Bullying is a serious behavior among school-aged children and youths. It has long-term and short-term effects on the person who is bullied, the one who is bullying, individual who bully and get bullied, and the people witnessing the ordeal.
Bullying can lead to emotional and physical health effects, and in some cases, it can cause death. Children who are bullied have high risks of developing mental health disorders, low self-esteem, and trouble adjusting in school. Read through the article to discover effects of bullying on individuals’ health.
What is bullying?
CDC defines bullying as a type of violence that uses force, threats, coercion, or hurtful teasing to intimidate or dominate aggressively. The behavior is usually habitual and repeated. One notable prerequisite by the bullies is that there is always an imbalance of power, both socially and physically.
Bullying happens when someone has more power and is more compared to their targets. The power may include, popularity, physical strength, or having an embarrassing information you can use to hurt or control their targets.
It is usually hard for teachers, parents, or guardians to identify if someone is bullied or bullying the other since the acts often happen out of their sight. And for this, it highly important for young ones to know how to identify bullying and act, or inform relevant authorities.
Impacts of bullying.
Bullying occurs when a person as a social or physical advantage over the other and they use the advantage to aggressively hurt, or manipulate their victims. Bullying has short-term and long-term effects.
- Long-term effects of bullying.
ü Panic disorders.
ü General anxiety.
ü Depression.
ü Agoraphobia.
ü School avoidance.
ü Loneliness.
- Short-term effects of bullying.
ü Anxiety.
ü Low self-esteem.
ü Difficulty sleeping.
ü Suicidal thoughts, or self-harm.
ü Depression.
Mental health effects on the bullies.
Bullying does not only affect the victims. Studies have shown that young bullies tend to have irrelevant aggressions and act out of their normal behaviors when they grow up in the future.
Also, they are more likely to have negative perceptions about life and develop several antisocial personality disorders in the future however performing CPR for adults cn sometimes help in overcoming the perceptions.
Young people who bullies and get bullied tend to have difficulty with life in the future the most. They record the highest rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and poor lifestyle, schizophrenia than those who are bullies or victims only.
Bystanders or witnesses to bullying also experience some forms of mental imbalance whether they took part in the ordeal or not.
How to address bullying if you think it is happening.
Since both the bully and the victim are at risk of developing mental health complications in the future, early intervention is critically important to address any form of bullying. Here are some hacks to help you stop bullying in the society or at school.
- Stop bullying on the spot.
When adults react consistently and quickly to any form of bullying behavior, the young ones understands that the act is bad and not accepted. Studies have shown that this can contain bullying habits with time.
Do the following when you are addressing the behavior:
ü Act immediately.
ü Separate the parties involved.
ü Ensure everyone is safe.
ü Address and medical or mental need.
ü Stay calm.
ü Display good behaviors when separating those involved.
- Check out what happened.
Whether a young one reached out for help, or you have just stopped bullying, there are ways you need to follow to address the problem, including,
ü Let all the involved persons stay separate.
ü Gather stories from all sources, both the kids and adults.
ü Listen without blaming anyone.
ü Don’t rush into calling the act “bullying” before you confirm all parameters.
- Determine if the act is bullying.
There are several behaviors that looks like bullying but they are not. It is vital to confirm if the act is something else, or really bullying. Review the meaning of bullying and its characteristics to have a clear disparity.
Conclusion.
Since bullying is traumatic for the involved parties, quick and consistent reaction if important to prevent it from escalating to a more dangerous stage that affects mental health. Relaxation and stress management technique can also be used to address it.