Childhood bullying to increase psychotic experiences

Researchers at the University of Warwick assessed a cohort of UK children from birth to fully understand the extent of bullying on psychosis in later life- with some groups showing to be almost five times more likely to suffer from episodes at the age of 18.

The analysis in association with colleagues at the University of Bristol, shows that victims, perpetrators and those who are both bullies and victims are at an increased risk of developing psychotic experiences.

Even when controlling external factors such as family factors or pre-existing behavior problems.The study foundout that not only the children who were bullied over a number of years, but also the bullies themselves in primary school were up to four and a half times more likely to have suffered from psychotic experiences by the age of 18.

Equally concerning is that those children who only experienced bullying for brief periods (at 8 or 10 years of age) were at increased risk for psychotic experiences.

The term 'psychotic experiences' covers a range of experiences, from hearing voices and seeing things that are not there to paranoia. These experiences, if persistent, are highly distressing and disruptive to everyday life.