Bullying in Adolescents and Mental Health Problems - Essay Example

Bullying in adolescents and mental health problems Name University Affiliation Date Bullying in adolescents and mental health problems Introduction Bullying involves aggressive behavior in which some people coerce or use force on others to affect them in one way or the other (Stein, 2007). In this essay, the topic of discussion is: “adolescents who are bullied will go on to experience significant mental health problems.” Many studies have been done on this topic in which researchers have come up with conflicting findings. Many of them agree that bullying has mental effects on people while others claim that these effects could be having other causes. Cases of bullying are on the rise and therefore, their mental effects on adolescents must be investigated. Evidence to support the argument includes the presence of sadness and loneliness, anxiety, lack of confidence, depression, eating disorders, worry and internalizing disorders. It is an agreeable fact that victims of bullying in adolescence go on to suffer from mental problems. Bullying causes mental problems to the victims even after years have passed since the time of the act. A research done by Lehti et al, (2012) indicates that bullying during adolescent brings many different psychosocial effects in the afterlife of the victim. The researchers collected information on bullying from adolescents, their teachers and parents. A nationwide register was used to provide follow up information about fatherhood before 22 years of age. They related the information received from bullying victims with the information about the possibility of them becoming young fathers. Through the analysis they discovered that victims of bullying have relational patterns that differ from those of other adolescents. Another study by Fisher et al (2012) featured in the British Medical Journal of 2012 shows that bullying contributes to mental problems in the victims. The researchers studied over 1000 pairs of twins who were born from 1994 to 1995 within England and Wales. The pairs of twins and their mothers were interviewed separately on incidences of bullying and their feelings about the experience in life. The study revealed that victims of bullying have high chances of harming themselves than those who have not been bullied. This is possibly because of the mental problems they suffer from. Mental problems such as depression, low self worth, guilt and fear could act as contributing factors to tendencies of self harm (Richter, 2007). Many other studies have been done to support the claim that bullying results in mental problems for the victim. Bullying in adolescence can result in sadness, loneliness and social problems for the person being bullied which may persist even in later life. Peskin et al (2007) did a study on 7,000 high and middle school students from the Hispanic and African-American races. Their study revealed that bullying victims reported nervousness, fearfulness and sadness. The act of bullying instills a fear in the victim for the perpetrator. The victim can extend this fear to others who have similar behavior. In worse situations the development of loneliness and fear is a reaction to the bad treatment of bullying. Sadness and loneliness are effects of psychological problems manifesting in the mood and withdrawal from peers. The victim reacts by withdrawing and keeping lonely to avoid further acts of bullying. In another study done on Finnish boys, Sourander et al (2007) discovered that frequent bullying was associated with anxiety disorders, in young adults. To support these findings another study by Gladstone et al (2006) on people visiting a clinic because of depression problems revealed that high levels of anxiety in men and women is associated with bullying in the early years of life. Anxiety is among the mental health problems that affect people. This problems based on the above studies escalates in cases where the patient has a history of being bullied. Anxiety gives the victim a state of restlessness and unending worry over unnecessary issues. Lack of confidence also affects victims of bullying. According to Peskin et al, (2007), fear and lack of confidence are among the problems that a victim of bullying will have to struggle with for a later part of their lives. Lack of confidence is instilled in the person because of feelings of weakness and inadequacy or inability to confront the bully. Failure to match the courage and aggressiveness of the bully or counter his attacks makes the victim to lose self worth, have low self esteem and therefore believe less in self. Lack of confidence is a serious mental health problem that must be tackled to set the victim free. It leads to fearful tendencies and shyness in the victim even in adult life. To add to these mental problems, victims of bullying experience other mental health effects such as depressive symptoms and disorders. Lehti et al, (2012) in their study reported elsewhere in this paper show that frequent bullying could be a cause of increased suicidal contemplation and attempts which may also be experienced in early adulthood. In a different study by Kaltiala-Heino et al (2000), the researchers show that bullying could be a contributing factor to eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia. They discovered that there is a statistical association between the experiences of being a bully victim and eating pathology development in men and women of young ages. In the same study, victims of bullying displayed evidence of having multiple mental disorders besides the eating disorders. The fact that mental disorders can result from bullying cannot therefore be ignored. Internalizing problems have