Rosalie Crawford of Webhealth www.webhealth.co.nz

I quite like working alone, but working with a team is also great for camaraderie and mutual encouragement.

I remember at age 18 coming face to face with workplace bullies. These social ogres of eye rolling, tongue clicking and snide remarks, use body language or lack of communication to isolate or harass their fellow employees.

This can escalate into highly toxic environments where the victim is so harassed that they become unable to continue working and can suffer health breakdowns.

Bullying and workplace stress can result in

– Anxiety, depression, anger and demoralisation
– Heart and cardiovascular problems
– Susceptibility to a wide range of infectious diseases
– Suicide and other self-harming behaviours
– Alcohol and prescription/over the counter drug use and abuse
– Increased absenteeism, fear, indifference and bad or snap decision making
– Lack of motivation, creativity, production, expectation/s and job satisfaction
– Increased conflict, bullying and blaming behaviours
– Isolation, irritability, rigid thinking, fatigue, apathy, boredom
– Increased risk of injury, in particular back and repetitive strain injuries
– Home and family or relationship breakdowns

I received an email asking if there is a support group for work place bullying in the Tauranga region or in New Zealand. If none exists how does one start a group?

The person wrote how they felt their toxic work environment contributed to a physical health breakdown for one, stress for others and ultimately, resulting in the premature death of one colleague. Legal help achieved nothing and staff who left are today still dealing with depression and grief.

The displacement of people due to the insidiousness of bullying in the workplace results in feelings of isolation, inability to deal with work place bullying using appropriate means and inability to find work. Often people don't know where to start. Being part of a supportive family or church may help. There are services and organisations that will assist individuals with workplace bullying, as can be seen on www.bop.webhealth.co.nz but I have not as yet found a support group where people can encourage each other to move on from their situations. If any readers know of one or would like to be part of a new group starting, please email me.

To find health and social services go to www.webhealth.co.nz – your link to wellbeing. To be connected to Rise Up Tauranga go to the Facebook Page ‘Rise Up Tauranga' or email riseuptauranga@gmail.com

Rosalie Crawford is a medical scientist and lecturer. Phone 021 072 8255, email Rosalie.crawford@xtra.co.nz, Skype: Guavablue or Facebook/Twitter: Rosalie Crawford.