AFTER BEING BULLIED, IT STILL HURTS TEN YEARS LATER

The most recent AACAP News summarized an article by Copeland, etal., in JAMA Psychiatry 20:1-8 that looked at children and adolescents who were bullied or the bullies 10 years later.  This was a follow-up from the Great Smoky Mountain Epidemiological study that was done in wesern North Carolina.  They found that both those who were bullied and those who did the bullying continued to suffer.  Those who had been bullied were still at high risk for several anxiety disorders and depression.  In addition, suicidal impulses were very increased in males who had been bullied and agoraphobia was very increased in females who had been bullied.  For those who had done the bullying, the only increased risk for any psychiatric disorder was for antisocial personality disorder.  

It is important to also mention that the increased risk for psychiatric disorders was related to the bullying and not to genetic or other environmental factors.  This points out the serious consequences of being bullied and also the consequences for the bullies as well.  It is possible that the continuing suffering is related to the development of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders [PTSD] and ongoing symptoms related to the PTSD.  The PTSD is treatable and yet must be recognized as PTSD to help the treatment to be successful. I have treated a number of children and adolescents in the hospital who developed suicidal behavior related to their being bullied.  

I hope that increasing awareness of the severe consequences of bullying will help efforts to stop bullying and treat it as a serious problem that often leads to longterm suffering.  We have zero tolerance for threats of violence in our school systems.  Maybe it is time to have zero tolerance for bullying as well.