Dysfunctional Environments: What is A Dysfunctional Environment?

When it comes to describing a Dysfunctional Atmosphere, it may well assist us to also look at what a functional environment may appear like.

Functional Environment

A functional environment then would be an location that is conducive to growth. Somewhere that not only supports and encourages an individual to be themselves, but also permits them to.

Here, one can express who they are and really feel secure performing so. Positive feelings and thoughts are also far more likely to happen in this environment.

Dysfunctional Environment

The dysfunctional atmosphere on the other hand would be somewhere that doesn't permit for the above to happen. Exactly where the individual doesn't really feel supported or acknowledged in anyway, let alone in a way that honours who they are. This could be an atmosphere that forces 1 to consistently compromise their values and themselves.

The word door mat comes to thoughts here with boundaries being nonexistent in this atmosphere. Feeling and thinking negatively is also a thing that may seem to just occur coming on like a parasite, without reason or warning. Despair is also an additional typical consequence from being in this type of environment.

Conscious And Unconscious Environments

With both of these examples we can see that one is an environment that could be classed as conscious and the other is an environment that is the complete opposite.

By this I mean that the dysfunctional atmosphere is an atmosphere exactly where behaviour and the effects of that behaviour go unnoticed. The people today in the atmosphere have little, to, no awareness of their actions or to the harm, which is being carried out physically, emotionally or mentally.

Standing Up

Maybe if 1 were to comment or mention how they felt to the person or persons in the environment, they may well be dismissed or ignored. This of course all depends on how dysfunctional the environment is.

The Frog Metaphor

This is a story that is helpful in explaining the insidious nature of the dysfunctional environment.

It is about a frog that is put in a pan and is cooked so gradually that it doesn't know or notice the distinction in temperature. And after this slow rise, the frog dies. It was oblivious to what was happening and its imminent death. It became comfortable and numb to what it was experiencing.