“Victims of bullying spare themselves distress by detachment; 

denying their ability to experience happiness.” 

– James Horace

In this world of high technology, with all our needs being met at the touch of a button, it is easy to bask in the glory of many wonderful achievements - and quite rightly so - however, when it comes to Cyber Bullying, our world of technology has made it possible to give this despicable pastime an arena all of its own.

Cyber Bullying takes place online and has many forums, such as: blogs, e-mails, chat lines and social networking sites, to name a few. Cyber Bullying comes in many guises, feeding on a cocktail of hurt, stress, isolation, humiliation, fear and sadly in some cases can cause death. 

Usually it takes the form of:

Abusive messages on-line

Spreading rumours about the victim

Prank texts/messages

Humiliating or embarrassing posts of blogs

Sexual videos/pictures being sent to others

This type of bullying is anonymous and as a result there is less accountability by the bully, resulting in the bullying being more intensive, reaching high levels of malicious behaviour with far reaching effects. It is usually 24/7, giving it a wider audience in its relentless pursuit of the victim.

Research has shown that Cyber Bullies do not fit the mould of the traditional bully, who is usually domineering, aggressive and disliked. Very often the Cyber Bully can be a classmate or friend, who may bully for reasons such as: jealousy, peer acceptance, revenge and fun.

The world of the Cyber Bully has a non-stop agenda, with high frequency levels of abuse over a short period of time (usually one month or less), however the results of such intensive bullying can last a lifetime, robbing the victim of ever reaching their full potential as it is very difficult, without therapy, to move on from how this abuse makes you feel.

In order to identify this behaviour, firstly know what to look for:

A barrage of hateful e-mails

Embarrassing images of the victim

Threatening verbal messages

The creation of an almost identical screen name in order to create embarrassing situations for the victim

Once the behaviour has been identified, take the following action:

Ask for help from a parent, teacher or someone you can trust

Do not respond to the bully's messages

Do not threaten the bully

Save the evidence and then block the bully

Safe-proof all of your personal accounts

If you can prove who it is by the evidence then report the bully

Cyber bullying is considered a crime if the following has taken place: hate related comments, intimidation or threats of violence. Report any of this to the police.

I believe that what we do and say in life makes a difference - it’s up to us to decide what kind of difference we want to make. This poem sums up the feelings of those people who have been bullied – it speaks volumes.

"A cool identity isn’t a need,

Let those you bully be freed.

Your identity should be your own,

A better person you will be known."

- Jon Evans

As a counsellor I have seen firsthand the many facets to mental health. I often describe it as “walking a path in your mind, trying to negotiate the minefield it has become”.

In order to help negotiate this minefield, I will be drawing on my own experience of a mental illness, and also using my skills as a counsellor in this field.  My weekly blog will contain information on Mental Health, Wellbeing and I will also include a “Poetry Corner” where you can view my own poems and feel free to submit any poems of your choice. At the end of each blog I will offer up my challenge to the world of bloggers, and look forward to your replies. 

To get the ball rolling, today I am going to shine the spotlight on what I see as a very real obstacle to mental health issues being taken seriously – stigma.

This quote which I have written below clearly outlines the helplessness of those people who are not believed or not taken seriously regarding their mental health problems. As stark as it is, I wanted to draw attention to what I perceive is a real stumbling block on a person beginning their road to recovery.

Ask yourself why.

There are factors which cause mental health stigma – let’s explore them.

Within history itself we can find some answers.

The fact that throughout history people with mental illness have been treated differently. I personally believe that this could be because of the belief that “If you cannot see it, it does not exist." Therefore, ignorance has resulted in the exclusion and even brutalisation of mentally ill people, through the ages. Add to this ignorance the element of fear in the belief that all mentally ill people are dangerous and stigma is born.

Deeply entrenched views.

Today we live in a much more enlightened world – or do we? It is very frustrating to note that within the health service today these negative views regarding patients presenting with mental illness still exist. “How can you help me if you do not believe me echoes time and time again.

Media presentation. 

We are all influenced by what we see and hear on the media platform today. Even though there are various Ads and program drawing attention to the plight of the mentally ill – is it enough? Providing information, regardless of the platform used is always beneficial, however, positive interaction between those who have, and those who have not a mental illness needs to become the norm in society. The best advertisement to end the stigma attached to Mental Health is to end it. Let us all be proactive in getting the word out their. Yes stigma does exist , however, it can and will become a thing of the past.