While the internet has brought about so many fantastic benefits to our lives, one of the downsides of the online world is the element of cyberbullying, which is particularly prevalent with the adolescent population online. Cyberbullying causes a lot of distress and can alter the psychological state of young people, reducing their trust and confidence in the world around them. Today, we will look further at how cyberbullying affects children and teens alike and the long-term impact of this event on their lives.
Long-Term Mental Health Effects
Regardless of how long the incident of cyberbullying lasted, it can have a long-term impact on a person’s mental health. Anyone who has experienced cyberbullying could end up with depression, anxiety, or a combination of the two, which may last for years to come. While some people feel much more confident online, being the victim of a cyberbully can result in low self-esteem and stress disorder symptoms. Kids may become unhappy to talk to other people either online or in real life due to the previous incidents, which can have a huge impact on their life in the future. Reduced confidence during this vital life stage can impact the chances of a teen going to college and succeeding in their desired career path. Depression and anxiety can be incredibly difficult to manage for some youngsters, resulting in the need for medication or help from a specialist in psychiatry. The sooner that a victim can receive help for the situation and try to understand that the issue lies with the cyberbully and not them, the easier it is to move on from the incident and grow your confidence again.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (which is often abbreviated to PTSD) can occur from a wide variety of situations and isn’t just a result of huge and traumatic life events. Abuse at work, school, or online can certainly cause PTSD and can have an adverse impact on someone’s life for years to come. In the future, an individual may suffer from flashbacks and higher levels of stress or physical illness and be unable to complete simple online tasks or visit certain websites or social media platforms for fear of reliving the traumatic experience they’ve been through. PTSD needs to be taken seriously by parents, and psychiatric help should be considered, especially when anyone displays unusual or aggressive behavior or engages in high-risk activities, such as sexual encounters or drug use. As with depression and anxiety, there is an increased risk of suicide or suicidal thoughts when struggling with PTSD, so parents need to keep a close eye on the victim and help their child receive the assistance they need to move past this difficult period in their life.
Low Self-Esteem
Any form of bullying tends to result in a reduction of self-esteem, which is certainly the case as cyberbullying increases. It’s so important to raise confident young individuals to give them the best chance of succeeding in life before they head off to college. Researchers at think tanks such as Pew Research Center have spent time looking into this subject and other social issues, so it would be a fantastic topic to research for a cyberbullying essay as one of your next college papers. Cyberbullying has so many different forms nowadays, and according to PapersOwl, 37% of teenagers in their study have been bullied online, which is a staggering percentage. To have a population with this many individuals suffering from reduced self-esteem and confidence would be devastating for our workforce in years to come, and so action to reduce cyberbullying needs to be taken. If you know that one of your friends, colleagues, or children is suffering, always remind them that they are not alone and have done nothing to deserve this misfortunate. By trying to shift the blame away from the individual, you can try and help boost their confidence again before heading to college or starting a job.
How To Reduce Cyberbullying?
You may be wondering how to reduce the chances of cyberbullying occurring and to avoid the implications of this event as found listed above. As American and international media companies are beginning to understand the effects of online bullying on youngsters, there are more opportunities for these interactions to be reported to social media companies. You’ll find you can easily block out people from your online world, but of course, when they are at school together as well this can be tricky. It’s perfectly reasonable to involve the school in the incident if both the victim and bully attend the same school for their studies. While this may seem embarrassing for teens, the long-term effects of bullying are terrible, and so it’s worth tackling the issue head-on before it’s too late. If you feel your child or you are suffering from the consequences of being bullied, consult a professional, and receive counseling to try and work through these issues. It’s important to remember that cyberbullying victims did not ask for this to happen to them and shouldn’t blame themselves for the issues they’ve experienced.
Cyberbullying will only continue to increase with the more time we all spend online, as bullying transfers from real-world interactions to the online world. By trying to keep your profiles on your wide range of social media accounts restricted to your close friends and family, you can limit the opportunities for people to contact you and cause negative emotional experiences online. Remember, there’s always help and health care assistance available for teens and adults affected by bullying, and you should never be afraid to speak out and get help when struggling with this situation.