The colleague I sit next to at work shows a number of body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs) – nailbiting, skin-picking/scraping and hair-pulling. The nailbiting is pretty much constant, the others more intermittent, but they are exacerbated by boredom or stress and can escalate. I try my very hardest to turn a blind eye but I am struggling to tolerate it. I find the noise and visuals incredibly unpleasant – blood is often drawn – and in a quiet workspace my stress levels end up through the roof. There is nowhere else to move to in terms of the office layout. Is there anything I can do to help myself cope with these behaviours, or should I address it with my colleague on welfare grounds? (Theirs, not mine.) Outwardly, they seem happy in their role and as a team we get on very well.

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