Understanding the Effects of Bullying: Impact, Prevention, and Support

Overall, in the U.S. and all over the world, bullying is taking place at epidemic levels. Many of us have experienced bullying or been complicit in bullying, whether consciously or unconsciously. Perhaps, we instigate it, don’t say anything when we hear gossip to avoid being targeted, or we join in in order to feel like a part of the group. It has become normalized and an expected part of many different areas of life—home, school, work, sports, leisure activities, and in social activities. Social sciences has shown that many dynamics often involve individuals competing for dominance or attention, which may start out friendly or without malicious intent. Unfortunately, the impact of bullying can have long-lasting and severe impacts on survivors, who may struggle with the impact for the rest of their lives. Survivors of bullying may suffer from low self-esteem, deep-seated feelings of insecurity or inferiority, social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks, depression, or even acute or complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Bullying can also contribute to health problems as stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline are released with the activation of the primitive fight, flight, or freeze response in reaction to the continued perceived threats to safety. 

Bullying can impact a survivor’s ability to trust, learn, take social risks to form friendships and connections, and stifle their confidence and ability to pursue their dreams. In some cases, bullying can lead to suicide, which has been increasing sharply among teens and young adults. Cyberbullying and the increased use of social media magnifies the negative impact of bullying, often leading the victims to feel like they cannot escape its influence. Furthermore, private photos or videos might be circulated among peers, which, again, can have a devastating and long-lasting impact. 

Research has indicated that there is a link between bullying and suicide attempts. Recent statistics by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that suicide rates among young people ages 10 to 24 have risen 57% between 2007 and 2018. The documentary Audrie & Daisy tells the story of two young girls who died by suicide after bullying and aims to raise awareness about the potentially lethal impact of bullying. 

Can bullying cause PTSD?

Complex or chronic PTSD can arise from situations and events, including childhood abuse and neglect, intimate partner violence, human trafficking or slavery, workplace bullying, and school bullying. In a study undertaken by the University of Illinois in 2016 found that “experiencing bullying was the strongest predictor of PTSD symptoms in college students,” indicating that impact of childhood bullying often has a long-lasting negative impact on self-perception, emotional regulation, and mental health issues. Another study published in 2015 in Science Direct found that 57% of victims reported scores above the threshold for meeting criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD.

A major aspect of bullying is that verbal, emotional, or physical abuse is often repeated and can be difficult for the victim to escape at school. Even when the abuse ends or stops, the victim might internalize the abuse by repeating and believing negative statements, adopt negative self-perception or self-concept, and suffer from low self-esteem. Bullying can also impact current and future relationships and friendships making it difficult for the victim to learn to trust again and leading to further isolation.  Victims might also begin to feel hopeless and powerless over their ability to have control over their life or create a meaningful future. Targets of bullying might be perceived as being different, less powerful, or having lower status and might be targeted for their appearance, race, socio-economic status, disability or learning disorder or sexual orientation.  For these reasons, it is important to take bullying seriously and raise awareness about its negative impact on survivors in order to intervene and stop bullying.

Effects of bullying for a child or teen

The National Education Association estimates that bullying causes 160,000 kids to stay home from school every day. The effects of bullying, along with trauma, abuse, and neglect, can have a life-long impact on survivors. These events can not only impact the ability of the child to regulate their emotions, but also negatively affect the ability to form secure, healthy attachments. In fact, children exposed to complex trauma are at higher risk for exposure to additional trauma and “cumulative impairment, including psychiatric and addictive disorders; chronic medical illness; legal, vocational, and family problems,” according to Complex Trauma in Children and Adolescents. The same source notes that the effects of bullying may include various areas of impairment that a child might experience, such as problems with attachment, dissociation, cognition, biology, affect regulation, behavioral control, and self-concept.

Bullying has also been linked to higher rates of mental health problems, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and agoraphobia, as well as an increased risk for self-harming, suicide attempts, and health problems. The effects of bullying can increase stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline, and lead to heart problems, digestive problems, and immune system issues.

