Expert decries effects of bullying on mental health

The Medical Director, Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, Dr Olugbenga Owoeye, says that bullying usually comes with long time psychological consequences on people’s mental health.

Owoeye said this in an interview with the newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday.

He further said that bullying could result in enormous physical and psychological consequences on the life of the person bullied.

He identified the psychological effects of bullying to include depression, anxiety, use of drugs, trouble in sleeping, difficulty in concentrating and increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviour.

He also said that bullying could result in acute stress reaction, posttraumatic disorder and invasive head injury that might present with various mental health conditions.

He, therefore, frowned at the prevalence of bullying in society, mostly in schools, homes and offices.

He attributed bullying to many factors and identified the various types as physical, verbal, social, sexual and internet or cyber bullying.

He said that bullying might result in injuries, wounds and fractures or death.

“Bullying has quite enormous physical, psychological and mental health consequences, ranging from depression, anxiety, drug abuse, fractures, injuries and low self-esteem, among others.

“If bullying becomes too much and the person is not taken care of, the self-esteem could be damaged, as a result of this, the person may develop depression.

“So, the individual could go into drug abuse or try to join a cult group to be able to cope with incessant bullying in school or the person may equally become so bad that he will become a bully.

“And then, the circle continues because you can make a bully out of the person being bullied because after sometime, the person may say ‘well, since this behaviour is permitted, let me also begin to exhibit it’,” Owoeye said.

According to him, bullying doesn’t need to be persistent to have an effect on the mental health and wellbeing of an individual.

For those who have been bullied, Owoeye said the fear and anticipation of further being bullied could affect their ability to be themselves and interact with others in a healthy manner.

He recommended massive campaigns to educate people on the consequences of bullying as part of the measures to curb the phenomenon.

“With education and awareness campaigns, people will be well informed about the negative impacts of bullying on their mental health and refrain from it.

Owoeye emphasised the need for mental health education to be inculcated into the school curriculum so that from there, children would learn more about it.

He underscored the need for teachers, guardians and caregivers to pay more attention to the children and be more observant on their behaviour.

He said: “There are a lot of things to do to help prevent bullying in society.

“Number one is education and creating awareness about bullying – that it is real – at home, in schools, offices, on the internet and community level.

“Educate people that bullying can result in a lot of terrible consequences.

“So, when people know this, they will restrain themselves from bullying others.

Owoeye said there was a need for regular screening and clinical examination of the students to identify those with conduct disorders and treat them accordingly.

He argued that those with conduct disorder “may bully others, steal other people’s things and before you know it, it will result in social and psychological consequences in the life of the person being bullied.

“And then, when you don’t reward the behaviour of bullying, that behaviour will stop because behaviour and action go into extincts, if not rewarded.

“So, we can embark on behavioural modification to be able to tackle the problem of bullying,” Owoeye said.