May push him to kill himself .. What are the effects of bullying on the child?

Osama Abu Lord - Al Jazeera Net

Psychologist Dr. Amira Hassan said the effects of bullying include sleep problems, headaches, stomach pain, and long-term psychological, emotional and behavioral problems such as depression, loneliness, introversion and anxiety. This came in the second of three episodes on the subject of bullying published on Al Jazeera Net.

Dr. Amira, head of the psychiatric department at the Hamad Medical Corporation's Rumaila Children's Development Center in Qatar, said in the previous episode that there are three criteria that make bullying different from other negative behaviors and practices: deliberate, repetitive and power imbalance.

In the second episode, she added that global statistics show that 1 out of 3 children are being bullied every day, 75% of the boys witnessed bullying, 70% of school officials saw bullying against their peers, and 57% of bullying stopped when others intervened. .

She said in statements to Al Jazeera Net, that the effects of bullying in the near term lack of sleep or sleep a lot. He also suffers from bullying to headaches, stomach pain, fear, panic, unexpected weight loss and of course refusal to go to school.

Problems
Bullying leads to long-term psychological, emotional and behavioral problems such as depression, loneliness, introversion and anxiety. Individuals resort to aggressive behavior as a result of bullying, it may turn itself over time to bully or to a violent person. Withdrawal from social activities in the family or school also increases, so that a person becomes silent and isolated. Bullying may lead the victim to suicide, as studies have shown that victims of suicide due to bullying continue to grow, especially after the presence of electronic bullying.

"It is important to mention here that Qatar is one of the countries that regulate the use of Internet sites, for example, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has launched a series of awareness campaigns focusing on the dangers of cyber abuse and the importance of communication between children, parents and teachers to combat this dangerous phenomenon." .

In response to our question, can bullying damage to children's health be repaired? Dr. Amira replied, "Yes, no doubt, if the psychological intervention of the child through the psychologists in cooperation with the school and the family where the psychologist is doing the appropriate treatment plan according to the symptoms and provides psychological support to the family that exposed her child bullying so that she can help her child to overcome the crisis and protect him from being fully bullied And arrest him permanently. "

The child is also helped to build and regain self-confidence by focusing on his qualities and abilities to raise self-esteem, and the use of different methods in psychotherapy such as "cognitive behavioral therapy" and "play therapy" to treat cases of anxiety and depression caused by bullying.

Therapeutic methods
These therapies are based on giving a safe enough space for the child to express his feelings during bullying - the "trauma" associated with bullying - and to build new feelings and ideas for recovery and how to make new relationships with his training to protect himself if he is exposed to any form of bullying in the future.

She added that the bullying should be dealt with in greater detail, especially in the development of empathy for the child, in addition to monitoring his / her personality and the psychological and social problems surrounding him to practice bullying, such as the adoption of violence because violence was practiced at home, and began to support and reform His misconceptions and behavioral and psychological problems that push him to bullying.

The psychologist said that the campaign they are currently undertaking at Hamad Medical Corporation on bullying includes participation in articles and interventions in television and radio programs to raise psychological awareness about bullying, its forms, its damage and how to treat it. As part of this awareness campaign, the Department of Mental Health for Children and Adolescents Muaither is conducting awareness-raising field visits to schools.

She said that family awareness about bullying takes place continuously in the clinical field and within the preventive treatment plan with the children we work with and with their families. Children with disabilities, learning difficulties or developmental difficulties such as autism and mental disorders resulting from family problems are more likely to be bullied than others.

We follow in the third episode symptoms of bullying and tips for the child and parents.