Effects of Bullying on Mental Health
Mental Health Effects of Bullying on Teens
Generally speaking, there are six types of bullying, they are:
Effect of the Verbal Bullying
Psychological and behavioral consequences
Victims exposed to verbal bullying often develop anxiety and changes in their sleep pattern. If left unaddressed, they may eventually develop to disorders such as Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (DSPD) and DSWPD (Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder).
Long-term impact
People who have DSPD (Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder) often experience changes in their sleeping pattern. They may stay awake at night, causing them difficulty waking up in the morning. In the long term, they feel despair in their living, working, or study environment.
People who have DSWPD (Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder) often experience headache, depression, sleepiness, inattentiveness, and daytime fatigue, causing them to be less motivated, less attentive, and less active at night.
Effects of the Physical Bullying
Psychological and behavioral consequences
Emotional consequences of such hostility often develop anxiety, stress, and fear of expressing opinions, deficiencies in giving out correct judgement, and loss of self-esteem. They feel anxiety and are afraid of facing people, causing them to avoid attending all social activities. As a result, they may eventually develop self-isolation and loss of social ability.
Long-term impact
Physical harassment often leads to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When victims experience or witness traumatic events, they may become startled and repeatedly recall the incident, ultimately developing sleep problems.
Effects of Cyberbullying
Psychological and behavioral consequences
Cyberbullying could lead to anxiety and worries about using social media. Victims could be self-blamed for their own perceived shortcomings. They avoid participating in all kinds of social media and lose interest in exploring new innovations, events, and knowledge in the internet world. That leads them to become self-isolated from the social activities with other colleagues.
Long-term impact
Such harassment leads to Social Media Anxiety Disorder (SMAD). There are two situations. Victims extensively use social media, and victims are afraid of using social media. Victims who are strongly dependent on social media may become anxious when they lose internet access. So, they are struggling to find the charging facilities to maintain the stable and permanent internet connection. Conversely, for those who are afraid of social media, they may easily develop stress and become distracted when they get messages, resulting in disconnecting from the social media as fast as possible.
Effects of Social Bullying
Psychological and behavioral consequences
Being in a social bullying environment for a long time can make victims feel lonely, because prolonged isolation, rejection, and feelings of worthlessness in work or school settings can lead to low self-esteem.
Long-term impact
The victims can develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The symptoms may include being startled, insomnia, frequently recalling the event in memory, and sleeping problems. Since victims are unable to identify the source of the bullying, they may feel disappointed, unhappy, and frustrated.
Effect of Sexual Bullying
Psychological and behavioral consequences
Victims of sexual harassment may feel shame, guilt, anger, fear, anxiety, depression, and helplessness and experience changes in sleep and eating patterns, as well as self-blame and humiliation. They may blame themselves, believing the incident was caused by their own negligence or mistakes. Victims may isolate themselves, fear facing people, and avoid entering or staying in certain places, particularly unfamiliar ones. They may lose self-esteem and fear speaking the truth, which could lead to retaliatory actions. Due to the significant psychological impact of sexual harassment on women, victims may eventually develop suicidal thoughts.
Long-term impact
Victims may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Symptoms may include insomnia, frequent memories of the event, sleep problems, and easily getting startled.
In sexual bullying, most victims are women. Victims may lose confidence in romantic relationships and be unable to believe that marriage is a lifelong commitment. They may feel fear and pain while maintaining or engaging in sexual relationships. As they are afraid of telling the truth, victims experience a higher risk of revictimization.
Effect of Family Bullying
Psychological and behavioral consequences
Since the family should be the safest place for children to grow up, domestic bullying certainly has a significant impact on a child’s emotions and behaviour, causing long-term, irreversible harm and effects. Domestic bullying also increases the likelihood that the victim may become a bully during adolescence or a member of society in the future.
“Family bullying” is just a general term. In practice, it often encompasses different types of bullying, such as sexual harassment, verbal bullying, and physical bullying. Therefore, victims experience similar symptoms when comparing these types of bullying. When family members encounter sexual harassment, they feel shame, guilt, and self-blame due to their negligence. When they face physical bullying, they feel anxious, fearful, and afraid of interacting with others or respond slowly in activities. When they experience verbal bullying, they develop low self-confidence in communication and a lack of courage when facing difficulties in normal social situations.
Because victims of domestic bullying usually do not report those who bully them, as most bullies are their relatives. Therefore, it is difficult to detect the victims. Most victims change their normal personality, for example, becoming silent instead of active, despairing instead of optimistic, and quiet instead of talkative. The victims develop depression and sadness, as they are confronted with trusted relatives.
Long-term impact
If domestic violence goes unaddressed over a long period, and since the abuser is usually a family member, they do not know how to cope. In addition to anxiety and depression, they may develop chronic low self-esteem. They find it difficult to trust others or feel emotionally insecure. They fear rejection or criticism, causing them to be unable to establish intimate relationships. Moreover, they may also fear authoritarianism, becoming overly submissive in authoritative language or environments. Their responses to all matters become dull, regardless of how serious the situation is. They find it difficult to clearly express themselves according to their needs.
They may even develop into more complex disorders, such as impostor syndrome and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD).
Alongside fear of criticism and judgement and reduced self-esteem, family bullying victims may experience imposter syndrome. They doubt themselves, feel undeserving of success, and struggle to accept their achievements. A large amount of negative information accumulates in their minds, causing them to develop perfectionist tendencies and overwork. Even when handling the simplest tasks, they are not only giving their all but also putting in tremendous effort to maintain high standards to compensate for their inner sense of inadequacy.
Conclusion
Teens who experience bullying often suffer from chronic stress and emotional exhaustion. In fact, persistent overload—similar to the impact described in my post on how multitasking burns out your life—affects concentration, resilience, and decision-making.
Some bullies take emotional shortcuts – acting without reflection – which leads to harmful, improvident behaviour. My article on how shortcuts cause improvidence explains why quick, thoughtless actions often lead to long-term damage.
Therefore, through how teachers can stop bullying in school and how parents can help bullied children as series of long-term effective and efficient strategy to develop an anti-bullying culture.
