Introduction
Mobbing is the technical term for the harassment or psychological terrorization of persons by people from their surroundings. The aim of the bullying is to keep the victim as small as possible or to drive him/her away, whether from school, work or other institutions. The victims of the bullying attacks are often people who do not have a strong position in the group and who differ from the others by social status, origin, behavior or appearance.
The group of perpetrators consists mainly of fellow perpetrators who are only afraid of being affected themselves. Often there are only a few instigators who initiate the bullying. They usually have a self-confident attitude and a fixed position in the group.
The consequences of mobbing mainly refer to the victims who suffer from the constant attacks of various kinds. The constant stress is not only exhausting and dangerous for the body – the psyche also suffers from it. Sadness, fear and anger dominate the lives of many victims of bullying. It is not surprising that these circumstances can lead to mental illness, self-injury, third-party injury or even suicidal thoughts with all the associated consequences. Above all, the perpetrators must be made aware of the serious damage they can leave behind with their behavior.
General consequences of mobbing
Bullying can have a negative effect on the physical condition of the victim as well as on the psyche of the people concerned. The constant attacks by the perpetrators cause various negative feelings in the affected person and promote the mostly already existing self insecurity. The attacks can be characterized in verbal form (e.g.
insult) or by actions (e.g. causing overtime). Often different types of mobbing are combined. The negative feelings – sadness, fear or anger – reduce performance at work as well as in everyday life.
The victims of bullying are no longer motivated to move into the society of the offender groups or are even afraid of it. A fundamental mistrust of other people often develops, which generally makes interpersonal relationships more difficult, even if the other person is actually “friendly”. The consequences are social withdrawal (avoidance behavior), a feeling of powerlessness, self-doubt, anxiety, and mental and physical deterioration.
The physical reduction can manifest itself either in a strong decrease or increase in body weight. The results are on the one hand children or adolescents who can no longer or no longer want to go to school, and on the other hand adults who lose their jobs or have to be transferred. In particularly severe cases, the psychological terror to which the victims are exposed leads to incapacity to work and lifelong damage.
The quality of life of mobbing victims is significantly reduced, which also has an impact on their physical health. Affected people fall ill more often and usually take longer to cure the disease. This is often related to the avoidance behavior of spending as little time as possible with the offender group.
However, the most serious consequences of mobbing – if it does not lead to physical violence – are on the psyche. The term “mobbing syndrome” has already become established in technical jargon and is placed in the same category as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD occurs in people whose lives have been acutely endangered or who have witnessed the death of other people (classic example: soldiers).
This fact alone illustrates the severity of the consequences of bullying. Mobbing victims have an increased risk of developing depression or other mental disorders. The problems of the persons concerned must be taken extremely seriously, otherwise far-reaching consequences may follow.
Due to the hopelessness that the victims feel, some of them see only one possibility to escape the whole thing – suicide (suicide). Every perpetrator should be aware that he or she may drive a person so deeply into despair that they no longer want to live. Also already acts of violence were attributed to preceding Mobbing. The negative feelings are bundled in deep hatred towards the perpetrators, which is lived out at some point.
