There are unavoidable aspects of being a teen that can affect your child’s mental health, such as difficult schoolwork and planning for the future. However, bullying is an issue that should be addressed to not only stop the harmful behavior, but also reduce the impact it can have on a teen’s mental and emotional well-being.
Bullying comes in many shapes and forms; it can be name-calling, physical violence or spreading rumors to hurt a person’s reputation. For teens, the impact of bullying can have deep, lasting effects on their mental health.
5 ways that bullying can affect your teen’s mental health
In the 2021-2022 school year, more than 19% of students between the ages of 12 and 18 experienced bullying, according to StopBullying.gov. While physical bullying can pose an obvious risk to your teen’s overall health, so can bullying that’s carried out through words in person or online. Even though we all try our best not to be hurt by insults, taunting or cruel jokes, it’s not always easy to ignore.
If your teen is being bullied, here are five reasons why it can have a negative impact on their mental health:
- hurting their sense of self — Being a teenager is all about a person figuring out who they are, what they stand for and how they want to be perceived by others. Having a strong sense of self means that a teen is proud of their identity and knows their self-worth. However, bullying can hurt how a teen sees themselves. The negative voices can make them doubt their own capabilities and character.
- increasing insecurities — Branching off the previous point, bullying can cause a teen to think negatively about aspects of themselves that impact their confidence. Everyone gets insecure about themselves every once in a while, especially during puberty. However, bullying can make teens become highly critical about things like their physical attributes, behaviors, and life circumstances, such as economic status. It can make them hyperfixate on perceived flaws, leading to long-term low self-esteem.
- causing feelings of anxiety and depression — Bullying can cause mental distress that affects a teen’s overall quality of life, including symptoms of mental health conditions. For instance, bullying can lead to feelings of anxiety in teens, particularly social anxiety. It can cause overwhelming fear that everyone is judging them or making fun of them for the same things their bully is. Depression symptoms, such as social isolation and overwhelming sadness, can also stem from bullying. It can make them feel alone.
- leading to trust issues — Platonic, romantic and familial relationships can play significant roles in a teen’s mental health and personal growth. However, bullying can make it difficult to form or maintain healthy connections with others. A teen who is being bullied may let insecurities get in the way of believing that they are deserving of other people’s care. They may also have emotional, cognitive and behavioral patterns that stem from traumatic bullying experiences. The patterns can affect their interpersonal skills, such as conflict resolution.
- decreasing enjoyment in activities — Teens should be exploring as many hobbies, extracurriculars and interests as possible. But if they’re bullied, they may not find the same enjoyment in activities that they used to. This is especially true if those are the things that they are being bullied about, as they want to reduce the risk of further bullying. They may also become embarrassed by their interests. Lack of pleasure in activities is known as anhedonia. It’s a common symptom of major depressive disorder.
Severe or long-term bullying can increase the risk of a teen participating in self-harm behaviors or having suicidal thoughts. Teens can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 for immediate support.
Embrace U can help improve your teen’s mental health that’s been affected by bullying
While the severity of bullying can vary from teen to teen, every case should be taken seriously. As a parent, it can be difficult to watch your teen be physically, mentally and emotionally harmed by the words and actions of others. Steps that can be taken to improve the situation include teaching them how to be resilient, building their confidence and validating their feelings. You can also encourage them to talk to an administrator, or take that step yourself.
When your teen’s mental health has been negatively impacted by bullying, it can affect their academic performance, friendships and motivation to plan for the future. That’s why it’s important they receive the support and resources they need. Ask them about seeing a therapist. They can talk through their emotions and learn coping skills to manage the negative thoughts and feelings that come from bullying.
If they need further support, Embrace U can help. We provide a partial hospitalization program and an intensive outpatient program for adolescents aged 10 to 18. Our intensive mental health treatment programs can help your child reduce their mental health distress and challenges. Through effective treatment, they can also improve their self-perception and learn strategies to reduce the impact of bullying in the future.
Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.