Bullying can not only impact the child’s self-esteem and mental health, but also lead to increased isolation, trust issues in relationships, and insecure attachment styles. Children who experience bullying are also more likely to self-harm, suffer from suicidal thoughts or attempt suicide, and self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. In addition, research has shown that students who experienced high levels of bullying had significantly lower grades than their peers who experienced less or no bullying.

Violence Prevention Works provides a working model for the dynamics of bullying and how the effects of bullying impact onlookers and the school environment. Bullying creates an atmosphere of fear, hostility, and disrespect, making it difficult to learn and feel secure, and creates the perception that teachers and staff don’t care. It’s important for adults to recognize the signs of bullying and be proactive in intervening or creating a safe environment. Contact your school, create a plan, or contact police if bullying includes physical harm, sexual violence or abuse, threats of violence, or sharing child pornography or sexually explicit images.

Are bullying and cyberbullying the same?

The U.S. Governments’ Stop Bullying Program identifies “bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.” The same source reports that cyberbullying as “includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else,” which can occur via text, communication apps, social media, forums, and email. Bullying is often a repetitive behavior that can include verbal bullying (name calling, teasing, and making threats), social bullying (public shaming or spreading rumors), and physical bullying (making threatening gestures, being physically aggressive or harmful, or destroying possessions of a victim). Other examples include nude photo sharing, spreading false rumors, being bullied for being economically disadvantaged, gay, or over jealousy, creating false identities, and doxying, which is revealing sensitive or personal information online. While bullying is done primarily in-person and in real-time, cyberbullying is a form of bullying that spills over into technology devices, which can compound the negative impact of bullying and make it difficult to escape bullying even away from school and public places. Cyberbullying is a form of bullying and both can have tremendous negative and detrimental impacts on survivors’ physical, social, and mental health, as well as educational and career growth.

The problem with cyberbullying is that bullying can be not only relentless, not allowing the survivor a break or respite from the bullying, but it can also cause permanent record of harmful comments, photos, or videos and be hard for parents or teachers to spot. Cyberbullying can harm someone’s online public record, which can be seen by prospective schools, employers, clubs, or future social contacts. However, cyberbullying can also have negative consequences for the individual bullying. Many states have laws that make cyberbullying illegal and many acts of bullying can also be classified as a form of harassment, which offers legal protections under the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

Cyberbullying is also characterized by being repetitive in nature, which can be especially harmful psychologically, according to the Cyberbullying Research Center. For example, someone uploads a harmful or embarrassing photo, but then others continue to view, comment, and share. This can magnify the negative impact cyberbullying. While bullying might involve a small, limited number of people, cyberbullying could potentially involve thousands or millions of views or people, which can add weight to the negative impact to cyberbullying. Another problem is that online behavior can be difficult for parents, teachers, or other adults to monitor and hold others’ accountable for their actions and intervene. 

What you can do to help

Parents can try to educate themselves and be aware of what their children are doing online. The more access a child has to online material, the greater the chance he or she will experience cyber-bullying. Try to monitor use of technology, social media sites, apps, browsing history; review privacy settings, establish healthy rules and boundaries with technology, use parental controls, and use digital monitoring apps or software for your child. It is encouraged that parents have open conversations about what cyber-bullying is, what to look out for, and what do to. Encourage your child to not participate in cyber-bullying and not retaliate, respond privately to the person who created the message, and follow-up with the person who was targeted.

Warning signs of cyber-bulling include noticeable increases or decreases in device use, include hiding their screen or device when others are near, and avoids discussion about what they are doing on their device, avoiding social situations, even those that were enjoyed in the past, or becoming withdrawn or depressed, or loses interest in people and activities. 

Noticing these signs are important and the first step towards offering help. Try to talk to your child, ask questions compassionately, listen, and ask who is involved. Many times, children do not want to discuss bullying due to feelings of shame or fear of retaliation. If you notice harmful posts or content, take screenshots, record and document, and report to social media platforms, teachers, or law enforcement if posts involve threats, sexually explicit photos, stalking, hate crimes, or other illegal acts. Intervening is important and parents, teachers, mentors, and peers can offer support and stand up to bullying.