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Long-Term Effects Of Bullying, Mental Health, And Suicide

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Bullying is a problem in today’s society that occurs regularly among youth. It should be addressed because of the negative impact it has on the victim. It can change their life and change the way they act towards other people. I am against bullying, so therefore, in this essay, I will discuss the effects it has on people in terms of long-term effects, mental health, and suicide.
To start off, when someone is going through a phase of bullying, there is usually long-term effects that come along with it. Depression is one of the long-term effects the victim suffers. As Bullying Statistics stated, “Both bullies and their victims are more likely to suffer from depression than youth who are involved in bullying. This connection can be long-lasting; …show more content…

When someone has depression it’s usually difficult for them to concentrate, changes in their sleep and weight, and they feel like they are not worth anything. In addition, anxiety disorder is also a long-term effect for the victims. WebMD explained, “it can cause such distress that it interferes with a person's ability to lead a normal life. They also experience unrealistic worry and tension.” For example, something can be going on and they’re worrying way too much about it when it isn’t necessary. Anxiety disorder is “caused by changes in the brain and environmental stress,” WebMD stated. When victims are bullied, they seem to be more anxious than students who are not bullied at all. An example Swearer gave was, “boys 14-18 years of age who were being bullied by being called “gay” showed higher levels of anxiety than their peers who were bullied for another reason.” Also, being called gay seemed to be one of the most common reasons for this disorder. Every victim has their own situation that leads them to this disorder however, some are more serious than others. The third long-term effect that …show more content…

Psychological problems is one of the effects. When a victim is going through this, their risk of having suicidal thoughts and behaviors is higher than usual.Walton says, “But a new study in JAMA Psychiatry looks at the long-term psychological effects of bullying, for kids who are bullied, who bully, or who may play both “roles”. Kids who had been victims only (who never bullied others) had greater risk for depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety, panic disorder and agoraphobia as adults. But worse off were kids who were both bully victims and bullies – they experienced all types of depressive and anxiety disorders, and suffered most severely from suicidal thoughts, depressive disorders, generalized anxiety and panic disorder, compared with the other groups of participants. In fact, about 25% of these participants said they had suicidal thoughts as young adults, and about 38% had panic disorder.” This is important because it shows that people who are victims and bully others are the ones that go through a lot more. They want to feel like they finally have control over someone, since they have been bullied before. Another mental health is low-self esteem. Children that have low-self esteem are the ones that usually get picked on at school. They don’t feel positive and don’t see themselves as worthy or good enough for others. The last mental health is post traumatic stress. It’s

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