Research

Cyberbullying & Mental Effects

Cyberbullying is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target
another person. Online threats and mean, aggressive, or rude texts, tweets, posts, or
messages all count. So does posting personal information, pictures, or videos designed to hurt
or embarrass someone else.
Online bullying can be particularly damaging and upsetting because it's usually
anonymous or hard to trace. It's also hard to control, and the person being victimized has no
idea how many people (or hundreds of people) have seen the messages or posts. People can
be tormented nonstop whenever they check their devices or computer.

Types of Cyberbullying
1. Exclusion - the act of leaving someone out deliberately. Exclusion exists with
in-person bullying situations but is also used online to target and bully a victim.
2. Harassment - a broad category under which many types of cyberbullying fall, but it
generally refers to a sustained and constant pattern of hurtful or threatening online
messages sent with the intention of doing harm to someone.
3. Outing/Doxing - the act of openly revealing sensitive or personal information about
someone without their consent for purposes of embarrassing or humiliating them. This
can range from the spreading of personal photos or documents of public figures to
sharing an individual’s saved personal messages in an online private group. The key is
the lack of consent from the victim.
4. Trickery - similar to outing, with an added element of deception. In these situations,
the bully will befriend their target and lull them into a false sense of security. Once
the bully has gained their target’s trust, they abuse that trust and share the victim’s
secrets and private information with a third party or multiple third parties.
5. Cyberstalking - a particularly serious form of cyberbullying that can extend to threats
of physical harm to the child being targeted. It can include monitoring, false
accusations, and threats which are often accompanied by offline stalking.
6. Fraping - when a bully uses your child’s social networking accounts to post
inappropriate content with their name. It can be harmless when friends write funny
posts on each other’s profiles but has the potential to be incredibly harmful.
7. Masquerading - when a bully creates a made-up profile or identity online with the sole
purpose of cyberbullying someone. This could involve creating a fake email account, a
fake social media profile, and selecting a new identity and photos to fool the victim.
8. Dissing - the act of a bully spreading cruel information about their target through
public posts or private messages to either ruin their reputation or relationships with
other people.
9. Trolling - a bully will seek out to intentionally upset others by posting inflammatory
comments online. Trolling may not always be a form of cyberbullying, but it can be
used as a tool to cyberbully when done with malicious and harmful intent.
 10. Flaming - this type of online bullying constitutes posting about or directly sending
insults and profanity to their target. Flaming is similar to trolling, but will usually be a
more direct attack on a victim to incite them into online fights.

Mental Effects of Cyberbullying

● Depression: Feeling down and unmotivated are definite effects of cyberbullying. When
a child or teen is attacked for their interests or actions, they are much less likely to
try anything new.
● Anxiety: Not only will a bullied person feel anxious about taking part in activities or
socializing, but the feeling may also extend to their everyday lives. Anyone would feel
anxious if the risk of harassment, trolling, or aggression was high every time they log
on to their social media or favorite online game.
● Low Self-esteem: People who are bullied internalize the comments and aggression
focused on them. Self-esteem suffers when they begin to believe what others are
saying about them. Even if they know the statements are false, they may not be able
to identify enough positivity to make a real difference in their self-image.
● Isolation and Secrecy: It is not easy to admit bullying. Children and teens who
experience it may become more secretive about their Internet usage, attempt to hide
their experiences, and stay by themselves more frequently. This may be especially
noticeable if they usually go out with friends or get involved with extracurricular
activities after school and on the weekends. When these behaviors stop, it is a sign of
cyberbullying.
● Poor Concentration and Focus: Ongoing Internet-based aggression can result in
difficulty concentrating in school and on hobbies. Their mind is filled with other things
that seem more important or effective. Unfortunately, online harassment may take
over many other aspects of a child or teen's life.
● Anger and Aggression: Some victims, especially boys, may respond with increased
anger and aggression toward themselves and others. Unfortunately, people who are
bullied are much more likely to become bullies themselves.
● Feelings of Helplessness: All of the mental and emotional effects of cyberbullying
listed above can contribute ultimately to a feeling of helplessness. This insidious
problem is nearly impossible to escape from, especially without help from parents,
guardians, or teachers. Kids and teens may give up on so many aspects of their life
because they honestly feel there is nothing they can do to make the harassment and
aggression stop.

