Taking A Stand Against Mental Bullying

By Serena Price


Bullies have been around from the beginning of time, and will never go away. Nobody will forget the individual who was bigger and meaner than the rest of the kids in school. They were the ones that parents wanted to personally get their hands on and teach a lesson. However, in today's society, mental bullying is an abuse that continues to grow day by day.

This type of bullying comes about when someone tries to get what they want by making someone feel afraid or intimidated by things that one says or does. Contrary to belief, it doesn't just happen on the school playground. It can be found among adults as well. It could be found on the job, or in the midst of intimate relationships. It often comes in the form of threatening, belittling, name-calling, lying, or even humiliation.

Sometimes, these types of bullies try to make other people pay for mistakes or things that were done to them unintentionally. Sarcasm is also used when questions that are genuine in nature are asked by the innocent. The workplace is a common place where humiliating things that are done or said comes in the disguise of office pranks.

Emotional bullying often seems very childish, but the mental effects linger on even into adulthood. They tend to leave scars and wounds that are very difficult to heal. Those that have experienced this type of mental abuse, often turn around and become mental abusers themselves. The effects that result on a person's mental health is tremendous. It can often bring about shame, low self-esteem, suicidal tendencies, poor job or academic performance, or even extreme shyness. Depression is often at the top of the list. Many times, the victim tends to over identify with the bully. They begin to defend the bully as well as their behavior.

Dealing with bullies may seem to be a hard thing to do. However, there are simply two options that exist. One can turn the other way and ignore the bully, or one can simply stand up against them.

One must understand the mindset of their emotional attacker. Individuals that have been around for a while have more understanding than a typical child would. Understanding that the abuse is not really personally connected to the victim is the first step. It all revolves around the person causing the abuse. They tend not to just bully one person, but many.

When an individual gains more knowledge of how a bully thinks, they will start to look at it more as an illness, and not necessarily a personal attack targeted towards the victim. Ignoring a bully may not be as hard anymore.

When it comes to standing up to a bully, it may be scary at the first, but it usually has a positive outcome. It forces the bully to change his ways. They may not completely change, but their behavior will be altered in some way. Mental bullying often forces the bully to look at themselves and self evaluate. Those that realize that they have a problem, may want to seek out the proper help that they need.




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