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Effect of bullying on your family life
Family Lives recognises that workplace bullying is undoubtedly going to impact on family life. It would be very hard for anyone not to bring troubles home from work, but the pressure that a situation at work can put on relationships can make family life extremely turbulent.
Keeping silent
It may not be easy to talk about the harassment you are suffering at work, but we do know that sharing how you are feeling and confiding in your family can help to avoid emotions bubbling over into your personal life. It is inevitable that at some point the bullying at work will impact on your life at home. Talking with your partner or family might not be easy because you have such close emotional ties but think about how you would feel if your felt your partner was keeping something from you and how you would want to support them.
Your home will probably feel like your safe haven or sanctuary, and you might just want to shut the door and forget what is going on at work. However, if you don’t find an outlet it might mean that emotions are running high and you return home feeling a little more agitated and stressed than usual which can mean that the slightest little thing can result in tempers flaring and family life can start to deteriorate.
Why someone may choose not to confide
Perhaps the person who is being bullied doesn’t feel able to share what is going on at work because money is tight and you might struggle to manage your finances and they should feel thankful to have a job. There might be additional worries such as young children that take priority. They may not want to worry a partner, but if you are in a close relationship, it is inevitable that the other partner will pick up on the change in personality.
If the person does eventually reveal what is going on at work, it is saddening to know that many families can be torn apart over workplace bullying and relationships can also suffer.
The impact of workplace bullying
A person who is experiencing workplace bullying might feel that there is no release from the pressure. There has to be a release for the pent up emotions that workplace bullying can cause. We hope that families will seek some much-needed support which will in turn help to keep families together so they can find a way to support each other through this difficult time.
In some situations, just coping with the ups and downs of family life can be difficult. It might drive the calmest of people to behave in a totally unrecognisable way. Until you have experienced it you cannot begin to imagine the enormous burden the victim carries on their shoulders. Taking it out on their nearest and dearest can become common place as it is always easier to hurt those that love and care for us the most. Tempers can fray at the drop of a hat, and a once placid and chilled out partner turns into someone you hardly recognise.
Bullying at work can take its toll on a relationship. Even the most patient of partners might fail to recognise the extent of the bullying. This in turn can have a physical impact on both partners and could affect their sleeping patterns or increase anxiety and depression.
Further resources
If you would like further support and advice, call our helpline on 0808 800 2222 or email us at askus@familylives.org.uk. You can talk to us online via our live chat service or message us via WhatsApp on 07441 444125 to connect with experienced professional family support workers and highly-trained volunteers. You may find it helps to find out how other parents and carers have coped with this on our online forums. We also have a range of free self-guided online parenting courses that can help through the ages and stages of parenting.
Our online parenting information is written by experienced parenting professionals. Find out more about our content authors, how it is produced, reviewed and edited.
Work Under Pressure centres on the personal story of Neil Moon who was so severely bullied by co-workers that he attempted suicide and suffered a breakdown that kept him out of work for 5 years. Neil wants to share his experience as widely as possible to highlight the issues around stress and other mental health issues. Please watch this video below.