A team of five staff were coping reasonably well with their workload and not experiencing major problems. However, one day, Peter, one of the staff, was threatened with violence in carrying out his duties. The incident was not taken seriously by his managers and they tried to laugh it off as ‘one of those things’. Peter, however, felt vulnerable, unsupported and undervalued. A few days later, a medical certificate was submitted to confirm that he was to be on sick leave for two weeks as a result of ‘nervous exhaustion’. During that time, the remaining staff had an average additional 25 per cent workload in order to keep the service running. This placed them under a great deal of strain, but they managed to cope. However, at the end of the fortnight, a further certificate was received from Peter, this time for four weeks. The staff team began to feel despondent and wondered whether Peter would ever return. Consequently, Pam, who had been experiencing marital difficulties recently, reached the point where she could not cope any further. She too went on sick leave, thereby leaving three staff to cope with the work of five – a total workload increase of 40 per cent. The three remaining staff now felt under immense pressure and began to doubt whether they would ever see light at the end of the tunnel. The whole situation had become very fraught and dangerously close to breaking down altogether.