I've overheard about 3 times co-workers talking disparagingly about psychiatric patients (I work in healthcare) and I finally emailed my boss about it. Now, she has historically been hypersensitive about people gossiping in the office or otherwise being disrespectful in any way (she'll write emails to everyone about it).

And yet, after a week, she hasn't even responded to my email personally, much less written an email to all staff. I'm very disappointed and it makes me feel that what people have been saying is ok with her, as much as I just can't fathom that it is.

The only impediment I can think of, is that despite a normally congenial, if not often loving, atmosphere in the office, someone put something heinous at someone's workstation. We had an emergency staff meeting about it, and my boss (and her boss, who was present as well) kept the nature of it confidential, but said that if they find out who it was, they will be summarily fired.

So I can only think that she's so caught up in this that she hasn't gotten to what I wrote her about. I hope so. What people have been saying has made me profoundly uncomfortable (as I told her) and I feel like I made myself vulnerable in emailing her about it because it may sound like I have a mental illness myself, which I do not share with anyone at work, much less with my boss.

The next time I overhear such a thing, though, I think I'm going to have to gather up the courage to say something, that it's inappropriate, or whatever, I'm not sure what.

I have a 1:1 scheduled with my boss for Wednesday, and will bring it up with her then.

Very frustrating... I'm not feeling as welcome as I used to in the office somehow, it's hard to explain...