The Impact of Workplace Bullying on Mental and Physical Health

by Catherine MatticeOct 13, 2014

Private Health and Life Insurance Experts, a blog by Luxury Medical, recently put out an article regarding the impact of bullying.

Of course, the article mentions the mental impact of bullying – it’s no secret that bullying hurts. This is because bullying gets at our basic human needs to feel safe, to belong to a group, and to feel like that group values us. One study even found that those who are bullied as a child are more likely to suffer from poor mental health as an adult.

The article does a great job of discussing bullying and our fight or flight response. In other words, bullying increases stress levels causing the heart to beat faster, blood pressure to go up, and muscles to become more tense. In other words the body starts focusing on escaping danger and stops focusing on important things like its immune system and digestion.

Read the full article here.

Do you know how much money chronically bad behavior costs your company? Spoiler alert – it’s a LOT higher than you want it to be. Download our data and worksheet to see how it’s costing your organization and what you can do to fix it.

About Catherine Mattice

Catherine Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the founder/CEO of Civility Partners, an organizational development firm focused on helping organizations create respectful workplace cultures and specializing in turning around toxic cultures. Civility Partners’ clients range from Fortune 500s to small businesses across many industries. Catherine is a TEDx speaker and an HR thought leader who has appeared in such venues as USA Today, Bloomberg, CNN, NPR, and many other national news outlets as an expert. She’s an award-winning speaker, author, and blogger and has 60+ courses reaching global audiences on LinkedIn Learning. Her fourth book, Navigating Toxic Work Environments For Dummies (Wiley), is available in all major bookstores and where audiobooks are sold.

5 Things Ryan Breslow (& Most Executives) Gets Wrong About HR

by Catherine Mattice | June 1, 2026 | Leadership | 0 Comments

“Fire your entire HR department.” Wait… what? That was essentially the message Ryan Breslow, CEO of Bolt, delivered recently when he announced he had eliminated the company’s entire HR team because they were allegedly “creating problems out of thin air.” According to...

“What to Say May”: Turn Good Intentions into Everyday Courage

by Catherine Mattice | May 6, 2026 | DEI | 0 Comments

May has always been a month of transition. Spring in full bloom, fresh energy, and just enough optimism to believe people might actually follow through on their good intentions. So this year, we’re channeling that energy into something practical. We’re calling it...

3 Reasons Gen Z Won’t Take B.S. From Their Employers

by Catherine Mattice | April 29, 2026 | Corporate Culture & Employee Engagement | 0 Comments

Gen Z is quickly becoming one of the most influential voices in the workplace and they’re not staying quiet. In fact, research shows that Gen Z employees are highly values-driven. Nearly 9 in 10 say purpose is critical to their job satisfaction and they increasingly...

3 Ways to Handle Employee Departures Without Damaging Your Culture

by Catherine Mattice | April 22, 2026 | Corporate Culture & Employee Engagement | 0 Comments

Employee departures are more common and more impactful than many leaders realize. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consistently reports millions of workers voluntarily leaving their jobs each month, with quit rates hovering around 2–3% in recent years....

“Job Hugging” & 4 Ways to Respond

by Catherine Mattice | April 15, 2026 | Corporate Culture & Employee Engagement | 0 Comments

Nearly 48% of employees say they are staying in their jobs longer than they otherwise would for stability and security, and about 75% expect to remain in their roles for the next few years. At the same time, voluntary quit rates have dropped to around 2%, one of the...

Workplace Red Flag: “We’re Like a Family!”

by Catherine Mattice | April 8, 2026 | Corporate Culture & Employee Engagement | 0 Comments

Have you ever worked in, or heard someone mention, a workplace that prides itself on being like a family, or family-oriented? “We treat each other like family here,” they say. People mean it as a signal of care, loyalty, and belonging. But calling your workplace a...

Unpopular Opinion: “Open Door Policies” are Just for Show

by Catherine Mattice | April 1, 2026 | DEI | 0 Comments

Most employees don’t feel safe speaking up at work. In fact, research consistently shows that a significant portion of employees, often more than half, hold back concerns, ideas, or feedback because they fear negative consequences. And yet, ask almost any organization...

Employees Afraid to Discuss Work Toxicity?

by Catherine Mattice | March 25, 2026 | Workplace bullying | 0 Comments

I just returned from the Ohio Safety Conference (OSC), where I spoke about Why Safety Fails Without Culture & Behavior. In addition to my session, we hosted a booth where we handed out some swag, including copies of my book, Navigating a Toxic Workplace For...

Should HR Come as a Pair? Compliance vs. Strategic HR

by Catherine Mattice | March 18, 2026 | Leadership | 0 Comments

Have you ever noticed how small most HR teams are in comparison to everything they’re expected to do? In many organizations, HR makes up only about 2% of the workforce. Yet they’re responsible for the business’ most valuable asset - PEOPLE. That means culture and...

AI Prompts for Busy HR and Leaders Building Civil Cultures

by Catherine Mattice | March 11, 2026 | Civil & Healthy Workplaces | 0 Comments

You don’t struggle creating and managing a positive culture because you don’t care about it. You struggle because you don’t have the time. Between performance issues, leadership coaching, hiring, compliance, and “one more urgent fire,” culture work often gets pushed...