How To Heal From Childhood Bullying

Growing up watching TV this looked like someone getting a wedgie or being stuffed in a locker. These days it might simply be done on social media.

No matter how you’ve experienced it, bullying has been so normalized that it may not seem like a big deal. Up to 35% of people are estimated to have experienced it at some point. By adulthood, we are generally expected to “get over” it. But the mental health effects of being bullied can be serious and last a lifetime. One study has even suggested that, when it comes to mental health, bullying is as harmful as child abuse, if not worse.
Approximately 20% of people who have been bullied experience some kind of mental health problems later in life, even at the age of 50. While some of these, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are easy to spot, others may be more difficult to recognise. These can range from inexplicable bouts of anger to a lifetime of feeling inferior to other people.

[ALittleBitShabby]

Being in high school gave me a major inferiority complex. I began to really hate myself - people bullied me without even knowing me, and so I believed there was really something wrong with me. I'm now not great in social situations and only have a couple of friends. Even to this day I wonder why those friends want me in their lives. Trying to recover and give myself positive affirmations about how far I've come and how I am worthy of love, but it's hard even several years later 🙄

[llake]

When I feel ashamed of my poor social skills today, I remember that people quite literally tried to lead me to eradicate myself from this planet. I coped and survived. We are survivors.

[michaelachase]

What I want is revenge for my bullies, I want them to hurt as bad as I did/ still do at times. The trauma from being called ugly and weird every day for years hurt so much that it took a ridiculous amount of self work to get out of it… but I want to heal and not be as mean as they were. That’s why I’m here!!

[bewitched]

Not all bullying is being called names. My best friend turned against me and shunned me to the point that none of my classmates spoke to me. Nobody. Insults is one thing, but being treated like a leper is just as damaging. Having been bullied is the reason why I dont have friends or relationships. I moved to another country and I don't trust people. I suffer from recurring depression and anxiety, I had eating disorders and am never far from being su*cidal. I met my bully years later and she didn't even seem to remember what she did to me. That is the unfairness of it.

[maxwellgraves]

I'm 32 and school was nothing but 12 years of my life I'll never get back. If you're reading this and you've bullied someone, you're a bad person and I hope everyone who loves and depends on you sees what you've done.

[ObliterateAllLizards]

I was bullied all through school, at home by my father, at every job I worked at and now I just quit a job because I was physically pushed with eyewitnesses, by a male coworker (I’m a female), and HR did nothing but gave him a stern talking to. I just found out one of my worst bullies just died, and old classmates who were bullied by this asshole are saying shit like how tragic his death is? I’m being 100% honest when I tell you I have been in therapy over 20 years, I never had kids because of it all, and I moved away 2, 900 miles and yet the past has latched onto my brain with talons. I wished for death, wholeheartedly at age 11, and now I just want straight up revenge. All bullies destroyed my very soul, it was inescapable because I got it at school, then at home and as I grew older it continued in my jobs! My own elderly mothers church group has bullies. Old ladies bullying old ladies. I am at a point where I truly despise humanity and thank God I have at least my husband and a close friend who understand and don’t invalidate it. I don’t know the answer to this problem, I don’t think there is one, but I hope in another universe, if the multiverse is true, all of us bullied throughout life are never or have never gone through it. My heart goes out to all of you who suffered at the hands of sociopathic, cruel, and sadistic children and adults that enjoy hurting others.

[jenniferthompson]

I am successful and happy but low self esteem and bullying in my teens has had lasting effects that I am still overcoming. You are at higher risk for getting into abusive romantic relationships, can be isolated /closed off as a defense mechanism, feel like your voice is not valid, have poor boundaries. Thankfully I am actively healing.
And I would not trade my life for any bullies life. They tried to crush me but you can’t stop this greatness ✨✨✨

[BlazeOfGlory]

Low self esteem and bullying has followed me my entire life I’m 48 and it’s something I can remember to a tee. I hate it. But I try hard every day to move on. Wife and kids help so much man.

[MindNow]

*For those of u who did go through it, know that ur not alone and that there youtube channels like this one that is helping u* 🙏❤️

[ewkabel]

Bullies of any age should be rounded up and sent to a penal colony.
The way I have been treated throughout my life has left me very angry and jaded. I truly hate abusive people. I didn't deserve the hell that I have went through. I have done my best to be strong and tough to protect myself from being anyone's doormat or punching bag ever again. The downside is that I tend to be a loaner.

[keymepx]

my advice to victims of bullying is to start having reactions, start screaming in anger, leave the room, panic in front of people, insult back, because adults only take action when someone start shooting at schools

[FiaBoomSchack]

First thing I will teach my kids: not all people are nice and you should always defend yourself when being badly treated. "Kill them with kindness" is such bullshit!!!

[kimlathem]

I'm 56 and was severely bullied in 8th and 9th grades. Back then not one teacher stood up. These kids formed a club against me, tripped me in hallways, rigged my locker, etc. There were only 40 kids in my grade so this was a huge deal. I still have trust issues and am hypersensitive to womens negative views of me.

[TylerSinden]

So much bullying taking place in our society, it's kind of sad. Especially during this day and age, there's so much digital bullying happening now too. It's unfortunate how easy it is for people to bully now. This is a really helpful video!

[meghansouth]

Too many victims blame themselves, validate that you were wronged and the other person was not right in how they treated you.

[sacredstarlight]

I was bullied almost regularly from elementary all the way to high school this in turn has made me slightly withdrawn and anxious in crowded areas but more so where I know people my age will be almost like flashbacks of my hs years;

I've tried both alcohol and Marijuana to deal with the depression from it, alcohol made me emotional and when I drank too much it was always to the point I wanted to break things around me and even thought of hurting myself.

Marijuana was gentler but it made feel so disconnected which I guess was a good thing.

Today sadly it seems that more and more people are beginning to lash out onto the public with the shootings in schools and in public spaces malls movie theaters. I hope that anyone dealing with ptsd depression anxiety disorder etc. from childhood bullying finds the light at the end of their tunnel

[cdiessner]

This came out at a great time. Isolation has caused me to ruminate a lot on past traumas and it's affected my professional life. Much appreciated 🙏

[Lovelysoul]

First off I would want to say to anyone Being/was bullied I hope you are doing well people are weird and mean but don’t give up because of the evilness of this world💕 secondly I want to say that bullying has really made me seriously not even want to be around people. Even Now as an adult I don’t want to be around anybody. People really suck if only people knew the affect it has on folks it follows you well into adult hood you just got to learn to manage it

[NightshadeWuzHere]

I developed early, so the bullying was coupled with sexual harassment related to the size of my chest. My family was poor, so I had hand-me-downs, which was another source of ridicule. Teachers completely ignored bullying in the 80's. Public school kids didn't wear uniforms back then, so everyone's wardrobe was fair game. I hated school, the kids, and the indifferent or sometimes equally cruel teachers.

[oversubestimated]

Thank u, suffered bullying from my dad, family and classmates at school and it is now that I'm realising how deep those wounds are and how they're affecting my adulthood.