OCD + Paranoia

[Anonymous]

I have a colleague that I only have to interact with on a really superficial level every once in a while, like every month, but every time we interact it turns into a weird blow up about something trivial that most people would not even notice, then morphs into his total paranoia. This is a made up example so I don't out myself, but it's along the lines of asking their one subordinate if they received something and he freaks out and says "only speak directly with me. I will speak with my subordinate." And then if I follow up that what I asked about was no big deal he starts acting really paranoid, like I'm trying to sabotage him through his relationship with is subordinate. Or -- again totally made up example -- he is responsible for the copier and I opened the door to check the toner and he texted me that if I wanted to check on the toner I should ask him to do it. Really trivial on a crazy level. If you say, "I passed that along on Tuesday" he'll look it up and say, "Actually you passed it along on Wednesday" as if he's just caught you in a lie that would somehow f him over. It doesn't occur to him that most people have a million things to do and can't keep track of every minor irrelevant detail and it was an honest mistake that didn't impact anyone.

How do I deal with this guy? I tried bringing him up to someone else and her face went completely blank so I dropped it. I'm concerned that his pushing my buttons says something about me. What skills do I need, or what phrases can I use, to deal with this guy without getting upset? He clearly has OCD and paranoia and I feel bad for him but also don't want to bow down to him because he suffers from those things.

[Anonymous]

Oh, wow. I think I worked for this person. I thought they weren’t allowed to manage people anymore! lol.

But also, consider they are struggling with some unique challenges on their team and a lack of support from above. Just roll with it.