Not Everyone Spent the Next 20 Years Trying to Forget About the First 10 - A Story About Bullying

Bullying can have a lasting effect on a person’s mental health: A new study finds that children who were bullied frequently when they were 8 years old were more likely to develop a psychiatric disorder that needed treatment as an adult, compared with kids who were not bullied.

The scientists also found strong evidence that being bullied as a child puts kids at high risk for depression as a young adult, according to a study in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

The findings suggest that being victimized by bullying in early childhood increases the risk of depressive disorders that need psychiatric treatment later in life, said study author Dr. Andre Sourander, a professor of child psychiatry at the University of Turku in Finland.

Canada-based artist Meghan Lands has spent the last 20 years trying to forget her first 10. In an attempt to come to terms with her childhood bullying, Meghan created a series of comics about the topic. “I think many of us have been either picked on or the pick-onner at some point in our lives,” Megan said. “Growing up is tough to begin with, and in school we have to contend with this social pecking order that’s constantly reasserting or reorganizing itself.”

“When I initially posted the comic I received so much feedback that I drew a response of sorts. A lot of people reached out to me with concerns or to share their own experiences, and I felt kind of a responsibility to respond. You can see that comic here.”