4,000 children who were referred for treatment in child and adolescent psychiatry (BUP) are included in the new study. Over half of them – around 2,000 children – said they had been subjected to serious bullying. One in three had been subjected to violence in the family. Around 600 children stated that bullying was the worst thing they had experienced, while around 350 stated that family violence was the worst. The researchers wanted to investigate possible traumatic experiences among the children who had been referred to BUP. What they found was that serious bullying can cause children as much trauma as violence in the family. Sandra Lorenze Vestnes (17) in Bodø believes we need to talk more about the consequences and crack down harder on bullying. Photo: Private photo 17-year-old Sandra Lorenze Vestnes in Bodø is committed to fighting bullying. Together with a friend, she started a campaign against the internet. Afterwards, Sandra herself experienced being severely harassed on social media. She thinks it is good that researchers have now found out more about what bullying can lead to. (Click to hear Sandra) Play audio I think that first of all it doesn’t shock me. Because being bullied… it sort of eats quite a lot mentally. It breaks you down quite a bit. – You walk around with a constant fear The 17-year-old in Bodø believes there is a connection between severe bullying and psychological problems. She knows something about what bullying does to you. – You walk around with a constant fear that you will be picked on or that someone will throw crap at you. Play sound I’ve experienced it myself then… But then, no one should dread going to school. School should be a place where everyone feels welcome and where everyone is in a way excited to learn what they are supposed to. With bullying, in a way, you push someone out of school. It shouldn’t be like that. Half exposed to serious bullying The researchers cannot establish that bullying alone is the cause of mental illness. 4,000 children who were referred for treatment at BUP are included in a new study. It was created by the National Knowledge Center on Violence and Traumatic Stress (NKVTS). The children who said that bullying was the worst thing they had experienced, had very similar problems to the children who said that violence in the family was the worst. They are surprised by what they found. – Yes, we basically did. And this tells us that experiencing serious bullying has some similarities with having experienced violence in the family. Both are psychological and sometimes physical violence, says Marianne Skogbrott Birkeland, trauma researcher at NKVTS. Marianne Skogbrott Birkeland, trauma researcher, National Knowledge Center on Violence and Traumatic Stress (NKVTS) Photo: National Knowledge Center on Violence and Traumatic Stress Trauma researchers’ advice on bullying Schools must work well with prevention – better than they have done so far. There are knowledge-based measures that prevent bullying, use them. Ongoing bullying must be stopped. If someone is subjected to many negative comments over time, ostracism or physical violence, the school staff must take it seriously early on, not wait to see how it goes. Bullying ombudsmen can help. Parents should also be involved. We as adults must also not trivialize bullying as innocent teasing or something that all children have to endure. If we didn’t think it was okay to experience this at work, then it’s not okay for children to experience it at school either. Some may say that they only meant to joke, but a good and secure relationship is actually required at the bottom to be sure that teasing and joking will be perceived as harmless and friendly. If you don’t have it then you risk that others will be hurt and not feel well, because of you. This is something we can all teach our children. When they think about it, there are few children who actually want to be the cause of other people’s unhappiness. BUP must ask the children they are in contact with if they have been subjected to bullying, regardless of the reason for the referral. In addition, they must talk to the children about how they are at school and in their free time, and online. They should examine what kind of social network the children have, both of adults and peers. They should ensure that the children are not exposed to more bullying (collaborate with the school and parents), and that they get help to build safe social relationships, if there is a need for it. The chronicle about the study was written by Marianne Skogbrott Birkeland at the National Knowledge Center on Violence and Traumatic Stress, Ane-Marthe Solheim Skar at the Institute of Public Health and Tine Kristin Jensen at the University of Oslo. This advice is from Skogbrott Birkeland. Just as big a trauma as violence in the family In an article on forskersonen.no, the researchers write that serious bullying at school can lead to traumatization in the same way as violence in the home: “What was particularly worrying was that the children who were exposed to bullying had a even higher level of negative thoughts about themselves and their own value, about others, and about the world, than those who talked about violence in the family.” It is rare for mental illnesses to have only one cause, explains the researcher. – If you are unlucky and have many vulnerability factors, even small loads can have a big impact. If you are lucky and have many protection factors, it can go well even with heavy loads. In any case, all children should not have to experience bullying. Negative thoughts Serious bullying can create a great deal of insecurity in everyday life, according to the researcher. – In addition, in the long run it can also create a negative self-image and negative expectations of others. You can expect that others do not like you, that you are not worth anything. The study revealed that many thought that “I will not have a good life”, “I cannot trust anyone”, or that “the whole world is unsafe”. “Having a lot of such thoughts can lead to a negative self-image and also lead to severe depression over time.” – If this is not dealt with, then in the long term it can also lead to depression and anxiety and it can also become more difficult with relationships, studies and work in adulthood. Bullying increases the likelihood of developing mental illness, says Skogbrott Birkeland. But she believes this can be avoided by giving children who are bullied good help. – There are good treatments for post-traumatic stress, which are offered in child and youth psychiatry. But the first thing must be to put an end to the bullying. And she adds: – It does not help with treatment if the bullying is allowed to continue at the same time. BUP: – Glad that the focus is being kept on what Daniel Mørch, head of department at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department (BUP) in Nordlandssykehuset says, the consequences of bullying are very individual. – Bullying takes different forms, and everything can be experienced as equally bad for the individual. Bullying will naturally have an impact on the individual’s mental health. He agrees with the researchers that the environment around a child has a lot to say. – For example, duration and scope will play a role, as well as how much support they have in their family and network. Children are not referred to us because of bullying, but that may be part of what is behind it. Mørch adds: – With the increasing spread of social media etc., as well as the pandemic, the ways in which bullying takes place have also developed. Bullying is serious and we are glad that the focus is being kept on it. Don’t have to bear it alone Sandra Lorenze Vestnes believes that it is difficult to stop bullying because much of what takes place is almost invisible. Play sound Yes, so bullying is not just what you think of like being hit or kicked, for example. That … especially with the girls, there is a lot of exclusion. Bullying is a topic that you have to talk about all the time because it happens in Norwegian schoolyards every day. The most important thing is to talk about it, and for parents to ask their children how they are, according to the 17-year-old in Bodø. And it’s okay to speak up if someone is mean to you: – When I experienced bullying on social media, things got a lot better once I was able to talk about it. Because carrying such things alone is extra difficult.
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– Bullying can have just as big consequences as experiencing violence in the family – news Nordland
