On bullying

I have heard a lot about programs to eliminate bullying in schools of late.  I applaud these programs.  I want to talk about something else.  Bullying doesn't happen only in schools or to kids or teenagers.  Workplace bullying happens, more than most of us think.  I've seen it, in fact I've been the target of it.  At a previous job I had, my boss there was a bully.  She did everything she could to discredit me, to undermine me and to make my life miserable.  The culture of that organization made it possible for her to do this as poor behaviour was never addressed and so after trying a few different things I left.

Being the target of a bully is brutal.  It made me so anxious I could hardly sleep.  It drove me to contemplate suicide at one point.  I started to question everything I did at work.  I withdrew from my life and just tried to survive. 

The media focus is so much on kids that it is hard to do anything about being a target as an adult.  It made me feel weak, like I should have been able to handle it.  I didn't use the word bully because that was a problem kids had, not adults... etc... etc...  I'm not suggesting we do less for bullying in schools, I am suggesting we do more about bullying in other settings.

Ok, so this blog is supposed to be about discussion.  I don't have a specific question for you to answer, but I would like to hear what you think about this topic.  Have you seen it?  Have you been a target?  A bully?  A bystander?  What can we do?  How can we handle it?