The Impact of Bullying on Mental Health 

Bullying isn’t confined to the school playground. Unfortunately, it shows up in all kinds of places – including work. Around one in ten people experience bullying at work and its impact on one’s mental health can be long-lasting if it’s not rectified.

The impact of bullying on mental health can affect people of all ages and backgrounds and comes in various forms – including verbal, physical and online. How do you know if you’re being bullied at work, what can be done to stop it, and what’s available to help those who are being bullied?

How does bullying impact mental health

Bullying can impact mental health by causing those who are bullied to withdraw and/or self-isolate. This withdrawal may be from people, places, situations (such as meetings or social events), to avoid further emotional or even physical harm.

In time, particularly if it is not dealt with, this can lead to hopelessness, anxiety and even depression. Plus, being the victim of bullying can make working life miserable and affect your productivity and engagement.

Bystanders of bullying in the workplace

People who witness bullying can also be affected. According to research from Sheffield University, simply witnessing bullying at work can harm individuals who lack social support. That’s why it’s incredibly important to talk to victims of bullying to ensure they are okay, and to encourage them to report the issue – especially if it’s of a severe nature.

What are the types of bullying?

There are various types of bullying that range from quite obvious demonstrations of behaviour to more subtle ones that may be missed.

• Physical – hurting someone physically

• Verbal – name calling, threatening words, shouting and gossiping

• Non-verbal – offensive hand signs

• Emotional - threatening someone, intimidating, controlling or manipulating

• Exclusion – ignoring or ostracising someone

• Cyberbullying – bullying behaviour over the internet which may encompass some or all the above points

It’s worth noting that bullying can be one off or a repeated pattern of behaviour. It can also be subtle to the point that others may not realise bullying behaviour is happening to them or others.

What is bullying at work and what are bullying at work examples?

While there’s no legal definition of what bullying is at work, it ultimately boils down to unwanted behaviour from a person or group of people. This behaviour can be intimidating, malicious and/or insulting. It may also involve certain individuals abusing or misusing their authority to undermine or cause physical harm to others.

Some examples of bullying in the workplace could look like:

• Constantly criticising someone’s work

• Excluding certain colleagues from meetings and/or opportunities

• Spreading rumours about a colleague

• Delegating more work to one colleague compared to everyone else

Bullying can also occur over the phone and on work emails.

Upward bullying can also occur in the workplace, where employees bully someone more senior (such as their manager) by:

Bullying can also occur over the phone and on work emails.

Upward bullying can also occur in the workplace, where employees bully someone more senior (such as their manager) by:

• Disrespecting their authority

• Refusing to complete their own tasks

• Undermining authority

• Sabotaging tasks to make a senior appear unskilled

How you’re protected from bullying and harassment

Bullying and harassment are often interchanged but they do have some differences. Under the Equality Act 2010, bullying behaviour can fall under harassment if it relates to any of these protected characteristics:

• Age

• Disability

• Gender reassignment

• Race

• Pregnancy and maternity

• Religion or believe

• Sex

• Sexual orientation

According to The House of Commons library, the act “prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, and harassment and victimisation”. A breach of the act has the potential for unlimited fines if it were ever brought to an employment tribunal (and the employer is proven guilty of discrimination).

How to report bullying in the workplace

If you or another employee is being bullied, it’s always best to address the issue informally at first. If this isn’t possible, you should speak to your manager (or in some cases their manager), human resources (HR) or a trade union representative.

In the event none of these routes are successful, an employee can make a formal complaint through the employer’s grievance procedure, which should be outlined in their employee handbook. If harassment persists, they can take legal action at an employment tribunal. It’s important that as an employee taking this last resort, that you have as much documented evidence towards your claim to strengthen your case.

If you’re an employer, it’s your duty to ensure anti-bullying and harassment policies are in place to help prevent problems arising. Should a complaint make its way to a tribunal case, and you haven’t handled the complaint properly, this will be taken into account by the tribunal when deciding the final outcome.

Where else can I get help for workplace bullying?

Your EAP can provide mental wellbeing and legal advice. You may also wish to do supplementary research through ACAS, Citizen’s Advice, or the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Certain charities are also experts in supporting those who may be experiencing bullying behaviour – such as Change Mental Health.

How can an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) help?

Dealing with bullying at work is never easy. It can be isolating – especially if you do not have a trusted support system around you. With an EAP, you can seek support from qualified counsellors, who can guide you through your emotions and help you develop healthy coping strategies whilst you work through this difficult time. Should you or anyone have an immediate crisis, counsellors are also available 24/7, 365 days a year for crisis intervention.

An EAP is also able to support you with legal advice and referral services – which also extends to bullying in the workplace. Whilst this doesn’t lend itself to legal representation, it can help you as either an employer or employee with legal advice with how to deal with the situation at hand.

Conclusion

Bullying has no place at work or anywhere else in the world. Unfortunately, it still happens, which is why it’s more important than ever to ensure it’s shut down before it can ever escalate. The repercussions not only affect your people, but you as an employer too. It can affect your company reputation as well as have serious financial consequences. To mitigate this, employers can support their people by ensuring there’s a robust anti-bullying and harassment policy in place with regular training and reminders.