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Bullying, Stress and Health: A Crisis in the Making

May 17 2010

by Dr. Sally Ember, Outreach Director

There is now so much evidence, based on research of current bullies, targets and bystanders, as well as research studies that have followed children into adulthood, or checked in with adults now in their 50’s or 60’s who said they had been bullied or been a bully as a child. I realized it was best just to let the studies speak for themselves…. Here are some facts we have collected (and there are hundreds more) about the short- and long-term effects of bullying:

1. “Studies of bullying suggest that there are short- and long-term consequences for both the perpetrators and victims of bullying.”
2. “Students who are chronic victims of bullying experience more physical and psychological problems than their peers who are not harassed by other children and they tend not to grow out of the role of victim.”
3. “…[V]ictims of bullying in early grades also reported being bullied several years later.”.
4. “…[C]hronically-victimized students may as adults be at increased risk for depression, poor self-esteem, and other mental health problems, including schizophrenia.”
5. “It is not only victims who are at risk for short- and long-term problems; bullies also are at increased risk for negative outcomes.”
6. “…[E]lementary students who were bullies attended school less frequently and were more likely to drop out than other students. “
7. “…[B]ullying in early childhood may be a critical risk factor for the development of future problems with violence and delinquency.”
8. “…[B]ullies were several times more likely than their nonbullying peers to commit antisocial acts, including vandalism, fighting, theft, drunkenness, and truancy, and to have an arrest by young adulthood.”
9. “Aggressive behavior at the age of 8 was a powerful predictor of criminality and violent behavior at the age of 30.”
#1 – 9, from: http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/jjbulletin/9804/bullying2.html
10. “Victims of chronic childhood bullying are more likely to develop depression or think about suicide as adults compared with those who weren’t bullied, while former bullies are more likely to be convicted of criminal charges.”

11. “Recognizing such long-term consequences, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently revised its policy statement about preventing youth violence to include information about how to identify and help children who are being bullied.”
#10 – 11, from: http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/school-bullying-has-long-lasting-effects
12. “The injury to health caused by prolonged negative stress include: fatigue, anxiety, depression, immune system suppression, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), aches, pains (fibromyalgia), numbness and panic attacks.”
13. “…[T]he symptoms of being bullied are congruent with those of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).”
14. “With bullying, the injury is caused by an accumulation of small events rather than one major event.”
15. “The related diagnosis of Prolonged Duress Stress Disorder (PDSD, which is PTSD over time) may be more appropriate….PDSD, or Complex PTSD, as it is now becoming known, is a more appropriate diagnosis for people who experience distressing events every day…as well as those in abuse situations.”
16. “How many…suicides are caused by bullying [in adults or youth]? Consider the following: bullying…causes…prolonged negative stress…which includes…reactive depression …which results in…fluctuating baseline of one’s objectivity…which leads to…
contemplated suicide ...culminating in…attempted suicide …which may end in…
suicide (or murder/suicide).”
17. “It’s likely that many suicides are the result of bullying, but the target’s lack of awareness of what is going on, their unwillingness to confide what is happening, the traumatization, and the inability to articulate, everyone else’s denial, the bully’s accomplished lying and Jekyll and Hyde nature, plus the general lack of knowledge and awareness of society, prevent the real cause from being identified.”
#12 – 17, from: http://www.bullyonline.org/stress/health.htm
18. “Bullied kids are more prone to feelings of loneliness, depression and low self-esteem, as well as physical ills, like headaches, abdominal pain, nausea, and recurrent upper respiratory infections and sore throats.”

19.” [Many of those who were bullied] are left with scars — in terms of poorer mental and physical health — that can last a lifetime.”

#18 – 19, from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35020704/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

We are living in a time in which researchers and experience have also informed us as to what can prevent, reduce and even stop bullying: engaging, equipping, and empowering the bystanders (who are also adversely affected, as witnesses to bullying) to intervene, to change the social norms that condoned bullying into norms that do not condone bullying.

When the social leaders, and then the majority of the youth in a school or community are able and willing to stand up, speak up, refuse to accept these behaviors, the bullies will have no audience, the targets will have support and protection, and the bullying will cease.

Across the continent, we see evidence of this in the hundreds of schools that have implemented the Safe School Ambassadors program since 2000. It’s time for every school (and there are over 86,000) to see youth as the powerful contributors and peacemakers they can be.

Community Matters

Bullying, Stress and Health: A Crisis in the Making

by Dr. Sally Ember, Outreach Director

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