Mobbing, or workplace bullying, is a pattern of severe mental and psychological abuse perpetrated by one person on another. The abuser often requires the help of others, causing group abuse. The consequences can be devastating, leading to PTSD-like symptoms. Heinz Leymann first recognized this behavior and labeled it “mobbing,” and efforts have been made to spread awareness of it in North America.
Mobbing is a term used to describe a pattern of behavior characterized by severe mental, verbal and psychological abuse perpetrated by one person on another in a work environment. The person perpetrating the abuse usually requires the help of others to do so, and even a small group of co-workers may “group” against another employee to commit this type of abuse. While the abuse is generally not physical and often consists of verbal abuse and harassment, the results can still be devastating for the individual experiencing the abuse. Bullying has been observed to cause psychological trauma equivalent to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found in those who have been prisoners of war.
Also called “workplace bullying,” bullying resembles school bullying in many ways. While the basic behavior might be considered “teasing” one person by another, the perpetrator of the abuse will often turn others against the victim as well. This leads to a bullying scenario where a person is the target of perpetual abuse from others in the workplace, and this can be driven by a manager, co-workers or even subordinates of the victim. Such behavior was first recognized and labeled by a Swedish scientist named Heinz Leymann, who studied this type of abusive behavior in the workplace and in schools.
He used the term “mobbing” as a reference to animal behaviors, where a group of animals will work together to attack another animal. His discoveries of him led to a number of cases where she identified such behavior in a work setting and subsequently worked with victims of such attacks. In many of these cases, she found that the victim experienced real and lasting psychological trauma as a result of the abuse. These victims often exhibited symptoms similar to those with PTSD and, when treated appropriately, were eventually able to recover from the trauma.
Following Dr. Leymann’s work, the behaviors and consequences associated with bullying have become more widely known and understood, especially across Europe. In North America, however, bullying is less commonly recognized and such behaviors are more easily dismissed as minor grievances. The consequences of bullying, however, are not culturally dependent, so individuals in the United States or Canada are equally likely to suffer severe psychological trauma from such abuse. However, efforts have been made to spread knowledge and understanding of this type of abuse in North America so that workers and managers can be more aware of the signs and consequences of such malicious behavior.
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