Workplace bullying is a known stressor. Depriving workers of control over their work day by incessant meddling, interference, humiliation, command-and-control managing, and intimidation generates stress to varying degrees in individuals. Stress is a physiological response that is a biological reality.
The list of known health impacts of bullying is long. Affected systems include cardiovascular (high blood pressure, cardiac ischemia, heart attacks, stroke -- a great deal has been discovered by Peter Schnall, MD and researchers associated with the Center for Social Epidemiology), gastrointestinal (colitis, ulcers), auto-immune (fibromyalgia, cancer propensity), and psychological/emotional (anxiety, panic attacks, clinical depression, acute stress disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder - PTSD).
One characteristic of the onset of depression is sleep disruption -- either trouble falling asleep or trouble returning to sleep after premature awakening. A just published study of French workers illustrates the association between being bullied and sleep disturbances.
Of those currently experiencing bullying both men and women were twice as likely to have sleep trouble than those not bullied. Problems with sleep were most pronounced when the bullying was daily or almost daily, and for women, if the exposure to bullying lasted more than five years.
Even witnesses to bullying were affected. For men, 60% increase in sleep disturbances; for women, a 20% increase occurs. People who both witnessed and personally were bullied had twice the sleep problems as people not bullied, with men having a slightly worse time than women.
The meaning of the limited study is that sleepy, fatigued workers make performance errors. In manufacturing sites, they risk injury. In white collar workplaces, they make more mental errors. Though bullied workers are subjected to false claims by their bullies that they are poor performers, eventually the stress from bullying makes the person perform poorly. Sleep disruption may be one reason. Thus, the bully's lies become their own self-fulfilling prophecy.
Read Dr. Namie's blog at the Workplace Bullying Institute
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