Long term psychological impact of bullying can be devastating for victims for many years beyond their school years. That is the main message in my first book “A Life Interrupted – the story of my battle with bullying and obsessive compulsive disorder”, and that is what I try to communicate as I speak around the country about these kinds of devastating impacts that can be caused by bullying.
I do find that many school officials and parents around the country do understand that bullying during school years can have continued impact on victims even beyond the school years, but most of them are not quite aware that the impact can be extremely devastating. That is why this is still an issue that needs to be talked about.
At the end of one of my speeches a few months back, a 42-year old man came up to me and shared his story with me. He was bullied a lot during his school years and has had to deal with depression and alcoholism over the last 24 years of his life. He has been trying to get his life back on track, but it continues to be a struggle.
I have heard similar stories from several other individuals whose lives have also been impacted severely because of bullying. We must continue our focus on preventing bullying in our schools and maintaining a safe environment in schools so we can avoid these devastating long term impacts.