(Some) Ways To Deal With Cybersecurity

One to prevent cybersecurity is to give them strategies to respond. Since the bullying
is often done in front of friends and peers, make sure the ‘strategy to prevent cyberbullying’
has credibility with their peers–that is, that allows them to ‘save face’ and redirect the
attention back to the bully. Ironically, the wrong response could encourage more bullying in
the future.
Another way to deal with cybersecurity is to monitor online activity: cyberbullying has
one advantage or ‘traditional’ bullying: you can notice it and save the evidence. If moving
offline completely isn’t an option, you can install phone monitoring apps. These can allow
monitoring of social media activity (including YouTube, Tik Tok, Facebook, Snapchat, and
Instagram), the viewing of all text messages (even deleted ones), call logs, and general online
behavior. You can even block and control the child’s phone remotely.
Also, children should get in the habit of taking some time before posting. For instance,
they could create a post offline and then come back to it in an hour and decide if they still
want to post it. Doing so will keep them from posting things that they may later regret. By
taking the time to craft a post, your child will be able to think through what they are posting
and determine whether or not it's something they want to say publicly. This is a good practice
for kids in order to maintain a healthy relationship with social media.
Last but not least, make sure your child knows that they should always report
cyberbullying. This includes not only telling you what is happening, but also letting the social
media platform, internet service provider, and any other necessary parties know what is going
on. You may even need to contact the school or the police to put an end to the harassment.
Once all the reports have been filed, take the appropriate steps to block the person or
account responsible for cyberbullying. Doing so doesn't prevent them from using a different
account or a public space to continue to cyberbully your tween or teen, but it will slow them
down. Teens also should learn to be good bystanders too. If they witness cyberbullying online,
they should refrain from participating in cyberbullying and instead look for ways to support
the person being targeted.

Article for Cyberbullying in the Philippines:

https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/online-bullying-remains-prevalent
-philippines-other-countries

Mental Health Issues & Awareness

The meaning of mental can differ from person to person. However, the standard
definition includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. This will affect our
ability to think, act, and feel. Our mental health will also determine how we handle stress,
relate to others, and make decisions. If you are looking for a medical definition, cognitive,
behavioral, and emotional well-being is known as mental health.
Many people who have mental health conditions aren’t sure how to cope with their
symptoms and resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms to push away their emotional
discomfort. As a result, you might also have an addiction to drugs or alcohol. Additionally, if
you have one mental illness that goes untreated, you actually are at a greater risk for
developing co-occurring disorders and you will need dual diagnosis treatment to fully heal.

Mental Health Awareness

Although the general perception of mental illness has improved over the past decades,
studies show that the stigma against mental illness is still powerful, largely due to media
stereotypes and lack of education, and that people tend to attach negative stigmas to mental
health conditions at a far higher rate than to other diseases and disabilities, such as cancer,
diabetes or heart disease. Advocating within our circles of influence helps ensure these
individuals have the same rights and opportunities as other members of your church, school,
and community. Also, learning more about mental health allows us to provide helpful support
to those affected in our families and communities.

