Bullying - how can you recognize it?

When the exclusion, threatening, or humiliation of one or more people happens systematically over a longer period, this behavior is called bullying. It violates the personality and dignity of the person or people affected, and the goal is often to isolate the bullied person and get rid of them. Occasional conflicts, and even a formal warning, do not count as bullying.

Bullying can be recognized by several signs. Rumors are systematically spread about someone, a person is insulted, slandered, or subjected to unjustified criticism. A person is made to look ridiculous, their options for speaking up are limited, and their performance is devalued for no reason. Besides being given no work or pointless tasks, their political and religious views are also attacked. People also make fun of a person's private life or nationality.

On top of that, there is pressure to carry out tasks that damage self-esteem. Bullying, as studies show, can affect anyone. For the victims, the experience hits like a deep crisis and is comparable to trauma. Those affected feel powerless and humiliated. Sleep problems, headaches and stomach pain, heart palpitations, difficulty concentrating, and nervousness are the physical symptoms. The risk of addiction and suicide rises, and in the long term the consequences can be lasting personality changes, depression, and functional disorders of all organs.

[caption id="attachment_129" align="alignright" width="300"]Trouble with coworkers Bullying[/caption]

What can you concretely do about bullying?

In Germany, if the company has a works council (Betriebsrat), the works council has a legal obligation to work toward positive working conditions. Even with minor insolence, you should defend yourself and immediately clear up the misunderstandings that led to it. Openness and a quick response matter here. To actively defend yourself against bullying, keeping a diary is recommended, so you can record incidents in a provable and documented way.If you are being bullied, you shouldn't do the same in return. That doesn't solve the conflict, it only makes it harder to deal with. A bullying victim should not let themselves be pushed into a corner, stay silent, and do nothing. That keeps the cycle going. Just take the initiative and, for example, seek a conversation to clear the air. Sometimes the first conversation doesn't succeed or the effect quickly wears off. Seek the conversation again and perhaps bring along an uninvolved, neutral witness.

Never label someone a bully right away,because that is a serious accusation. Determine whether the bullying actions happen regularly and over several months, and record them in documentation. It is not up to you why bullying takes place. Confident people have no need to pick on others.