A depressing but important study by British researchers has
found that kids who are bullied as preteens are twice as likely to exhibit
symptoms of psychosis by the time they reach adolescence.
Evaluating 6,400 children annually from ages 7 to 13,
researchers found that a whopping 46 percent of preteens are bullied, and that
these kids are twice as likely to have delusions, hallucinations, or thought disorders
by the time they reach adolescence. The more severe the bullying, the greater
the chance of psychosis, regardless of the children's family situations, IQs, and existing mental health problems.
The reasons for the correlation are inconclusive, but
researchers believe that the stress of bullying could either trigger existing predilections
for schizophrenia or could permanently change the way the brain responds to
stress.
These findings make sense considering the increased incidence of mental health problems among people who were abused as kids. Hopefully, this study will drive home the point that chronic bullying is a serious form of abuse, and needs to be addressed by schools as such.
Photo: Virginia Youth Violence Project
