Bullying, how to recognise it and deal with it whether it is online or at work

It can take several forms at all stages of life, from school to the workplace. Bullying can go unnoticed, there are some signs and these should be flagged. If you feel uncomfortable when interacting with someone or if you are being asked to share personal information by a stranger, could be signs that the person is gathering information to then potentially use it for cyberbullying. It is common and can take many forms like kids sharing info while gaming or even social media profiles being copied and reformatted to shame or embarrass the targeted person.

Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behaviour (Costantinos, 2021). Contacting trusted adults to create awareness of these issues is important to stop it. Your gut feeling should be the first trigger, if it doesn't seem right, it's probably not.

Workplace bullying can also be masked, by engaging in excessive bantering and deliberately insulting others along with stealing credit for others' work are some of the signs. Undermining individuals and causing them stress or other reputational harm are clear signs that the toxic work culture needs to be addressed. HR may be able to offer some tips but the end game is not always in the favour of the victim. However, the psychosocial responsibilities of employers have been better understood in recent years.

Having resilience and awareness is the first step. Remember it's not you, it's the bully who is the problem. There are many tactics to create awareness and prevent it from escalating. In the workplace, it can also take many different forms, document uncomfortable conversations and repeated targeted interactions that may feel unfair, and start to track a pattern, if you are feeling like it isn't right only you know how you feel and can recognise the opportunity to turn things around. Understanding why the bully is doing what they are doing is usually the key to unravelling the behaviour.

Some people never work out what is wrong and the warning signs are ignored and dismissed, so now it's time to be aware and seek support if you are being bullied or a bully. Don't do it alone, we are here to help reach out for some insights to get on track to a resilient balanced life.

Scientific studies have proven there is psychological distress associated with these behaviours (Trepanier, 2016). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1359432X.2015.1132200

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S019339731400032X