A North Carolina study of 1,420 participants finds higher rates of agoraphobia (4.6x), generalized anxiety disorder (2.7x), and panic disorder (3.1x) among victims of bullying. Among those who had been both bullies and victims, the study found higher rates of depression (4.8x), panic disorder (14.5x), agoraphobia (26.7x) and suicidality (18.5x) in both childhood and young adulthood. Results appeared in JAMA Psychiatry.
Copeland, W., Wolke, D., Angold, A., Costello, E., Adult Psychiatric Outcomes of Bullying and Being Bullied by Peers in Childhood and Adolescence, JAMA Psychiatry, online February 20, 2013
Of further interest:
Bullied Children Can Suffer Lasting Psychological Harm as Adults (Science Daily)
Lasting Legacy of Childhood Bullying: Psychiatric Problems In Adulthood (Time)
Bullying Strongly Linked to Mental Health Disorders (Medscape)
Childhood bullying linked to adult psychological disorders (Bradenton.com)
Childhood Bullying Is Not Harmless, Even in the Long Run (JournalWATCH)
The To This Day Project, a beautiful short film about turning pain and trauma into triumph instead of psychiatry. The film’s concluding words: “Our lives will only ever continue to be a balancing act: It has less to do with pain, and more with beauty.”