been found to be effects of bullying in adolescent life. Internalizing problems are those psychological problems where the victim directs negativity inward to himself. People with such problems are known to suffer from depression. Ivarsson et al (2012) conducted a study on identical twins. One was a victim of bullying while the other was not. The bully victim showed signs of internalizing problems later but the other twin showed none. This research unearthed more evidence that bullying is dangerous to the mental health of children and adolescents. Ivarsson et al also expanded their study to include more twin pairs about 112 in number to bring the total to 114. Her study confirmed the findings of other researches that bullied children and adolescents have a higher likelihood of having anxiety, suicidal thoughts, depression and social isolation. Contrary views to this topic also exist. Researchers agree that bullying and problems of mental health originate from the same causal factors. However the question of if mental health problems are caused by bullying itself is still open for discussion. This is the argument presented by those who claim that bullying does not result in mental health problems. These people claim that bullying itself cannot cause mental problems. According to them, the risk factors that cause mental health problems are parental neglect, bad neighborhoods, and bullies being attracted to an adolescent already having mental problems. This perspective is not very far from the truth but it does not qualify to be absolute truth. The risk factors mentioned above could make an adolescent develop mental problems but not in isolation. They must be present with other factors to bring about mental problems in an adolescent (Stein, 2007). Ignoring the role played by bullying in a victim’s life is being unrealistic. Parental neglect as a risk factor could serve to expose a teenager to peers who are bullies and escalate his or her problems because at such a time the adolescent has no one to lean on or get counsel from. Bad neighborhoods could mean that there are bad characters and bullies in the neighborhood that would attack the victim. Through that, mental problems may arise (Richter, 2007). Saying that bullying does not have mental health effects is wrong because bullying makes one withdrawn and with feelings of guilt. Bullying impacts the mental health of the person and his sense of well being. Since the attack is personalized and focused, it disassembles and destabilizes the identity of the target, strength, his ego and the ability to make a recovery from these assaults. If exposure to bullying is long the psychological impact becomes very severe. Unabated stress has a bad impact on the mental health of any person (Brunstein-Klomek, 2007). Conclusion In conclusion, the essay has presented evidence to support the claim that adolescents that experience bullying develop mental health problems in later life. Effects of bullying include sadness, loneliness, anxiety, and lack of confidence, depression, eating disorders, worry and internalizing disorders. The studies discussed show that all the above problems are common in people that have a history of bullying in levels higher than those without such a past. Bullying has therefore been found to have a relationship with mental problems in the sense that it causes them or contributes to their existence in the victim. From the evidence presented in this essay, bullying results in mental health problems that could still manifest in the lives of the victims years after. Further research should be done on the contentious issues in this topic. These factors include the role played by risk factors in the development of mental health problems. References Brunstein Klomek A, Marrocco F, Kleinman M, (2007). Bullying, depression, and suicidality in adolescents. Journal of Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, Vol. 4(1). Fisher, H. (2012). Bullying victimisation and risk of self harm in early adolescence: Longitudinal cohort Study. Journal of Psychiatric help, Vol. 2(1). Gladstone G.L, Parker G.B, Malhi G.S. (2006). Do bullied children become anxious and depressed adults? A cross-sectional investigation of the correlates of bullying and anxious depression. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2006. Ivarsson T, Broberg A.G, Arvidsson T, Gillberg C. (2005). Bullying in adolescence: psychiatric problems in victims and bullies as measured by the Youth Self Report (YSR) and the Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS). Nord Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 2(1). Kaltiala-Heino R, Rimpela M, Rantanen P, Rimpela A. (2000). Bullying at school—an indicator of adolescents at risk for mental disorders. Journal of Adolescence, Vol 3(2). Lehti, V., Brunstein Klomek, A., Tamminen, T., Moilanen, I., Kumpulainen, K., Piha, J., Almqvist, F. and Sourander A. (2012). Childhood bullying and becoming a young father in a national cohort of Finnish boys. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, Vol. 3(1). Peskin M.F, Tortolero S.R, Markham C.M, (2007). Bullying and victimization and internalizing symptoms among low-income Black and Hispanic students. J Adolesc Health.  Richter M, Bowles D, Melzer W, Hurrelmann K. (2007). Bullying, psychosocial health and risk behaviour in adolescence. Gesundheitswesen.  Sourander A, Jensen P, Ronning J.A, (2007). What is the early adulthood outcome of boys who bully or are bullied in childhood? The Finnish “From a Boy to a Man” study. Pediatrics.  Stein J.A, Dukes R.L, Warren J.L. (2007). Adolescent bullies victims, and bully-victims: a comparison of psychosocial and behavioral characteristics. Journal of Pediatr Psychol, Vol. 3(1). Read More

