The Long-Term Effects of Bullying

Bullying is upsetting, anxiety-inducing, and difficult to deal with when it is ongoing. There are also several long-term effects of bullying that impact an individual’s life and psyche for years afterward.

Childhood bullying, which takes place during crucial developmental years, can be particularly devastating once the victim reaches adulthood. Many people don’t realize that their emotional and psychological suffering often stems from unresolved trauma brought on by bullying. That’s why it’s important to know all about the long-term effects of bullying.

What Are the Mental Health Consequences of Bullying?

People of all ages can be bullied by their peers, whether in school, at work, in friendship groups, or even within family dynamics. Bullying requires an imbalance of power, with the dominant party persistently and aggressively tormenting their victim through acts of verbal and/or physical aggression. Direct bullying includes things like hitting, pushing, name-calling, cyberbullying, and stealing personal belongings, whereas indirect bullying covers social exclusion, rumor-spreading, and inciting others against a victim. ^[1]

An individual who has suffered through either direct or indirect bullying will be left with emotional and psychological trauma. If the bullying wasn’t extreme or only lasted for a short period of time, that trauma may heal relatively quickly.

However, the long-term effects of bullying aren’t so easily remedied. Bullying behaviors, particularly childhood bullying, weren’t considered a cause of mental health disorders later in life by professionals; however, there is now greater awareness about the psychological consequences of bullying for both the victims and their bullies.

There are several serious mental health consequences of bullying that often reveal themselves in the immediate and long-term aftermaths of the event.

Depression

Bullying is characterized by the abusive things that people say and do to those they want to victimize. One of the most common long-term effects of this trauma is a heightened risk of depression. Victims internalize the cruel things said to them, which leads to them losing their sense of self-image and their beliefs in societal empathy, especially if nobody helped them through the bullying. They often feel ashamed of being bullied, deliberately isolate themselves from social groups, and become detached from things fundamental to their identities, such as cultural practices or ethnic heritages. ^[2]

Anxiety

Bullies deliberately grind their victims down and destroy their self-confidence, both to be cruel and to keep the victim from feeling bold enough to seek help. This is one of the psychological effects of bullying that shapes a person’s long-term personality when it turns into anxiety. Victims live in a constant state of fear, so many victims avoid settings where they are likely to be bullied, like school. This anxiety often leads them to miss out on important life opportunities because they’re afraid of being bullied again. ^[2]

PTSD

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms are believed to accumulate after a series of traumatic events, so bullying can absolutely increase the risk and exacerbate the symptoms of the condition. Some common symptoms of PTSD include being constantly tense, experiencing negative or harmful thoughts, becoming easily rattled, and avoiding anything relating to the traumatic event. People who were bullied in the past are more susceptible to developing these symptoms, especially since they will be overly sensitive to stress and fear. ^[3]

Anger Issues

Isolated anger issues are not classified as a mental health condition; however, they’re a common psychological consequence of bullying. Both bullies and victims are more likely to experience problems with anger than people who have no involvement with bullying. For victims, anger and aggression become self-defense tactics to protect them from further potential bullying. Anger may also fuel a desire for revenge. Bullies often victimize others because they are angry at themselves, their lives, or the world around them, so aggression becomes a part of their psychology. ^[2]

What are the Social and Emotional Impacts of Bullying?

Bullying is polarizing and stigmatizing, with victims both self-isolating and being excluded by their peers. This leads to difficulties in forming healthy relationships due to low self-esteem and increased social withdrawal.

Forming relationships with peers involves being emotionally available and vulnerable, but victims often struggle to open up after suffering in silence for so long. Being bullied by their peers causes them to expect the worst in everyone, distrust genuine acts of kindness, and even pull away from their existing friendship groups.

Social anxiety is one of the most common and devastating long-term effects of being bullied. Both bullies and bystanders who witness the abuse (but don’t intervene) establish victims as social pariahs who must distance themselves from wider peer groups to avoid being bullied.

Cyberbullying is a particularly insidious modern form of bullying precisely because it proves to victims that they aren’t safe anywhere, even online and on social media platforms. Those with peer victimization experiences come to expect mockery, aggression, and disdain from other people, so they socially withdraw to protect themselves. ^[4]

Despite being the aggressors, bullies also experience negative long-term effects of bullying. They’re more likely to exhibit signs of antisocial behavior, such as damaging property, getting into violent altercations, and being arrested. Research has also found that they frequently act impulsively and display symptoms of psychopathy, whereas victims of bullying don’t.

People who are both bullies and victims (“bully-victims”, or “bully/victims”) often display depressive, impulsive, and aggressive symptoms, which trigger antisocial behaviors. As a result, both bullies and bully-victims struggle to form healthy social and romantic relationships. ^[1]

Coping Strategies for Bullying Victims

The only way to overcome the long-term mental and emotional trauma of being bullied is to find appropriate and helpful coping strategies. When bullying is in the past, and you no longer need to deal with the bully, there is ample time to dedicate to self-care and emotional healing.

Victims must attempt to regain psychological power over their lives after being victimized by more dominant individuals, and one of the best ways to do this is to seek social support to depower the effect that bullying has over so much of a victim’s life. ^[5]

Re-engaging in social situations where victims feel safe can help them overcome their feelings of social anxiety and withdrawal. That’s why support groups are such a good coping strategy for bullying victims. People with similar traumatic experiences come together to share their problems and help each other recover.

There are support groups specifically for bullying victims, and you can find one local to you via the Mental Health America Affiliate Resource Center. These groups understand the long-term effects of bullying and focus on empowering and supporting victims.

Therapy is also an excellent way to cope with the psychological effects of bullying. An experienced therapist will be able to use cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques to target the source of trauma and help victims change their thinking and behaviors to help them emotionally heal. Individuals who have been bullied are able to grow beyond being victims and develop healthy habits to manage their trauma. Therapists may recommend techniques including journaling, role-playing, meditation, and exposure therapy to help people understand and release their feelings relating to past bullying.

How to Help Victims of Bullying

Victims of bullying are at an increased risk of developing mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and PTSD that can lead to long-term trauma, social withdrawal, and, in extreme cases, suicidal ideation. That’s why it’s so important to support victims as soon as you become aware of the bullying. But when the bullying has ceased, the victim is still at risk, with psychological and emotional damage that nobody else can see. As a result, friends, family members, and wider communities must support them and make them feel seen.

People who have been bullied regularly exhibit signs of poor emotional adjustment as they go through life, struggling to adapt to changing situations out of their control. They also don’t achieve as highly as they potentially could have, particularly during their formative education years. Being rejected by their peers robbed them of their confidence, motivation, and desire to succeed, but support from their peers has been proven to provide protection from many adverse effects of bullying. However, mental health difficulties require professional as well as social and familial support. ^[6]

The long-term effects of bullying shape a person’s psyche throughout their life and can trigger negative habits and behaviors years after the fact. But recovery is always possible, as long as victims are aware that help is available. Nobody should feel embarrassed about seeking help to deal with the psychological effects of bullying. It takes entire communities to stomp out bullying, and helping one victim improve their life after being victimized and traumatized by bullies can go a long way toward making fundamental cultural change.