In every 10 workers, one of them has been bullied in their career.

Yes, in every workplace there are bullies who victimize other workers simply because of their false belief to maintain control or status quo, or when they are feeling" threatened" of a smarter neophyte, or simply because of some psychological problems they may have been suffering since childhood. Just like children bullies, these professionals whom respected by their peers and subordinates alike have this aberrant behaviors which should be checked asap by their superiors or managers before it could wreck havoc to the company.

A victim of bullying must say foul! and do the necessary steps to vindicate him-her/self and have the bully faced the consequences of his/her acts. However, if the company has a culture of tolerating bullies for one reason or another, better for the victim to leave the company asap and seek one with sane principles and live a life sans the presence of a pest bully.

Bullying is a form of an abuse. A victim suffers tremendous psychological and physical harm. In fact, a study reveals that some health-harming manifestations such as high blood pressure, heart attack, depression, etc. are common scenario to bullied individual where as a victim he/she suffers tremendous emotional torture, especially if is what we call " mobbing" or simply put, a group of bullies picking on one victim till the he/she opts to resign.

The author had to walk the plank once due to "mobbing" and now trying to share wisdom from the said experience. Thanks to my bullies; however, sorry to disappoint you guys, am back in the arena and wiser not committing same mistake again.

Common signs that you are being bullied, as what I experienced then:

1. You dread Mondays... you do not have the energy to go to work. You feel sick...as if you did not have a good night sleep, too lazy to move and worse, you feign sick just to evade your tormentor even for a day.

2. They yell at you -- in front of other people--during meeting as if you were a slave and they were your masters.

3. They exclude you in meeting and other activities giving you feeling isolated as if they were against you... for no apparent reason at all. Well, this is the price to pay for being young or smart or kind --sort of you are cursed for being given such enviable characteristic.

4. Always the last person to know about changes in the company's policies, etc. making you look naive at your co-workers' assessment.

5. Your tormentor spreading rumors discrediting you, say assaulting your reputations and in the process, gain control over the social environment for his/her own advantage, thus giving him/her the feeling of superiority and the like.

6. They are talking behind your back ( means you are two steps ahead ) and when you are present, they have innuendos, etc. aimed at you.

Subtle ways of bullying someone is giving a victim a feeling that he/she is nothing compared to the tormentor by giving one condescending or insulting look, and sans giving other people around a hint that bullying is happening. Well, others are just clueless, or simply naive about it. And they will be surprised when the victim opted a resignation than prolonging the agony of being bullied sans seeking help from indifferent co-workers.

Bullying is a kind of cruelty; sometimes, the tormentor does not know that he/she has been a bully to someone, sometime, somewhere... lest he/she is a psychopath bully; no remorse or a tinge of guilt is seen from him/her. Beware of this kind of bully; a snake clothed in a man's suit ready to devour an unsuspecting victim in the workplace.

Would you rather be a victim or a witness to bullying? Which would you prefer?

The author is a mentor of teachers in elementary grades in the Philippines. Aside from being a grade school teacher, he is also contributing articles to magazines just to make good use of his spare time. He has joined writing contest in the past, but until now, he is dreaming of bagging an award! This is why, he is now trying his luck in this endeavor--blogging-- to find his niche and somewhere, somehow find a way of publishing a book.