CATEGORIES
#Gen Z #Health and Wellness #Technology #Well-BeingOverview:
- Bullying is an unfortunate action that affects millions of people around the world.
- Physical and verbal violence towards people can have long term effects on them.
- Long term effects of bullying can be seen in all victims.
- While long term effects of bullying are inevitable, their treatment is not impossible.
Whether it be Regina George from Mean Girls or Park Yeon Jin from Glory. Everyone is aware of who bullies are. But the introduction to bullying isn’t only through the media. — The majority, if not all people, have witnessed it happening around them or to them as early as primary school. The group making the “outcast” child run errands for them and the group chat used to ridicule someone. Both are examples of bullying. This article will discuss how bullying is perpetuated and what are the long term effects of bullying.
What is Bullying?
Bullying is when an individual or a group of people use verbal or physical ways to oppress or violate people. It is a phenomenon seen mostly in schools, though instances of it can also be seen in workplaces. It is a sick form of entertainment that arises from the distress of another. When looking at gender differences, it is often found that boys are more prone to experience physical forms of bullying. While girls experience psychological harm through verbal or social bullying. But one might ask, what exactly are these types?
Types of Bullying and its Detection
There are many types of bullying and knowing about them can help one identify if they are happening around them. Long term effects of bullying can be avoided if the issue is resolved early.
Physical Bullying
Physical bullying refers to an assault on a person in the form of punches, kicks or pushes. A harm to someone’s belongings can also be a part of physical bullying. In more severe cases, it can also include cutting. People going through this sort of bullying will often have bruises in places where one can’t easily see them. If a person seems in physical distress after coming from a gathering or smells “off”, one can suspect bullying. The victim might also take to wearing more modest attire to hide bruises.
Verbal Bullying
Verbal Bullying involves the use of spoken or written with the intention of insulting or intimidating a person. It is often hard to detect because it takes place in areas where people of authority aren’t present. Victims often also can’t prove that it is happening because of lack of proof of spoken verbal bullying. One way to detect the signs of verbal bullying is an increase in negative self-talk or hyper sensitivity to jokes. Continuous verbal bullying can cause both.
Social Bullying
Social bullying refers to the intentional harm done to a person’s reputation or relationships. It is done through spreading rumors, public embarrassment, and ostracization from social circles. If a person is hesitating to hang out with friends or is isolating themselves, this should ring bells.
Cyberbullying
This bullying is done through cyber means such as targeted group chats meant to ridicule someone or social media pages. Sharing of edited or untouched embarrassing pictures, publicly exposing secrets, or sending disturbing content are all examples of cyberbullying. If a person is on their phone for too long and looks dejected while at it, a conversation should be done.
Long Term Effects of Bullying
Short term effects of bullying can include isolation, constant anxiety. Long term effects of bullying can render people feeling a sense of constant hardship in their life.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Prolonged bullying can cause trauma that one feels the effects of everyday. They experience vivid “flashbacks” and start acting like their “bullied” self when under even minor stress. This makes life hard to live and can cause not only personal harm but can harm relationships. Intrusive memories/flashbacks and hypervigilance can make everyday life hard.
Relationship Difficulties
Being bullied by people around you can make a person have distrust towards everyone around them even in future. They avoid human interaction because of the fear of rejection and ridicule. Victims often also have issues opening up to others, communicating well and overall having normal social connections. These things often lead victims to live solitary lives where neither do they have friends nor do they get married.
Suicidal Thoughts
Constant stress, lack of a stable self identity, difficulty making and maintaining relationships all lead to victims experiencing suicidal ideation. Long into adulthood, people find themselves contemplating suicide and lacking a will to live. A study showed that 60 percent of bullied youth reported suicidal ideation. According to studies by Yale University, bully victims are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims.
Personality Changes
A person’s personality or set of behaviours is directly influenced by the environment around them. Therefore it’s expected of a person amid a hostile environment for a prolonged time to get affected by it. Victims of bullying have it the same. Many victims start being “introverts” after being bullied. Some victims, in an attempt to take back control or to have a sense of “power” end up becoming aggressive.
Addiction
When bullying causes a person to be in constant stress, they end up looking for means of “relief”. These means oftentimes are self destructive. Many victims take up habits such as alcohol consumption, eating disorders and self harm. These habits persist even after they leave the environment that was causing them stress.
Career Impacts
Mental health of students is already sensitive due to the stress of exams and meeting the expectations of parents. Add an unstable social environment and they are bound to have poor academic performances and difficulty in gaining skills. Later in life, these issues make it hard to get jobs. Even after getting employed things don’t get better. Victims have a hard time at workplaces as they lack skills related to collaboration, conflict resolution and communication.
Overcoming the Long Term Effects of Bullying
Mitigating the long term effects of bullying is essential for a stable and comforting life. While the task might seem hard, it is not impossible. Here are some ways to achieve that:
Therapy
Engaging in therapy is beneficial in finding healthy coping skills and finding better ways to regulate emotions. Professional help can be a good start to moving on and healing from unhealed scars.
Building a support network
Having people who one turn to in times of needs is always beneficial. While victims may have issues forming connections, online communities are often helpful.
Positive self-talk
Engaging in positive self-talk, even forceful, can manipulate the brain into accepting the forced thoughts as its own. One should also try to notice the minor things they like about themselves and voice them out.
Explore New Hobbies
Whether it be something physical like running marathons and crocheting or something digital like reading mangas or reading novels. An activity that can distract an individual from negative thoughts and keep them engaged is helpful. Hobbies also make it easier to find similar people.
Conclusion:
Long term effects of bullying are bound to exist in a victim. One should always try to heal from it. It should be remembered that if one could survive a hostile experience like bullying, they can survive anything else too. People who have acquaintances with a past of being bullied should try to be cooperative and understanding to the victims.
