by Shilo Dawn Goodson

Created on: February 09, 2009

The roommate from hell comes in several varies. There's the roommate whose lifestyle completely clashes with your own life. Maybe he or she is party animal and you are a calm person or they are a clean freak while you have to have a little disorder to feel comfortable. There's the roommate who has no respect for anyone else. There's the roommate who There's the roommate who seems to think that they are your mother or father and that they should have control of your life. Then, of course, there's the roommate who has completely different issues which make him or her the roommate from hell. The true roommate from hell, though, is the roommate who is a mix of two or more of these qualities.

For many people, their first experience having a roommate who is not a sibling is when they go off to college. Unfortunately, sometimes you are unable to choose your college roommates and you just end up with a stranger who later becomes the roommate from hell. If at college (or at another point in your life) you end up with the roommate from hell, it might seem like you are with that person forever even if you only have to survive living with this roommate for a few months.

One of the first things to do when you realize that your personality clashes with your roommate's personality is discuss the problem. Yes, confrontations can be difficult. Maybe the other person doesn't realize they are doing something that bothers you, and maybe it is something he or she can change. Even if you are only roommates for a short time, if the habits your roommate had are addressed and changed, future roommates will be grateful that you intervened. When discussing issues like this, though, you have to be open to understanding that you might have habits and quirks that also annoy your roommate. You probably aren't the perfect roommate either, but a willingness to try and be better will help your time together not seem so horrible.

If you still cannot get along with your roommate after discussing how your personalities clash, it might be a good idea for at least one of you to find somewhere else to live. Of course, this is probably easier said than done. If this is the case, you will have to learn to live with this roommate.

How you deal with the roommate from hell is going to depend upon why this roommate is the roommate from hell. Different situations are going to require different actions. In college, I had two roommates whom I would consider the roommate from hell. Each was dealt with in a different

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