Bullying:  Negate Harmful Long-Term Effects

A new study by Duke Medicine highlights something we already knew would be true: bullying has potential negative long-term psychological impacts on both the bullied individual and the bully.

Jeanine Joy’s upcoming book, Stress Kills: Happiness Heals highlights the link between emotional state and behavior. We also understand:

  • How to mitigate the negative long-term psychological impacts for both the victim and the bully.
  • How to facilitate post traumatic growth.
  • How to build the bridge between the mental outlook of victim to a stronger and surer mindset that portrays inner strength that is authentic, and
  • How to help a bully find more socially acceptable behaviors and address the underlying bad feeling emotions that lead to bullying in the first place.

The potential psychological impacts of being bullied and being a bully, according to Duke’s study, include a higher risk for psychiatric disorders than those with no history of being bullied, higher risk of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, panic disorders. Those who were bullied but did not bully were at risk of agoraphobia while those who were bullies and victims also had the highest level of suicidal thoughts and were at increased risk for antisocial personality disorder.

But just like situations, individual results vary. At Happiness 1st Institute, our work has been to investigate what causes thriving in spite of negative life events and build bridges to increase thriving in the world. Our focus has placed us in the perfect position to address this issue and take meaningful steps to prevent the negative long-term impacts of negative life events like being bullied and of bullying.

Our understanding of the link between emotional state and behavior also gives us insights into tools that can help the bully (and potential bully) make adjustments that can prevent that sort of behavior from beginning (or end it if it has already started). We can also empower potential victims so that they are less likely to be bullied and so that they have emotionally healthier responses even if they are.

Jeanine Joy developed an anti-bullying program that has provided some amazing results. Suitable for both middle and high school environments. She provides programs to schools at a much lower cost than her usual fee and can also do work using grant funds via the non-profit (Achieve Affinity) she co-founded to expand her work into areas that cannot afford her services through Happiness 1st Institute.

The answers exist. It is time to use that wisdom to make the world a better place for all. Let us help. Contact us today.