Have you ever been mobbed? Have you felt targeted by a group of people at work, at school, on social media, or even in your church who spread lies about you, harassed you, or tried to oust you from the community? That’s “mobbing,” a term that has emerged to define the way individuals can develop a group mentality to relentlessly pick on one person. If you have been the target of mobbing, it can have devastating psychological consequences.
What Exactly is Mobbing?
Mobbing is actually a primitive animal group instinct. For instance, birds will surround and attack a potential predator or other threat in order to drive it away. Well, humans do this too, although not with beaks! Whether it’s at a business office, in school, in your neighborhood—or even in the military, group members will insidiously start to (non-violently) attack a particular person to push them out of the group or organization.
Mobbing can be initiated for any number of reasons. Perhaps the targeted person is seen as “different” or is perceived to be a threat to the status quo—or even because the person is envied.
The process of mobbing can include overt and/or covert psychological harassment, non-violent hostility, gossiping, undermining, making false accusations about the person—and related hurtful behavior. It’s a systematic effort by a group of people to diminish the value, contributions, or credibility of someone with the primary objective of driving that person away.
Mobbing is like getting kicked off the team, even though you know you never did anything to let the team down. Not surprisingly, those who are targeted can be left feeling defeated, isolated, and confused about what they did to deserve such treatment. It can feel devastating.
People targeted by mobbing can feel defeated, isolated, and confused about what they did to deserve such treatment. It can feel devastating.
Unfortunately, I have personal experience with the concept of mobbing. I spoke about it recently when I interviewed my friend, Dr. Loree Sutton, who is a retired Army Brigadier General and is now running for Mayor of NYC. She’d brought up the topic during our talk, and it struck a chord with me.
Mobbing is very similar to what happened to me in the early 1990s. At that time, I had begun talking with fellow psychiatrists about our work with brain SPECT imaging and the importance of looking at the brain to understand the underlying causes of patients’ symptoms. But instead of this work being received enthusiastically, many of my psychiatry colleagues belittled, criticized, isolated, and diminished me. It was a very painful time in my career.
Fortunately, our brain imaging work at Amen Clinics has already helped tens of thousands of patients. And, I have heard from many more people who have read my books or seen my public television specials who’ve said that their lives are better thanks to adopting the brain health principles I share. I remained buoyed by the support of all those we have been able to help over the decades, and that encouragement has kept me focused and charging ahead with brain imaging and my mission to end mental illness by starting a brain health revolution.
The Negative Impact of Mobbing
Although I was not deterred by what happened to me early on in my career, I know there are many people who are adversely affected by the mental and physical health consequences of mobbing. While most published research on this behavior is focused on work environments (or bird battles), mobbing can happen anywhere and to anyone.
In 2019, a study on the psychological trauma caused by mobbing was published in the Archives of Neuropsychiatry. The researchers found that of those who had been subjected to workplace mobbing, 71% developed symptoms of PTSD and 78% had major depression. Not surprisingly, people with a history of trauma were more vulnerable to a worsening of symptoms after being targeted in this way.
Mobbing can also lead to—or worsen—anxiety and sleep problems as well as somatoform disorders (physical problems without an identifiable cause). As you can imagine, it is a very stressful situation to be in and can impact physical health as well. A study published in the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology last year found that those who were subjected to mobbing at work had a 28-57% increased risk of having cardiovascular disease!
In addition, many people also must face social challenges, such as leaving a job (because the mobbers made work so miserable), concerns about feeling welcomed at a school or church again, being able to feel emotionally safe in joining new organizations in their community—or even posting on social media.
If you’ve ever been the target of mobbing—or know someone who has—it’s really worthwhile to seek the support of a trained mental health professional who can help you process the experience and help you make sense of it, so you can go forward with greater confidence and belief in yourself.
Regardless of the cause, PTSD, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues can’t wait. During these uncertain times, your mental well-being is more important than ever and waiting until life gets back to “normal” is likely to make your symptoms worsen over time. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
