Chronic Bullying refers to repeated, ongoing bullying behavior over an extended period, rather than a single isolated incident. It may occur in childhood, adolescence, adulthood, schools, workplaces, families, communities, or online.
Common forms
- Verbal: insults, humiliation, threats, ridicule, degrading comments
- Social/relational: exclusion, spreading rumors, deliberate isolation, reputation attacks
- Psychological: intimidation, manipulation, coercive control, persistent harassment
- Physical: hitting, pushing, damaging belongings, or other physical aggression
- Cyberbullying: repeated harassment, threats, humiliation, or targeting through digital platforms
Why chronic bullying may be particularly harmful
When bullying is persistent, the person may begin to experience a prolonged sense of threat and lack of safety.
Over time, this may contribute to:
- Anxiety and hypervigilance
- Depression and hopelessness
- Low self-esteem or shame
- Social withdrawal and loneliness
- Difficulty trusting other people
- Sleep disturbances
- Problems with concentration and attention
- Feelings of helplessness or powerlessness
- Increased sensitivity to criticism or rejection
- Trauma related symptoms in some individuals
A particularly important psychological concept is learned helplessness:
After repeated experiences of being unable to stop or escape mistreatment, a person may eventually feel that nothing they do will make a difference.
Chronic bullying vs. Ordinary conflict
Conflict: generally involves disagreement between people who have relatively comparable power and may be capable of resolving the problem.
Bullying: typically involves repeated harmful behavior, a power imbalance or perceived inability to defend oneself, and a pattern of intimidation, humiliation, exclusion, or aggression.
Chronic Bullying:
May therefore become more than simply “being treated badly.” The persistent pattern and the person’s inability to feel safe or escape the behavior are particularly important.
Shervan K Shahhian
LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 