When we think of mobbing at work, we think of harassing, persecuting without respite or rest, pestering without rest, cowing or intimidating.
But what does a person seek when mobbing another person?
The main objective of mobbing is that the person being harassed leaves the job voluntarily and, to do so, “makes his life impossible”. The technique used by the harasser (or harassers) is reminiscent of the torture of “the Chinese drop” (or wrongly called “Malaysian drop”), a method of psychological torture that consists of immobilizing the person who, lying on his back, a drop falls on his forehead every 5 seconds. This repeated dripping damages the skin and prevents the victim from sleeping, resulting in a state of insanity and death. In mobbing the purpose is similar: they are actions that, through repetition, seek to psychically destabilize the worker.
What attitudes define mobbing?
Heinz Leymann, a German psychologist, was the first to define mobbing, and established the different actions considered to constitute harassment:
- Preventing the victim from maintaining social contact.
- Reducing the victim’s ability to communicate with others.
- Discrediting the person’s reputation.
- Reducing the task of performing.
- To do activities that affect the psychological and physical health of the person.
On the other hand, the psychiatrist Marie France Hirigoyen defines mobbing as “abusive conduct through gesture, word, behavior or attitude, which attacks, by its repetition or systematization, against the dignity or the psychological or physical integrity of a person, endangering his employment and degrading the work environment”.
How does mobbing affect the victim?
Mobbing can be considered as a crime, hence the actions are exercised in a camouflaged way in something harmless, like “a drop of water”.
The people who harass seek to attack and despise the worker’s feelings, as well as to discredit him professionally, becoming more and more isolated. In this way, the person feels insecure, which encourages him to make mistakes and tends to blame himself.
This affects the victim and leads to mood, anxiety and/or psychosomatic disorders. The humiliation makes the person feel in a sustained position of inferiority, something that significantly undermines their self-esteem.
What will psychological therapy be like for a victim of mobbing?
The treatment by the specialist in Psychology is based on the person being aware of the trauma. This means recognizing the pain suffered and the negative events that have occurred. Then you can delve a little deeper into the inner world of the person and their behavioral patterns, to know, understand and be able to prevent the future.
There is a very important aspect to deal with, and that is the fact of dealing with the feelings of guilt linked to the experience, and everything related to the fact of not having felt able to cope and overcome. It is necessary to fully understand what has happened and, at the same time, to look forward to a new working future, rescuing the capabilities that the person has to succeed.
Mobbing attitudes can lead to mood disorders, depression and even psychosomatic manifestations in the form of contractures. Many patients are unaware that they are suffering from mobbing, but a specialist in psychology can help them to open up, explain how they feel and be able to enhance their resources and capabilities.