The act of bullying instills a fear in the victim for the perpetrator. The victim can extend this fear to others who have similar behavior. In worse situations the development of loneliness and fear is a reaction to the bad treatment of bullying. Sadness and loneliness are effects of psychological problems manifesting in the mood and withdrawal from peers. The victim reacts by withdrawing and keeping lonely to avoid further acts of bullying. In another study done on Finnish boys, Sourander et al (2007) discovered that frequent bullying was associated with anxiety disorders, in young adults.

To support these findings another study by Gladstone et al (2006) on people visiting a clinic because of depression problems revealed that high levels of anxiety in men and women is associated with bullying in the early years of life. Anxiety is among the mental health problems that affect people. This problems based on the above studies escalates in cases where the patient has a history of being bullied. Anxiety gives the victim a state of restlessness and unending worry over unnecessary issues.

Lack of confidence also affects victims of bullying. According to Peskin et al, (2007), fear and lack of confidence are among the problems that a victim of bullying will have to struggle with for a later part of their lives. Lack of confidence is instilled in the person because of feelings of weakness and inadequacy or inability to confront the bully. Failure to match the courage and aggressiveness of the bully or counter his attacks makes the victim to lose self worth, have low self esteem and therefore believe less in self.

Lack of confidence is a serious mental health problem that must be tackled to set the victim free. It leads to fearful tendencies and shyness in the victim even in adult life. To add to these mental problems, victims of bullying experience other mental health effects such as depressive symptoms and disorders. Lehti et al, (2012) in their study reported elsewhere in this paper show that frequent bullying could be a cause of increased suicidal contemplation and attempts which may also be experienced in early adulthood.

In a different study by Kaltiala-Heino et al (2000), the researchers show that bullying could be a contributing factor to eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia. They discovered that there is a statistical association between the experiences of being a bully victim and eating pathology development in men and women of young ages. In the same study, victims of bullying displayed evidence of having multiple mental disorders besides the eating disorders. The fact that mental disorders can result from bullying cannot therefore be ignored.

Internalizing problems have been found to be effects of bullying in adolescent life. Internalizing problems are those psychological problems where the victim directs negativity inward to himself. People with such problems are known to suffer from depression. Ivarsson et al (2012) conducted a study on identical twins. One was a victim of bullying while the other was not. The bully victim showed signs of internalizing problems later but the other twin showed none. This research unearthed more evidence that bullying is dangerous to the mental health of children and adolescents.

Ivarsson et al also expanded their study to include more twin pairs about 112 in number to bring the total to 114. Her study confirmed the findings of other researches that bullied children and adolescents have a higher likelihood of having anxiety, suicidal thoughts, depression and social isolation. Contrary views to this topic also exist. Researchers agree that bullying and problems of mental health originate from the same causal factors. However the question of if mental health problems are caused by bullying itself is still open for discussion.

This is the argument presented by those who claim that bullying does not result in mental health problems. These people claim that bullying itself cannot cause mental problems.

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