Dealing with Workplace Bullying
Workplace bullying damages your mental health, confidence, and career. Here's how to recognise it and protect yourself.
What Workplace Bullying Looks Like
Being consistently criticised, undermined, or humiliated in front of colleagues.
Being excluded from meetings, emails, or social events deliberately.
Having your work unfairly scrutinised while others' mistakes are ignored.
Being given impossible deadlines or unmanageable workloads as a form of punishment.
Receiving threats about your job security, either overtly or subtly.
Being the target of gossip, rumours, or false accusations.
The Impact on Mental Health
Anxiety before, during, and after work — the dread becomes constant.
Loss of confidence that spills into your personal life and relationships.
Sleep disruption, loss of appetite, headaches, and other physical symptoms of stress.
Depression, feelings of worthlessness, and questioning your own competence.
Hypervigilance — constantly watching what you say and do to avoid triggering the bully.
In severe cases, workplace bullying can lead to PTSD-like symptoms.
What You Can Do
Document everything: Keep a written record of incidents with dates, times, witnesses, and what was said.
Know your rights: Familiarise yourself with your company's bullying and harassment policy.
Report it: Raise a formal complaint with HR, in writing, with your documented evidence.
Seek support: Talk to your GP, a counsellor, or your union representative.
Don't blame yourself: Bullying says everything about the bully and nothing about you.
Consider your options: Sometimes the healthiest choice is to leave an environment that refuses to change.
Recovery After Workplace Bullying
Your confidence will return, but it takes time — be patient with yourself.
Therapy can help you process the experience and rebuild your professional self-esteem.
Not every workplace is like this — one bad experience doesn't define your entire career.
You may carry hypervigilance into your next role — awareness of this helps you manage it.
Connect with others who've experienced workplace bullying — you'll realise how common it is.
Related free resources
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- Stress Relief: Practical Ways to Reduce Daily Stress
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- Building Self-Esteem When You Feel Worthless
- Self-help exercises
- Stress Management Workbook
- Burnout Recovery Workbook
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