Types of Mental Health Problems

● Anxiety disorders - a type of mental health condition. Anxiety makes it difficult to get
through your day. Symptoms include feelings of nervousness, panic, and fear as well as
sweating and a rapid heartbeat. It’s normal to have some anxiety. You may feel
anxious or nervous if you have to tackle a problem at work, go to an interview, take a
test, or make an important decision. And anxiety can even be beneficial. For example,
anxiety helps us notice dangerous situations and focuses our attention, so we stay
safe.
● Behavioral and emotional disorders in children - include several types of emotional
and behavioral disorders, including disruptive, depression, anxiety, and pervasive
developmental (autism) disorders, characterized as either internalizing or
externalizing problems. Disruptive behavioral problems such as temper tantrums,
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and oppositional, defiant, or conduct disorders
are the commonest behavioral problems in preschool and school-age children.
● Bipolar affective disorder - Bipolar affective disorder is a type of mood disorder,
previously referred to as ‘manic depression. A person with bipolar disorder
experiences episodes of mania (elation) and depression. The person may or may not
experience psychotic symptoms. The exact cause is unknown, but a genetic
predisposition has been clearly established. Environmental stressors can also trigger
episodes of this mental illness.
● Depression - is a mood disorder characterized by a lowering of mood, loss of interest
and enjoyment, and reduced energy. It is not just feeling sad. There are different
types and symptoms of depression. There are varying levels of severity and symptoms
related to depression. Symptoms of depression can lead to an increased risk of suicidal
thoughts or behaviors.
● Dissociation - is a mental process where a person disconnects from their thoughts,
feelings, memories, or sense of identity. Dissociative disorders include dissociative
amnesia, dissociative fugue, depersonalization disorder, and dissociative identity
disorder.
● Eating disorders - include anorexia, bulimia nervosa and other binge eating disorders.
Eating disorders affect females and males and can have serious psychological and
physical consequences.
● Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - is an anxiety disorder. Obsessions are
recurrent thoughts, images, or impulses that are intrusive and unwanted. Compulsions
are time-consuming and distressing repetitive rituals.
● Paranoia - the irrational and persistent feeling that people are ‘out to get you.
Paranoia may be a symptom of conditions including paranoid personality disorder,
delusional (paranoid) disorder, and schizophrenia.
 ● Psychosis - people affected by psychosis can experience delusions, hallucinations, and
confused thinking. Psychosis can occur in a number of mental illnesses, including
drug-induced psychosis, schizophrenia, and mood disorders. Medication and
psychological support can relieve, or even eliminate psychotic symptoms.
● Schizophrenia - is a complex psychotic disorder characterized by disruptions to
thinking and emotions and a distorted perception of reality. Symptoms of
schizophrenia vary widely but may include hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder,
social withdrawal, lack of motivation, and impaired thinking and memory. People with
schizophrenia have a high risk of suicide. Schizophrenia is not a split personality.

How To Deal With Mental Health Problems

One way to deal with mental health is to stay positive; finding a balance between
positive and negative emotions. Staying positive doesn't mean that you never feel negative
emotions, such as sadness or anger. You need to feel them so that you can move through
difficult situations. They can help you to respond to a problem. But you don't want those
emotions to take over. For example, it's not helpful to keep thinking about bad things that
happened in the past or worry too much about the future.
Another way is to connect with others. Humans are social creatures, and it's important
to have strong, healthy relationships with others. Having good social support may help protect
you against the harms of stress. It is also good to have different types of connections. Besides
connecting with family and friends, you could find ways to get involved with your community
or neighborhood.
Also, develop a sense of meaning and purpose in life. This could be through your job,
volunteering, learning new skills, or exploring your spirituality and developing coping skills,
which are methods you use to deal with stressful situations. They may help you face a
problem, take action, be flexible, and not easily give up on solving it.
Last but not least, practice gratitude, which means being thankful for the good things
in your life. It's helpful to do this every day, either by thinking about what you are grateful for
or writing it down in a journal. These can be big things, such as the support you have from
loved ones, or little things, such as enjoying a nice meal. It's important to allow yourself a
moment to enjoy that you had a positive experience. Practicing gratitude can help you to see
your life differently. For example, when you are stressed, you may not notice that there are
also moments when you have some positive emotions. Gratitude can help you to recognize
them.

Article About Mental Health In The Philippines:

https://doh.gov.ph/national-mental-health-program