Statistics released by the charity Ditch the Label have shown that levels of bullying among young people in the UK with 50% of people surveyed saying they had experienced bullying – and 19% being bullied on a daily basis.
The survey covered 8,850 young people across the UK – the biggest ever survey of this kind.
Alarmingly, the survey revealed that 44% of those bullied had experienced depression and 33% had even had suicidal thoughts while a further 31% had self-harmed and 15% had developed eating disorders.
It also showed that people who were bullied were twice as likely to go on and bully others and 20% of all young people have physically attacked someone with boys (66%) twice as likely to bully as girls were (31%).
Quite often, people who are bullied find it hard to talk about their experiences but clinical hypnotherapy can provide that safe environment in which their feelings can be expressed and addressed.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) is the largest not-for-profit professional body for hypnotherapy in the UK with more than 1,800 highly-trained and experienced therapists on its nationwide directory.
Through hypnotherapy, bullying victims can share and process their painful feelings and the anxiety and stress these cause.
By identifying the identifying the root of the stress or anxiety, in this case bullying, the therapist can help the victim address the situation by working through the subconscious mind.
The stress and anxiety caused by bullying, if left unattended, can negatively impact the victim’s well-being and how they interact with others.
But by addressing the root cause, whether it is a situation, a physical issue, a past experience or a relationship, the therapist will then ask the victim how they wish to feel and how they would like to be as well as enquire about things they would chose to do in their lives if free of anxiety.
The therapist and the victim will then work towards reaching these goals using a range of different techniques. Every therapist may use slightly different techniques but all will be working towards the same goal.
Hypnotherapy can also benefit the person who does the bullying, even though they might be reluctant to acknowledge their behaviour at first.
In therapy, bullies may begin to understand the impact their hurtful behaviour has on others, explore reasons for why they bully, learn new skills for communicating positively with others, and address personal experiences that may have contributed to their bullying behaviour.
With 1.5 million young people being bullied within the past year and 145,800 of those bullied on a daily basis, this is a behaviour which can, and does, severely impact on the lives of young people.
The Ditch the Label statistics also show that 57% of female respondents had been bullied while 41% of male respondents and 59% of respondents who identified as transgender had also been bullied.
Alarmingly, 14% of young people admitted to bullying somebody and 12% said they bully people daily.
If you know someone who is being bullied or is a bully, contact an NCH therapist near you by using the NCH directory. A few sessions with a qualified therapist can make that all-important change to their behaviour and future.