The problem with engaging with gossipies is that one catches their mental habits, very much like catching a cold.
How does one deal with gossip in the workplace? You simply listen, and do not actively participate. The thing about gossip is that once you talk behind someone’s back, you are advertising to your “friends” that you might also give them the same treatment. Every time you gossip, you are submitting a vote to a type of person whose integrity and trustworthiness is suspect. The quality of your relationships starts to corrode.
What is astonishing is that people are never aware of this. They are unaware they are carrying a glaring advertisement of untrustworthiness and cowardice, to put it bluntly. What might they say about me when I’m not in the room?
So how does one vents things out from one’s system? After all, burying negative emotions deep down only makes things worse. It turns the gossip into resentment bile, which then poisons your soul. There are three solutions I can think of: 1) therapy, 2) a diary or journal, and 3) intense exercise. The trick is to find a channel that does not jeopardizes your integrity. Integrity is, after all, saying the same thing to someone’s face and to your friends when that person leave the room. If there is a real mismatch, then what does that say about you?