KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Bullying, both virtual and in person, can cause significant psychological and even physical harm, experts said to dismiss views that the phenomenon was simply some cruel words.

Even without physical violence, cyberbullying can cause debilitating depression as well as suicidal thoughts, International Islamic University of Malaysia clinical psychologist Nadzirah Ahmad Basri told Malay Mail.

In a recent incident, a 29-year-old female TikTok influencer is believed to have committed suicide due to cyberbullying, at the People’s Housing Programme (PPR) in Gombak Setia on July 7.

"Many studies have shown that cyberbullying can result in depression and in some cases led to suicide attempts and complete suicides,” Nadzirah said, citing studies where victims exhibited loneliness, depressive symptoms, perceived stress and decreasing degree of life satisfaction.

She said bullying has been found to increase the risk of depression in young victims by 2.77 times.

Younger victims have also been shown to suffer in or abandon their studies due to bullying, with some engaging in self-harm as a coping mechanism.

Cyberbullying is also a greater challenge for people with specific vulnerabilities — such as those diagnosed with anxiety or autism.

Do victims ever heal?

"Depression can be treated completely with the help of mental health experts, medication, psychotherapy and social support from people close to the victims,” she said.

But she cautioned that there was a danger of the depression returning at a later stage.

Besides psychological assessments, "informed knowledge and better acceptance about their conditions can be helpful for them to be able to be more assertive, express themselves and get the help they need to stop cyberbullying,” said Nadzirah.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Centre for Psychological and Counselling Service Director Zulfikar Ahmad said that victims may also develop tendencies to overthink, become people pleasers, or suffer sleep issues.

Even worse, they could also begin to blame themselves for these issues.

"You become so ashamed of things, embarrassed and you can’t control yourself emotionally,” he said, adding that victims may appear physically unhealthy and tired.

Zulfikar said it was important to seek help early on, such as by speaking with trusted persons, as they could help to provide the needed perspective to confirm if there is bullying.

"So, reach out for assistance whenever you feel like you’re being threatened, whenever you feel like you’re being bullied, so that people are aware,” he said in an interview with Malay Mail.

But when cyberbullying is done publicly and visible to the whole world, healing can be a difficult challenge for the victim, Zulfikar said.

As cyberbullying affects everyone differently, Zulfikar said there was a danger that a victim may dismiss or downplay the damage done to them.

Suicide prevention organisation National Council of Befrienders Malaysia said that they receive calls from physical, verbal and cyberbullying victims.

"The majority of our callers only seek help when they’re already in a perilous situation,” Befrienders Malaysia chairman Jessie Ting said.

Ting urged individuals facing difficulties or uncertainty to contact Befrienders through their helpline, assuring that anonymity is maintained for all callers.

* If you are lonely, distressed, or having negative thoughts, Befrienders offers free and confidential support 24 hours a day. A full list of Befrienders contact numbers and state operating hours is available here: www.befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia. There are also free hotlines for young people. Talian Kasih at 15999 (24/7); and Talian BuddyBear at 1800-18-2327(BEAR)(daily 12pm-12am).