Bullying and suicide are considered together when the cause of
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
is attributable to the victim having been
bullied
Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imbal ...
, either in person or via
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
.
Writers Neil Marr and
Tim Field
Tim Field (24 April 1952 in Eastbourne – 15 January 2006) was a British anti- bullying activist with his main focus relating to workplace bullying. He was the author of two books. In 2011, Field and a journalist Neil Marr coined the term " bul ...
wrote about it in their 2001 book ''Bullycide: Death at Playtime''.
Suicide is completed when the victim cannot escape the chronic effects of bullying. They cannot find a way to cope that protects them and helps them to overcome their suffering. From this long-term carrying of emotional and physical scars, the individual develops feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. The bullying seems like it cannot be stopped for the victim and thus, resulting in suicide.
Impact
Up until now, there is little evidence that the effects of bullying participation in childhood on adult functioning, even as a bystander, have been considered as etiological or remediable factors by adult mental health services in their responses to suicidal behaviour.
Legal analysts criticize the term bullycide because it links a cause with an effect under someone else's control. Research shows those who are bullied have a higher probability of considering or performing suicide than those who are not.
However, there are victims of bullying who do not end up committing suicide, and some of them share their experiences in order to send a positive message to bullying victims that suicide is not the only option.
Some of the risk factors associated with suicide from bullying are childhood trauma, nutritional deficiencies, and mental health issues such as, depression, anxiety, or PTSD. Consequently, the victim becomes more susceptible to a distressful bullying experience. Those well adjusted may also be affected by bullying. Such as, developing a mental health disorder, like depression or start rehearsing the thoughts of suicide.
Statistics
Age groups
Bullying is most often found in children and adolescents. In Erick Erickson's stages of psychosocial development, stage five, “identity verses role confusion.” Occurs during the teenage ages of 12 to 18. This stage depends on the achievement of fidelity in a social group. Leading to stronger sense of identity from the interactions of that social group. Bullying may disrupt the individual's success in creating meaningful relationships in a social group. Insecurity is common in this process of finding an identity. Thus, leading to confusion. A bullied victim in this stage will struggle upon being rejected by their peers and loss of self if none another group is established in this individual's life. Also, the victim may fall short of seeking more social interactions. That will aid in the process of suicide.
Prevention of suicide from bullying for children and adolescents can be alleviated from the support of parents. Being engaged in the child's life. Such as, daily activities, school, or work. Being aware of the child's friends. Changes in the child's life. Such as, lowered grades, physical bruises, or scars, eating and sleeping habits. Sharing personal social experiences, may lead the child to be open in their social experiences. These can help a child suffering from bullying.
In 2010, the suicides of teenagers in the United States who were bullied because they were
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
or perceived to be led to the establishment of the
It Gets Better
It or IT may refer to:
* It (pronoun), in English
* Information technology
Arts and media Film and television
* ''It'' (1927 film), a film starring Clara Bow
* ''It! The Terror from Beyond Space'', a 1958 science fiction film
* ''It!'' (1967 f ...
project by
Dan Savage
Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist. He writes ''Savage Love'', an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husba ...
. The online event,
Spirit Day
Spirit Day is an annual LGBTQ awareness day observed on the third Thursday in October. Started in 2010 by Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan, it was initially created in response to a rash of widely publicized bullying-related suicides of ga ...
, was created in which participants were asked to wear purple as a symbol of respect for the deceased victims of bullying, particularly
cyberbullying
Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...
, and to signify opposition to the bullying of the
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
community.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that almost 45,000 deaths occur from suicide each year. There are about 100 non-fatal suicide attempts to every 1 suicide. A little over 14% of students in
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
consider suicide and approximately 7% of them attempt suicide. Students that are bullied are around 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims.
A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying. 10 to 14 year old teen girls are most likely to commit suicide based on this study. According to ABC News, nearly 30% of students are either victims of bullies or bullies themselves and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because they are scared of being bullied.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...
is a form of aggression by using the internet and/or electronic communication, such as mobile phones, e-mail, and text message, to cause humiliation, terrorization, embarrassment, and/or psychological distress to a peer. In comparison to verbal
bullying
Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
, a research study showed that adolescents who reported cyberbullying were 11.5 times more likely to have suicidal ideation, while those who have reported verbal bullying were only 8.4 times more likely. In another study, 75% of adolescents who experienced cyberbullying presented with higher suicidal ideation than those who have experienced verbal bullying.
Amanda Michelle Todd was a victim of cyberbullying and committed suicide. On October 19, 2012, at the age of 15, from British Columbia, Canada. She posted a video on YouTube, sharing her story of being stalked, used, being bullied at school and by online comments. Her story escalated when the online comments, cyberbullying, told her that she should have used another bleach to kill herself. This lead Todd to hang herself, not long after.
As of 2022, research has come to show that perpetrators of cyberbullying often report having a history of being bullied themselves, and their rates of suicidality are similar to those who are victims of cyberbullying.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBTQ+) youth
US lesbian, gay, and bisexual students attempt suicide 2–7 times more than heterosexuals and up to one third of transgender people has made an attempt on their life. Young adults of the LGBT community "must cope with developing sexual minority identity along with negative comments, jokes, and threats of violence".
A research identified that 19 studies were linked to suicidal behavior in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students to bullying at school. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender students experience more bullying than heterosexual or cisgender students.
Risk factors
*
Emotional Distress
In medicine, distress is an aversive state in which a person is unable to completely adapt to stressors and their resulting stress and shows maladaptive behaviors. It can be evident in the presence of various phenomena, such as inappropriate so ...
* Exposure to Violence
[
* Family Problems][
* Problems within a relationship][
* Lack of being connected to school][
* Lack of a supportive school environment][
* Alcohol and drug use][
* Lack of access to support][
]
See also
* List of suicides that have been attributed to bullying
The following is a list of suicides attributed to bullying — both in-person and via the Internet (aka cyberbullying).
For a list of people who died from suicide, regardless of reason, see List of suicides and List of suicides in the 21st ...
References
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