Anti Bullying Week #StopBullying

This week marks the start of anti bullying week, it runs right up to the 21st of November and it's our time to stand up against bullying. 

I've met a few people who have been bullied in the past, a few of them have gone through hell by enduring both physical and emotional bullying in schools and college. I used to listen to the stories about being pushed and teased by other students and feel lucky that it never happened to me. I always thought that in school I had had a pretty easy time, I got on with pretty much everyone and had a solid group of friends. It's only since starting therapy with the NHS that I've started to look back on my teenage self and see my experiences without the rose tinted glasses. 

I was never bullied in the traditional sense, I wasn't pushed around or called names and so I never really thought of myself as being bullied. My abuse was more emotional, constant digs and sly comments that could have been mistaken for banter amongst friends, but actually made me feel like a unwanted outsider. Even with the good friends I did have, I was always made to feel weird and abnormal or that I had to 'earn' my place inside a friendship group. 

Over the years the emotional abuse seeped into the issues I already had, which stemmed from family events that happened early on in life. The two combined together have had a massive impact on my mental development and ultimately my mental health. 

It is strange to look back at my early life and see myself as a victim of bullying, because it wasn't obvious to me at the time that it was even happening. It's only now that I've been given the time to look back at how I felt during those teenage years, rather than the events that took place, that I realise that my friends weren't especially friendly to me. 

There are so many ways bullying can take place and it's important that we take any and all forms seriously. The more we talk about it and make it OK for people to come forward and admit that they are a victim of bullying, the sooner we can stop it in its tracks.

Show your support by donating to Anti Bullying Alliance and tweeting your support with the hashtag #StopBullying.