Just because you are targeted by a bully, doesn’t mean you need to remain a victim.
Bullying is traumatizing. Victims of long term bullying situations can develop PTSD and other mental health problems. These problems impact our ability to move forward in a health way. We are basically conditioned by bullies to respond to them in a certain way and if we don’t unlearn these behaviors – we are easy targets for future bullies.
Our goal should be to survive, make it stop and learn how to cope so that we don’t become victimized again and so that the trauma we experienced doesn’t stay with us.
A domestic violence shelter organization published a great article about how to end the victim mindset and move from victim to survivor: https://www.domesticshelters.org/articles/taking-care-of-you/how-to-end-your-victim-mindset
She gives practical advice including the advice to seek professional help if you are struggling. It’s not your fault someone else committed a acts of violence against you whether that violence was psychological and/or physical.
Whether your injuries are physical or psychological – take healing from them seriously – and if that means seeking out mental health care – that’s what it means.
I realize it takes courage to seek help because it means admitting what happened really was bad. But don’t let your pride get in the way of your healing.
