General

How does bullying in school affect a child’s brain?

Aggressive persecution by a team of onehuman is called bullying. Bullying is especially common among adolescents, but it can also occur in adulthood. Recent research suggests that bullying affects hundreds of millions of children and adolescents worldwide. In some cases, the consequences of bullying are felt after years and even decades. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) have recognized bullying as a global issue. However, researchers agree that our understanding of the impact of bullying on the brain and mental health is still limited.

Bullying can be encountered at any age and team

Content

  • 1 How does bullying occur?
  • 2 Who is subject to bullying?
  • 3 Consequences of bullying
  • 4 How does bullying affect the brain?
  • 5 How to deal with bullying?

How does bullying appear?

Harassment manifests itself as repetitive andintentional verbal, physical, and antisocial behavior. Anyone who mocks others wants to intimidate them, cause harm, often dubbed a marginal. This is because he considers the target to be weak or very different from the rest.

Harassment is especially common in school

Among young children commonforms of bullying are offensive language and physical harm. This behavior can become more sophisticated with age. Sometimes this behavior develops into bullying outside of school walls and continues on social networks.

Who is bullying?

In fact, bullying can be encountered in anyage and in any society that is formed by the principle of chance - a team at work, at a university or school. There are many types and criteria of bullying, but psychologists consider emotional vulnerability to be the most defining. The more a person who has been persecuted shows weakness in responding to insults, the more this provokes the offender. In other words - emotionally reacting to insults you give the offender what he wants.

Many adults experience bullying at work

Scientists note that bullying in children and adultsit’s no different - and the same mechanisms and criteria operate on the principle of dissimilarity or vulnerability. However, the persecution is spontaneous, so tracking exactly when it started is quite difficult.

The consequences of bullying

Among those who have been harassed inadolescence, about 10-15% were regularly harassed - bullying could last more than six months. The experiences associated with this attitude to oneself become the reason for poor performance at school, university, as well as negatively affect the chances of getting a job in the future. Needless to say, the objects of bullying more often than others suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, stress disorders, and are also prone to suicidal thoughts.

You can find more information about the effect of stress on the body on our channel in Yandex.Zen.

How does bullying affect the brain?

In the past 10 years, scientists began to devoteincreased attention to the impact of bullying on health. In general, we can say that the body responds to bullying as acute stress. An article published last December in the journal Molecular Psychiatry sheds light on another area of ​​research: brain architecture. Injury caused by prolonged, repeated baiting can affect the structure of the brain, according to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), collected by an international group from King's College London. The results confirm the results of previous studies that showed similar changes in children and adults who were abused at a young age.

Sometimes bullying leads to physical injury.

According to Tracy Weilancourt, Clinicalpsychologist from the University of Ottawa, changes in the structure and chemical composition of the brain clearly demonstrate how destructive and dangerous bullying is. Together with colleagues, Weilancourt hopes that there will be much more such studies in the future. Ultimately, scientists believe that the data obtained can be used to justify political decisions and take the necessary measures to combat bullying.

This is interesting: Does our brain have sex?

In an earlier study published inAmerican Journal of Psychiatry in 2010 also reported abnormalities in certain areas of the brain that are associated with verbal abuse reports. Neurobiologists note that the brain is plastic throughout our lives. It is thanks to neuroplasticity that we continue to learn, and the environment shapes our behavior. It is not surprising that bullying adversely affects not only mental health, but also brain function.

How to deal with bullying?

Fighting bullying alone is not easy. Therefore, experts advise first to seek help. In severe cases, the best solution may be to change your place of residence, work or study. However, scientists call neutrality the most important method of combating bullying. Any cases of bullying work in a similar way - the offender is waiting for a reaction and the more emotional she is, the better. That is why it is necessary to remain calm and not show your weakness. Such behavior is likely to lead to the fact that the offender simply disappears interest.

The main thing is not to show the offender that you are offended by his words and deeds

Also, experts advise not to neglect the powerthe law. In some cases, especially when bullying leads to physical harm, it is worth protecting your rights by contacting law enforcement agencies.

Have you ever encountered bullying? Share hooligan fighting stories in the comments and our Telegram chat.