BULLYING: THE MENTAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

As one of the least spoken about yet so highly relevant societal issues that are very prevalent in our society today; bullying of all sorts, in all social arenas, continues to ravage through the mental health of the youth in our country.

Our schools, particularly, even though not designed to harbour and breed behaviours of this sort, ironically serve as the primary bullying ‘hot spots’, where young people expose each other to psychologically traumatising, esteem-damaging experiences that live long in their memory for all the wrong reasons. Not only in schools, bullying exists in a variety of social environments; in our relationships, at our workplaces and even within your own circle of friends. Therefore, with that in mind, bullying has no age restriction, and since we are psycho-emotionally and psychosocially involved with our social environments wherever we are, we do possess the capability to experience it a fair few times throughout our lives.

The subjective nature of what bullying can be called to look like poses a valid threat to its definition, however, in the main, it involves one (or more) individuals unfairly imposing themselves physically or emotionally on another whom they perceive to possess a weakness. Bullies usually have the idea that they are superior (in whatever way) and their victim is a target because they deem them to be inferior in one or a variety of ways. There is almost a duality to bullying because you have the blatant, more overt kind (which is usually physical) popular with the younger people on school playgrounds, in classrooms or in the street.

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This kind involves, forcefully laying claim to the victims’ possessions like their lunchbox or lunch money, for instance; constantly making a public joke of another (child) for the amusement of others as well as the verbal abuse and insults that become part and parcel of that. Bullying of this sort constitutes a large part of many people’s childhoods to traumatic effect, and it is for this reason that early childhood was a phase in which many people grew the insecurities, the aggression and other dominant feelings they may have today. The other facet to bullying is often quite overlooked due to its discrete nature, and since it is not as obvious to spot, more and more people find themselves victim to an emotional bully. They too, have the ability to put their words to good use to evoke feelings that benefit them in the next person. This means, they constantly seek to have their way at any cost, whilst psychologically keeping the next person on an emotional leash. Like everything else, there is an element of subjectivity to this kind of bullying, however, it is very common with adults, and in certain spaces like the workplace or any other meaningful social gatherings.

Regardless of ‘what colour’ bullying may look like, we arrive at a point to agree that none of it is beneficial, in any kind of way. Imagine what happens when a young, vibrant and largely innocent child whose self-esteem, character, personality and self-concept are all in their formative stage is placed subject to ridicule on account of her family background or what being mocked about what her forehead looks like. These are common everyday happenings where constant exposure to psychemotional abuse such as this begins to seep into the psyche of the child, planting seeds of doubt and uncertainty in themselves.

Similar goes for adults as well; they too can be placed in different emotional situations that may be uncomfortable, uneasy and sometimes even scary without their conscious will. This may breed an emotionally volatile individual, who because is often made to feel inferior and inexpressive, may tend to be hyper-emotional which affects their general outlook on life.
In a world where we suffer for our individualistic nature, it is highly vital to be cautious not to be taken advantage of or purposely (or not) placed in a secondary psychological position. Spread this caution even when selecting your social circle, especially keeping an eye out for people who seek to find a weakness to manipulate in your character. Most importantly, self-care is the most important care of all. Send comments to runsford0505@gmail.com.

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