Firstly, however, it's important to understand that everyone has a need for attention to some degree. From a subjective, personal point of view, I think there are two ways of dealing with such people and in turn, such situations; you can both ignore it and just go with the interaction, or you can challenge it. Now, to be clear, when I talk about overly negative people , I don’t mean those who are occasionally negative – we all are from time to time. No missing or damaged pages, no tears, possible very minimal creasing, no underlining or highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins. Values such as ‘Open to change and ‘Positive contributor’ make it easier to challenge behaviour that doesn’t demonstrate what’s expected.

My DH has moods - I know exactly what you mean about the mood hoover, you can feel the change in the weather. I’m not talking about the colleague who lets off steam about something or the teacher who often gets involved in heated discussions regarding school policy.Use affect labeling to diffuse the situation welcoming each thought and emotion as you notice them “That’s tension”, “Hello stress” “And this is anxiety” labeling whatever comes as a thought, feeling or emotion rather than identifying with it. Although she was very kind, she moaned, blamed, complained and never saw any good in anything – at all. It’s important to remember that mood hoovers are not necessarily bad people, and they may not show all of these traits at once, but if you start spotting these on a regular basis within your organisation then you may need to act. She's just taken on a role of being in charge (and tbf does do a lot to help) but it's the constant moaning about how much when it's not necessary to do all that as we'd help.

It can happen to any of us and we’re all entitled to an off day but on a regular basis it can be exhausting and completely drain your energy levels. Everyone spends time in both areas of concern and influence but the question is ‘Where do you spend most of your time?And then all we hear about is how much she did to help and the company that we've helped go on about how much she does and how we need more people to volunteer. Encouraging self reflection and honesty may help them understand how they are perceived to others and they may make positive changes on their own. They may not feel confident in themselves or their abilities, so they seek external validation and attention to fill this void. By focusing on things that are in their control to influence, their circles of influence increase, and therefore concerns have less impact. Again though, this is just my opinion, and every person should make sure they deal with such situations in the way they feel most comfortable.

There are many such examples of women going into counselling with their abusers and more often than not the above scenario plays out. Powerful, plaintive expression of the fathomless sorrow of our suffering cetaceans and their depthless home, together with the indescribable loveliness of their distant blue-black realm. As long as overall our contribution to the world of work and particularly our colleagues is positive and adds to the camaraderie, the odd minor grump can be overlooked.We can’t always control situations, and definitely not other people, but there are ways of focusing ourselves on being positive and blocking out any influential and unwanted negativity that finds its way into our lives.