"Go Kill Yourself": A Phenomenological Study of Middle School Girls Experiencing Mental Health–Targeted Peer Victimization

• In Event: Perceptions of Victimization: Implications for Diverse Populations

Abstract

This phenomenological study explores how adolescent girls with mental illness make sense of being bullied in middle school. Through 26 hours of field notes, peer talking circles, interviews, and participant visual art, analysis shows that these already vulnerable youth are targeted for peer victimization due to their mental illness. Students reported being told, “go cut” or “just go kill yourself”. These targeted peer victimization experiences impacted identity development, their disclosure of their mental illness, and their patterns of help-seeking. This is a call to action to increase universal awareness about mental health in schools, strengthen bullying policies to protect youth with mental illness, and increase responsiveness among educators and school counselors to facilitate equal access to education for vulnerable youth.

Authors

• Amy Vatne Bintliff, University of California - San Diego

• Rebecca S. Levine, University of California - San Diego