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Bullying In The Workplace Essay

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Bullying in the Workplace –

On February 14th 1999, Silvia Braun, a policewoman from Bavaria/Germany did not appear in her office in Munich. Some of her colleagues found the 22-year-old woman later in her car on a service area on a highway – she had shot herself with her own rifle. Braun, an ambitious and determined woman, had no money problems, she did not suffer from any mental illness and she was not in love with someone who did not return her feelings. What was it that had made life unbearable for her? She had been being bullied for almost one year. She felt being humiliated, intimidated and sexually molested by her superior. This case shows how disastrous and dangerous bullying in the workplace can be.
Unfortunately, the vast …show more content…

Even worse for those affected by bullying is social isolation. Nobody talks to you, nobody will warn you if the boss comes around to check whether the employees do their work correctly and if you enter a crowded room a terrible silence cuts all conversations immediately. A colleague of yours may constantly defame you among all colleagues and spread (untrue) gossip about your private life in the company. You did not know that your children are gay and your partner has several love affairs? Now you know.
Bullies might not always be aware of the severe consequences of their actions but this cannot condone the sorrow and pain they inflict upon the victims. Bullying often evokes psychosomatic illnesses. Victims complain about headache, heart diseases, dizziness, nausea and sleep disorder. Bullying becomes the dominating part of their whole life; they cannot do anything without thinking of the horror of the next workday. Weakened as they are, victims become an even easier target for people who want to harm them. It is a vicious circle, hard to break out for those terrorized by bullying. Many of them think of committing suicide as the last way out.
There is no doubt that taking one's life is the worst possible solution. But how should you react if you become the victim of bullying?
One has to be aware that those who are bullied often cannot be blamed. In contrast to the common opinion weakness, self-consciousness and incompetence at work do not

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