Experts: Bullying leads to mental health issues, suicide risk

Oct. 11—Bullying has an immense impact on teen mental health issues and suicide risks, according to three local experts.

Dr. Dana Gadaire, a pediatric psychologist at Geisinger, said bullying makes teens and parents powerless and vulnerable.

"Twenty percent of students reported bullying in the past year," she said. "We know that some of those students will go on to have higher rates of anxiety, depression, suicide, suicide ideations."

The definition of bullying is "aggressive or unwanted behavior that is usually repeated and involves an imbalance of power that is real or perceived by the victim or bystanders," said Gadaire.

A bully isn't necessarily an older or larger student, but it can be someone who has convinced others that they have a power of some sort to do the things they claim they can do, she said.

Anthony S. Ragusea, a board-certified clinical psychologist for Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg, said it may appear that a child or teen takes their own life because of bullying.

"You can't always know," he said. "It's a lot more complicated than that. They often have multiple stressors: dysfunction in the child's family, problems in school academically, who knows what else. They also may not share that they're being bullied or share how much it bothers them."

Young people may find it embarrassing or believe nothing can be done that will make it better, said Ragusea.

"It can be hard to know how much that is playing a role in a kid's mental health problem or suicide attempt," he said.

Dr. Nicholas Gorski, a doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Primary Care, UPMC in North Central Pa., said not every parent brings up the question of bullying, but it is something he likes to address at least at every annual visit for children and teens. He said some parents don't think the problem could happen to their child or they think that their child would say something

"When a child does express issues with being bullied parents are usually very supportive and we are able to discuss and develop some strategies for their situation," said Gorski. "If a child states that they haven't been bullied, this is great. But I also try to reinforce that they can also help to make sure they are supporting their friends and treating others appropriately."

How much bullying contributes to mental health issues is difficult to quantify, he said.

"We know in many cases bullying is a contributing factor to a child's feelings of depression and anxiety," he said. "We also know that these psychological diseases put children at risk for self-harm, suicide, and aggressive behavior. Our goal as physicians and a society is to do anything we can to decrease these risks in children and that is why I think it is so important to screen for bullying and assist children with mitigating the negative effects of bullying."

Recognize the signs

To recognize the signs that a young person is being bullied, Gadaire said students have changes in their behavior and shifts in their social preferences.

"They're having more difficulty in school, their grades may drop, they may be less engaged in school activities," she said. "Ultimately, the best way to identify bullying is monitoring what kids are doing during unstructured times when they don't have set rules and procedures. That's recess, hallways, and lunch. That's when teachers and caregivers take a backseat, and that's when kids are more vulnerable and need more supervision."

Ragusea said the student may have resistance to going to school. Another sign is that a child tends to keep to themselves or doesn't have many friends.

"Kids who are isolated are more prone to being bullied," he said. "They don't have a social support network of other friends to offset that negative experience of being bullied, to help them through it."

Kids may be more emotionally vulnerable, may have a change in appetite, and may have trouble sleeping, said Ragusea.

"These are often signs that children are in stress," he said. "One of those reasons might be bullying."

Ragusea said he has seen behaviors or actions misinterpreted by students in both parties. Bullies don't always know they're bullying or think they are bonding, like sports teams teasing each other, he said.

"It can be hard to tell what's bullied or what's not," said Ragusea. "Usually when a kid says they're being bullied, that's a good indication they're being bullied."

Furthermore, online bullying is a constant presence that can spread quickly and can often be done anonymously, she said.

"We tend to label kids as bullies or victims, but it's a lot more complicated," said Gadaire. "There are a lot of kids who are both. A lot of victims go on to bully other children who they perceive to be less powerful socially."

Strategies

Gadaire said schools should encourage positive interactions, embrace diversity, celebrate uniqueness and train young people to be assertive without being aggressive.

Kids used to be taught to ignore the bully, but research shows that it might be more helpful to have a comeback or some way to deflect the coercive behavior, said Gadaire.

"Teaching them to say 'Thank you so much for your feedback. I'll make sure to take that into account next time' in a sarcastic way," said Gadaire. "It won't get them in trouble, but tells the person who is trying to intimidate that it's not working."

Gadaire said parents should be involved with the school and take bullying seriously.

Ragusea said he recommends that the bullying be brought to the attention of relevant adults, including teachers, principals and parents.

"Adults need to set the tone and help kids to stop bullying," he said. "A bullied kid can't often stop the bully on their own. Expecting the child to fix the problem is unfair. We wouldn't expect that of an adult in a work environment who is being bullied by a colleague. We would say bring that up to human resources. Bullying behaviors often won't stop until a bully thinks they can't get away with it anymore."

Adults often don't do enough, he said.

They may not take it seriously enough and the consequences may not be enough for the actions to stop. They may not not follow it up, said Ragusea.

Education and discussion are important, said Gorski.

"Discuss differences in people and changes in growing bodies to help," he said. "Having good communication between children and their parents is important so that children know that much of the antagonistic behavior they might hear or see in the media or in their daily life is not appropriate."

He added, "It is important to allow your child to be open with you and to be able to discuss the topic of bullying and if identified, discuss this with the patient's pediatrician or family doctor. In the doctor's office, we will continue to discuss the problem and gather as much information as possible. We can then develop a plan of strategies such as getting connected with school counseling and administration if the problem is primarily present at school."

Each child and each situation are different and that is why allowing your child to speak openly about the situation is critical, said Gorski.

"For instance, bullying may be primarily on social media," he said. "Parents should be able to limit/regulate their child's interactions with social media as these platforms unfortunately can be filled with negativity."

Some other strategies include decreasing children's access to firearms and violent or antagonistic media, he said.

"Implementation of antibullying programs has also been seen to be very helpful in decreasing bullying in populations," he said.

To learn more, visit https://www.stopbullying.gov, is a resource that provides more information and resources for parents and children, he said.