The Negative Impact of Intimidation on Individuals

Do you know how many innocent souls are shattered in the hands of ruthless bullies? Even in the most civilized countries, bullying causes grief to many young teens. A 2004 study published in the medical Journal of Pediatrics found that about one in seven Canadian children aged 11 to 16 is victims of bullying. Bullying has many effects, but the most powerful effects of bullying are a negative body image, increased stress, and suicidal thoughts.

Kids always make fun of how a person appears aesthetically. Sometimes these comments can leave deep scars on your body image. Even someone with a flawless face can have a bad body image, due to bullying. This is called body dysmorphic disorder. According to researchers, some sufferers of this illness admit that it is a cause of prolonged childhood bullying. Bullies pick on students who they think are weak in physical stature, unpopular with their peers, or easily discriminated against. This causes the victim to be insecure about their body and they start hiding it or trying to change their appearance. Most victims start extreme diets and start starving themselves. This causes them to have a distorted body image.

One of the most common effects of bullying is increased stress and anxiety. Bullying is the leading cause of stress. Victims are embarrassed and are afraid of being bullied. The victim constantly thinks of that situation and the bully. They try to evade social places like schools and the internet. This causes the victim to be negatively stressed. Some victims of the bullying try to cope with this trauma by mostly over eating and developing sickness. They get extremely fatigued and cannot get work done. Bullying also causes stress because some of the time the victim cannot ask for help, and they feel threatened. This stress is the result of bullying.

Suicide, the most dangerous effect of bullying. It is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4400 deaths per year, according to the CASP. Suicide is lethal, victims are alone in a dull part of their subconscious. Bullying is mainly the cause of suicide because victims are embarrassed or threatened. Bullies reinforce the thought of uselessness to the victim, and the victim just give up. This state of mind makes victims feel alone and worthless, and this leads to suicide. All these things prove that bullying does cause suicide.

In a nutshell, bullying is a very miserable experience and its three big effects are bad body image, increased stress, and suicide. Bullying is gruesome, and especially when applied on insecure teens. According to statistics, over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year in Canada. Bullying is truly a nightmare for the ones who experience it.