Psychologiсal Impact of Cyber Bullying on Victims

Cyberbullying has become a contemporary trend, especially with the pervasiveness of digital technology and widespread social media use. Cyberbullying involves flaming by sending rude messages electronically, harassment through sending insults and threats online, cyberstalking, and masquerading. Statistically, at least fifteen to thirty-five young people have fallen victim to cyberbullying, while ten to twenty percent of individuals agree to have cyberbullied others. The most typical forms of cyberbullying, as established by the authors, include being embarrassed on the forums, publication of shameful images or content, and harassment through e-mail or text message. Cyberbullying affects the psychological wellness of the victims, subjecting them to anxiety and depression, reduced self-esteem, loneliness, and isolation, and making them develop suicide ideation.

Cyberbullying affects victims' psychological health by exposing them to anxiety and depression. Hellfeldt et al. observed in their study that cyberbullying registered adverse psychosocial outcomes among adolescents. They defined cyberbullying as an aggressive act that is harmful and intentional and is directed toward another person using electronic devices and online contacts (Hellfeldt et al., 2020). Hellfeldt affirmed that research contends that cyber-victimization is associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms (Hellfeldt et al., 2020). In addition, most of these victims showed low levels of subjective well-being and also reported the lowest perceived family support (Hellfeldt et al., 2020). In addition, during the pandemic, cases of cyberbullying rose significantly, which further heightened anxiety and depression. In Echoing Englander, during the pandemic period, digital forms and bullying increased slightly more than traditional bullying, with eleven percent of the subjects reporting they had experienced higher cases of digital bullying since March 2020 (Englander, 2021). She observed that cyberbullying self-reporting increased anxiety and depression, especially among the LGBTQ+ community, which is historically marginalized, increased (Englander, 2021). These cases affirm that cyberbullying affects the psychological wellness of the victims by exposing them to depression and anxiety.

Furthermore, cyberbullying impacts the victim's psychological wellness by lowering their self-esteem. Self-esteem is the ability to be confident in one's abilities and worth. Draganić et al. defined cyberbullying as an aggressive and deliberate act of a group or an individual aided by electronic communication forms repetitively and over a prolonged time against those who cannot defend themselves. These acts include inciting group hatred, privacy attacks, blackmailing, verbal attacks, harassment, sharing violent and offensive comments, stalking, and insults. They noted that being subjected to cyberbullying adversely affects their self-esteem, and victims tend to suffer lower self-esteem and lower self-control (Draganić et al., 2024). Among high school students, the common forms of cyberbullying include online ridicule, internet gossip and slander, spreading online rumors, and online identity concealments. This cyberbullying tends to affect the victim's self-esteem, making them isolated, and also affects their academic performance (Draganić et al., 2024). Thus, with cyberbullying, especially on matters related to physical appearance and body shape, victims tend to develop lower self-esteem, and their confidence in themselves lowers, hence affecting their psychological health.

In the same train of thought, cyberbullying subjects victims to loneliness and isolation. Notably, with lower self-esteem, cyberbullying victims tend to isolate themselves and become loners because they feel they do not fit in. Student victims of cyberbullying tend to become angry and socially isolated; their academic performances also deteriorate, and most of them become absent from school (Draganić et al., 2024). Likewise, most of the cyberbullied individuals find themselves withdrawn from the social space. Research conducted by Varela et al. observed the case of cyberbullying leading to loneliness during the pandemic period. They note that during the pandemic, the isolation rule to contain the virus risked people from being victims of cyberbullying. They further observed that cyberbullying victims usually experience loneliness, especially adolescents and emerging adults (Varela et al., 2022). Additionally, they echoed a study conducted in China, which noted that adolescents who were cyberbullied registered higher levels of loneliness and lower resiliency to cope with cyberbullying (Varela et al., 2022). Therefore, in harmonizing their findings and previous studies, Varela et al. concluded that cyberbullying generated loneliness and self-isolation among the victims, affecting their mental health. This isolation and loneliness can sponsor harmful behaviors like suicide or suicide ideation.

At the peak of the psychological impact of cyberbullying on victims is suicide and suicide ideation. With repetitive cyberbullying, a victim becomes isolated, depressed, and develops low self-esteem, ultimately leading to suicidal ideation and some committing suicide. Peprah et al. noted that a single cyberbullying can swiftly escalate to become a repetitive behavior that can harm the victim (Peprah et al., 2023). They further observe that cyberbullying has devastating effects and brutal repercussions among the victims, and the demeaning experiences send victims to suicidal behavior, including attempting suicide and suicide ideation (Peprah et al., 2023). statistically, in recent data collected from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, respectively, twenty and twenty percent of cyberbullying victimization subjected victims to suicide ideation (Peprah et al., 2023). Their studies concluded that cyberbullying increased cases of suicide ideation among victims.

Besides, Fadhli et al. observed that the recently increased social media engagement has increased cases of cyberbullying, which triggered adolescent suicides. They employed the tenets of interpersonal theory, arguing that individuals who contemplate suicide or attempt it tend to develop uncontainable feelings, perceived burdensomeness, and the sense of loneliness after being bullied online, which leads to self-hatred, hence subjecting them to thinking and or attempting suicide (Fadhli et al., 2022). The researchers clarified that cyberbullying does not directly lead to suicide or suicide ideation; it is the psychiatric conditions, including depression, stress, and anxiety after being harassed online, that overwhelm the victim, making them contemplate or attempt suicide. When extremely victimized through cyberbullying, victims tend to have affected mental wellbeing, making them suicidal, with others attempting suicide and others contemplating committing suicide.

With cyberbullying, victims' psychological wellness is adversely affected. Most of them suffer depression, stress, and anxiety, experience loneliness and isolation, have low self-esteem, and eventually become hard on themselves, ending up becoming suicidal. To curb these psychological impacts of cyberbullying on the victims, parents and the community need to offer these victims enough psychological support. According to Hellfeldt et al. (2020), family and teacher support proved to be effective in lowering depressive and anxiety symptoms among cyberbullying victims. Therefore, offering emotional support is an ideal to help neutralize the psychological impacts of cyberbullying on the victims.

Lastly, the victim needs to develop self-protective measures such as blocking online bullies and taking social media breaks. This suggestion will help them protect their mental wellness and avoid interacting with cyberbullies who impair their psychological well-being. Most importantly, seeking professional help such as counseling will help cushion the impacts of cyberbullying and assist victims in avoiding depression, anxiety, and loneliness, which may lead to suicidal thoughts.

Conclusively, cyberbullying is a contemporary norm involving aggressive and repetitive behavior aided by electronic devices that are directed at another person. It involves cyberstalking, verbal harassment, masquerading, and sending insults and threats online. Cyberstalking affects the psychological wellness of victims, sending them to depression and anxiety, lowers their self-esteem, and makes them lonely and isolated from others. When the cyberbullying continues over a long time, the victim's depression and anxiety escalate, making them suicidal. Cases of cyberbullying escalated during the pandemic period, and most victims became more depressed, considering they were lonely and isolated. Most of them develop suicide ideation, and some even attempt suicide because they feel they are unworthy and valueless. Still, to cope with cyberbullying and protect one's psychological health, parents, teachers, and the community need to provide enough emotional support for cyberbullying victims. They need to be there for them through the depression period and help them with coping. In addition, victims need to adopt self-care techniques, including blocking all bullies online and taking social media breaks to avoid further bullying that may continue to impact their psychological health. Most importantly, seeking counseling from professional counselors will help the victims improve their mental health and reinforce their resilience to cope with cyberbullying.