Julia Johnson Counselling
Individual and Relationship Counselling/Psychotherapy in Plymouth, Devon

Bullying at work

These pages will be changed from time to time to cover other therapeutic areas.


Feeling stressed at work? You may be being bullied.


Bullying at Work

‘I was really enjoying my new job initially and then I became aware I was becoming more and more stressed. At first I thought it was simply the pressure of the new job, then I began to realise that I was being bullied. The difficulty was it was hard to pin down. It was difficult to explain to people what was going on and even more difficult for them to understand it. I didn’t know what to do. I had just started the job and I really didn’t want to leave.’


‘Going to work every day was becoming a nightmare. I was lying awake at night dreading going in the following day. The panic I felt was causing me to feel physically sick. I was unsure what was happening but I knew that there were people in the department that I just wanted to avoid.’


Unfortunately bullying is far commoner than people realise. It doesn’t just stop at the school gates. Because bullying has been part of the fabric of society for a long time and can exist within families it is sometimes difficult for people to realise what is going on. It seems familiar but very uncomfortable. Indeed a lot of people don’t understand that what is happening is not ok because it does feel familiar. When we have been brought up in a situation where bullying is the ‘norm’, it is difficult to stand back and look at the behaviour in an objective way and realise that it needs to stop as it is psychologically damaging, sadly sometimes to the extent that people feel so isolated and depressed that they commit suicide. This is why we all need to be aware what bullying is and how to stop it.



Bullying Behaviour in the Workplace

Bullying in the work place is about being persistently undermined, criticised and condemned. It can take the form of vindictiveness, put-downs – cruel and humiliating jokes, attempts to hurt or condemn an individual or group of employees.

Bullying can be someone in a position of power, a boss or the company culture; by an individual, couple or group of individuals towards one two or a group of people. Generally the bully is abusing his or her power or position to undermine someone’s self-esteem, self-worth or self-confidence. This can come as an attack on their work or as an attack on their personality or appearance. It can take the form of intimidation leaving the person feeling very vulnerable, isolated, angry and powerless.


Eventually the person’s health and mental well-being can be eroded making them feel inadequate. This can cause anxiety and depression, irritability and lead to time off work. People can find themselves bursting in to tears at what appears to be the slightest thing.


What Constitutes Bullying?

The list below is by no means an exhaustive list but will give you an idea of what constitutes bullying:

Overt Bullying:

•
Physical violence or threat of physical violence
•
Deliberately ignoring you or isolating you in public; e.g. perhaps deliberately leaving you out of a round of drinks at the works outing
•
Calling you names or giving you a derogatory nickname
•
Never listening to your point of view
•
Smear campaigns
•
Shouting or swearing at you in front of your colleagues or in private
•
Trivial matters being an excuse for instant rage
•
Humiliating you in front of colleagues or in private, sarcasm, personal insults or ridicule

Covert Bullying:

•
Persistently giving you menial or trivial tasks
•
Blocking promotion
•
Moving the goal posts
•
Setting impossible objectives, deadlines and targets
•
Persistent criticism
•
Watching and monitoring everything you do
•
Constantly undervaluing your efforts
•
Giving you too much or too little work
•
Withholding information then blaming you for being ignorant
•
Taking credit for your ideas and achievements
•
Spreading malicious rumours
•
Isolating, excluding or ignoring you
•
Making threats
•
Constantly undermining or overruling your authority
•
Whenever things go wrong blaming you
•
Refusing reasonable requests for training or holidays.
•
Taking advantage by paying you less than would be expected because of the knowledge it would be difficult to find work elsewhere
•
Stealing or hiding pieces of work or personal effects.


Usually there is a combination of these types of behaviour from a bully. Sometimes the bully will be unaware that they are bullying you but what is important is its impact on you and whether you are being negatively affected by it.


The Effects of Bullying

The effects of bullying can be severe:

Anxiety
•
Depression
•
Irritability
•
Panic attacks
•
Tearfulness
•
Mood swings
•
Sweating and shaking
•
Feeling sick
•
Palpitations
•
Severe headaches
•
Backache
•
Excessive thirst
•
Skin complaints
•
Stomach problems
•
Loss of appetite
•
Constant tiredness
•
Sleeplessness
•
Lack of motivation
•
Obsessiveness
•
Loss of interest in sex
•
Loss of self-esteem
•
Withdrawal
•
Suicidal thoughts


Bullying can affect home life. Relationships may break up or be adversely affected. Children can be affected by a parents change in behaviour.

It can be difficult to get bullying at work taken seriously and this can leave people with a strong sense of being let down and being in an unfair situation which can exacerbate symptoms, leading to suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide.


What to do about Bullying

There are some different choices that you can make about bullying:

Take action and find out about bullying and how you can address it in the work place.
•
Leave where you are working and find a job elsewhere.
•
You may choose to stay because you have financial commitments.
•
Seek counselling.
•
Find an assertiveness class, often these are run locally.
•
Others which you may come up with yourself.

If you feel you are being bullied it is a good idea to seek advice from your human resources department or welfare or your union representative. If you feel that you are not getting anywhere with these departments it is worth contacting the Citizens Advice Bureau or a solicitor.

It’s a good idea to keep a record of incidents but do it in your own time. Keeping a record can help you make what seems vague concrete and identify patterns that might be occurring.


There is a lot of useful information on the internet so it is well worth putting in ‘Bullying at Work’ in one of your search engines and doing some research.

www.direct.gov.uk

www.andreaadamtrust.org

www.bacp.co.uk

www.tuc.org.uk



ACAS will give free information on 08457 47 47 47


It is also always worthwhile looking on the Internet for books to help you understand what is happening. Amazon seems to have a good selection.

To visit the Government Website just CLICK HERE to go straight to it.

The site has some useful information on bullying at work. You will need to type 'Bullying at work' into their search engine.