fail now and then, they are trying their best and pushing at the limits). If someone is ignorant enough to make fun of your mistakes then see that for what it is - they are in child mode, just as if they were still in the playground rather then at work. Try to maintain an adult thought process at that point (don't slip into teacher because that will only antagonise them). After a time your new colleagues will realise that Fred is playing the child and they will lose their respect for him - it may take some time, but it will happen in the end.

When you are talking, take the time to think about what you are going to say and then say it - from the way you write it is clear that you can organise your thoughts perfectly well on screen, so use the same technique for speech. Take your time and you will talk sense and not only that, your colleagues will learn to respect you because you don't 'talk crap' and you don't run your colleagues (even Fred) down. Try to think of it from their point of view - even if they are temporarily enjoying Fred's attempts to put you down, they will know (in their subconscious) that they might be next and that will work for you.

Lastly, if your colleagues are just watching you work, sooner or later the supervisor will see and want to know why they aren't working - you may just get to enjoy that moment!

All in all, your happiness and success are in your own hands - yes, if you are like me, you will need some help along the way, but in the end it is up to you and I am sure that you will make it happen!

Good luck - I know you'll find your way

David