Effect of Bullying

So, what is the cause and effect of bullying? Can it lead to anxiety? I’ll delve into those topics in this post. I don’t even no where to begin. In short, I was bullied all through my school years. In reality, I never once defended myself because I was afraid of what would happen. Fellow classmates were already mentally berating me and I didn’t want it to get physical.

Due to the effect of bullying, I have an anxious personality. Therefore, I don’t like to be around other people because of the anxiety and the movements from Parkinson’s disease. I’m constantly twitching. Anyway, I have a hard time talking to someone, feeling like I’m going to say the wrong thing. And then, what would happen? Part of me thinks that nothing will happen, but a bigger part of me thinks I’ll get berated and made fun of. There is no plausible reason that that is going to happen, but I have already decided that’s what’s going to happen (because of bullying). It’s like a never ending cycle.

“Your passion is waiting for your courage to catch up.” —Isabelle Lafleche

Bullying and Mental Health

Subsequently, with all the mental abuse I took from bullying, my mental health suffered. In the meantime, I’m trying to leave behind what happened in the past, but it’s very difficult to accept it. Consequently, the effect of bullying screwed up my ability to socialize with other people. I especially don’t like meeting new people. If I don’t think highly of myself, how are other people supposed to?

Therefore, I figure in a conversation, if I put myself down first, the other person won’t have the chance. In time, my classmates berated me so much that I began to believe the things they were saying about me. Thus, my mental health issues today! In truth, I’m not trying to put ALL my problems on the bullies, but it did have a devastating effect when I was growing up. In the same fashion, I never thought highly of myself. Reflecting today (with lots of therapy), I don’t believe all of the shit that was said to me. Therefore, they were only trying to make themselves bigger and stronger than they really were.

“The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s what you’re made of. Not the circumstances.” —Unknown

Bullying Health Effects

Also, the effect of bullying can take a toll on your health physically. On the whole, I have been yoyoing up and down with my weight. I stress eat! When I’m stressing, I eat everything I can get my hands on. But there have been periods when I don’t eat (mainly because of depression). Basically, I use food as my coping mechanism.

Consequently, I also have problems sleeping. My brain like to keep going 24/7. On the contrary, I used to be on Lithium for the bipolar, but was taken off of it (don’t know why). Ever since my psychiatrist took me off of it (it’s been a year), I haven’t slept that good. To point out, I have both problems of falling asleep and waking up several times during the night.

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right―for you’ll be criticized anyway.” ―Eleanor Roosevelt

Social Anxiety From Bullying

What’s more, I’ve mentioned earlier about social anxiety effect caused from bullying. Generally, I don’t like crowds or just being in the presence of anybody because of bullying. Without doubt, I figure, why talk to a person when all they are going to do is put me down. Warped thinking, I know (now). But that’s how I grew up. With the result that I never liked who I had become, so years later, I changed that. With this in mind, I am more self confident and I’m working on the crowd thing. To do this, I find exposure therapy to be really helpful. You’re “exposing” yourself little by little into the anxiety. So, I go to stores to be around other people and spend a certain amount of time shopping, then I leave. I’m up to 15 minutes.

“Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.” —Socrates

Trust Issues Disorder

Trust issues disorder! Yeah! Big problem with that. Without a doubt, it used to be a lot worse, but nowadays, I’m more trusting of people. Sometimes, you just have to put blind faith out there and see what happens. All things considered, I know you’re exposing yourself (your mental capacity). You have to be willing to trust other people at some point in your life. All things considered, that’s how relationships are born. Basically, that’s why I don’t have any friends now.

Altogether, growing up and the effect of being bullied, has put me at a disadvantage of growing intellectually. As a result, I’m learning to communicate my thoughts and not have a negative perception of myself. I matter, just like every person on this earth does. All in all, people have different views, but that doesn’t make mine any less valid.

At any rate, my life hasn’t always been full of problems. Sorry, I don’t mean to sound so pessimistic. There were some really good moments that I will cherish forever. Equally, sometimes we focus so much on the negative that we forget about the positive. I remember it all (is that a good or bad thing)?

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” ―Lewis Carroll

Anxiety Left Untreated

What happens when you don’t treat anxiety? I’ll never find out because I’m working on mine. Therefore, I can only speculate. Certainly, I’d hate to see how my life would have turned out if I had left the anxiety unchecked. The bullies would have won! At any rate, they would have gotten exactly what they were aiming for (submission).

So, please see a healthcare professional if you have anxiety that is ruining your life. Therefore, don’t think that if you ignore it, it will go away. That’s not how it works. At this point, I’ve been in therapy for years and I am still constantly deprogramming all the bullies programmed me to think about myself. At last, If you’re being bullied, stand up for yourselves. Your future self will thank you!

“Everything you can imagine is real.”―Pablo Picasso

Bullied Hotline

Here is the bullied hotline: Call 988 and then press 2 or; Visit Ayuda en Español: Lifeline. For deaf/hard of hearing: Use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988.

Bullying & Cyberbullying Helplines · CHILDLINE (UK) 0800 1111 · STOP BULLYING NOW HOTLINE (USA) 1-800-273-8255 · Kids Helpline (AUS) 1-800 55 1800 · NSPCC HELPLINE

Therefore, if you are in crisis and need help: call 1-800-273-TALK (8255), available 24 hours a day, every day . You will reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, .

National Bullying Helpline: Helpline: 0300 323 0169

Telephone: 0845 225 5787

We are open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday,
and 10am to 12pm on Saturday.

Therefore, call us immediately if you know someone at risk due to the effects of bullying. Hence, the National Bullying Helpline is a confidential helpline designed to advise about bullying and employment law but in some serious cases, we may take action if we believe someone is in danger. We have an ongoing Service Agreement with the Police so we can act swiftly when there is a potential danger to life. Call us immediately if you know someone at risk due to bullying on 0300 323 0169

“If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore.” —Michele Ruiz

Conclusion

At the same time, the cause and effect of bullying is so much more than anybody realizes. At length, acknowledging and treating the anxiety can reduce long term effects . As I have said, I’m still dealing with it and it’s been about 30 years since I graduated from school. That’s because for the longest time, I didn’t deal with it. Emphatically, my life wasn’t getting any better until I finally faced the problem head on and worked on my self confidence. At this point, I had such a negative view of myself, no wonder I don’t have any friends.

Therefore, who wants to be around someone who is moody and has such a bad reflective image of themselves. At the same time, I have grown to love myself and not worry so much about what other people think of me. If they don’t like me, they can leave!

So, I hope you have more self respect for yourself if you’re being bullied. Stand up for yourself and put the bully in their place. It’s not going to end until you do. Until next time…