Cyberbullying and Sextortion — how it affects mental health
For Mental Health Awareness Week, we will be publishing a series through the rest of the month on various mental health issues prevalent today, starting with how cyberbullying and sextortion are deeply linked to mental health issues like depression and PTSD, and have too many times led to suicide. We are in no way experts in the field of mental health, but coming from a point of working to keep children safe online, DragonflAI strives to highlight reasons beyond ‘it's just the right thing to do’ when it comes to online safety, and many mental illnesses can be directly linked to what we are working to stop.
Cyberbullying
You’ve almost certainly heard the term cyberbullying thrown around in the media, and given the monumental rise in the prevalence of the internet through the past couple decades, it’s becoming more and more common. Social interaction has not only been given a new avenue of expression through places like Twitter and Facebook, it has also allowed for anonymity when passing comments both good and bad. While much of the internet can be an informative and pleasant space, the dark and malevolent alleys and corners are where the truly nefarious acts of hate and degradation take place… or so you’d think.
Not only is the vast majority of the internet NSFW, or unregulated, cyberbullying is actually most prevalent on the biggest social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok make up a huge online space, and a very public one, making the negative impacts of cyberbullying so much worse. It is no longer just a harmful, negative or fake comment that, while still a major issue in its own right, is just that — a comment. Cyberbullying takes bullying further by making these comments permanent and public, as well as operating in a space away from a school or structured space that allows the bullying to be persistent and hard to notice for teachers and parents. Naturally, with schools being closed, and even more interaction shifting online, the prevalence and frequency of online bullying has risen significantly, which is bad news when considering the mental health repercussions.
Numerous studies have been conducted into the relationship between cyberbullying and mental health of adolescents, with a pretty clear consensus that “adolescents who are targeted via cyberbullying report increased depressive affect, anxiety, loneliness, suicidal behavior, and somatic symptoms.”* Philip D. Harvey, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine stated that “cyberbullying is possibly more pernicious than other forms of bullying because of its reach…the bullying can be viral and persistent.”** This testament shows how important it is to be on the lookout for cyberbullying. The significant correlation between internet bullying and mental health disorders should be a clear flag that actions need to be taken to protect our youth, especially given the reliance we all have on the internet. The ease, permanence and publicity of cyberbullying make it uniquely more frightening than the already horrible amount of bullying that goes on today, but one of the worst subsections of cyberbullying brings the fear of public shame exposure to the forefront — sextortion.
Sextortion
Again, sextortion is a term that has popped up in the media far too often, most recently relating to Love Island contestant Zara McDermott. At its most basic, sextortion is a form of blackmail using explicit or indecent images of someone to threaten them into offering favors, money, or even sex, and with the internet allowing for the transmission of images and videos to mass numbers of people, the threat of releasing these images is getting worse day by day.
While sextortion isn’t limited to any particular age bracket, it has been found that about half of cases occur when the individual is under 18, with perpetrators successfully carrying out their threats in about 45% of cases.^ Sextortion is a huge problem, as many who have experienced it don’t want to reach out for help due to shame and embarrassment, and these negative thoughts escalate to serious mental health issues, with a 2019 study examining links between sextortion and suicide highlighting “fear, helplessness, hopelessness, shame, humiliation, self-blame, general distress” as typical antecedents of suicidal behaviour.
This incredibly dark link between sextortion and mental illness is something that isn’t talked about enough, and many people still don’t believe that it happens on such a large scale, especially with underage children. We need to educate the greater population that sextortion is very real, and can happen to anyone, which is why the recent emergence of reality tv celebrity Zara McDermott as a victim of sextortion and revenge porn is so important to help encourage other victims to come forward before a possible mental health decline towards suicide can happen.
McDermott’s struggle with the aftermath of her explicit images being circulated when she was 14 and again while filming Love Island has been documented in a BBC Three documentary, and a follow up interview is filled with her rationalizing what she was going through as a child. Some of the most poignant comments she made included a simple thought of “all I wanted was to be liked,” and followed with her detailing a miserable day to day existence where she “got to a place where I was suicidal. That’s how bad it was. Knowing that when [the images] came out, I was actually going to be bullied more — that was something I couldn’t bear. I’d say it does still affect me to this day.” *** This is the brutal aspect of sextortion and revenge porn, it is incredibly difficult for victims to open up about what has happened, and in too many cases there isn’t support for the mental health impacts it can have. This needs to change.
I want victims to have better support. I want people to be able to start speaking about this topic openly and there to be a lot less emphasis placed on the victim in terms of ownership and accountability
— Zara McDermott on sextortion and revenge porn
It isn’t always clear when someone is struggling with a mental health disorder, and part of the reason they may choose to hide their struggles is because of societal pressures. Mental Health Awareness Week is perfect to help educate everyone on what mental health disorders are common and what may not be so easy to identify. We have chosen to highlight how cyberbullying and sextortion are significant factors in increasing rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicide because DragonflAI operates to offer a way this can be diminished. We all need to work together to #breakthestigma surrounding mental health, and provide help to those who need it, and change the internet to stop the downward spiral of our youth’s health.
If you or a someone you know is being cyberbullied or is a victim of sextortion or revenge porn, please seek help and contact the relevant authorities. Below are links to several resources that can help.
Citations:
https://cybercrimejournal.com/Nilssonetalvol13issue1IJCC2019.pdf
