u/Ill-Technology4277

I’ve been a phlebotomist for about 4 years now, and today I cried at work again (probably the 4th time overall). The problem is I can’t just hold it in or have a quick cry it’s like once it starts, I can’t stop for 1–2 hours. And I still have to keep working through it, which makes it even more overwhelming and honestly really embarrassing.
It usually happens when a patient yells at me or talks to me like I’m stupid. Today I didn’t even know someone was waiting for blood work, and he came at me super aggressively. I got caught off guard and ended up matching his energy. Sometimes I try to stay completely silent, but he just kept going telling me I needed to be “professional” and saying things like “this is your bread and butter.” He just kept talking and talking, and I couldn’t take it anymore.
At that point my voice was shaking and I was being really short with him and managers were called and he ended up leaving
I feel like I don’t know how to handle situations like this then it turns into me getting overwhelmed and crying. Has anyone else dealt with this? How do you stay calm? Sometimes I really couldn’t care less but today I couldn’t hold it in.