Mobbing at Workplace - Psychological Trauma and Documentation of Psychiatric Symptoms

OBJECTIVES: Mobbing at the workplace refers to such cases as verbal harassment, aggressive words, sarcasm, slander or social isolation repeatedly targeted at a specific person at a specific period of time. Previous studies indicate that wellness and health of the victims who have been subjected to mobbing at workplace were affected adversely. Recently, there has been an increase in mobbing cases in Turkey. The purpose of the present study is to identify the features of trauma and analyse the development of mental problems caused by traumatic experiences in individuals who have been subjected to mobbing at workplace, and admitted to psychiatry services. METHOD: Three-hundred individuals included in the study who had been admitted to Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Psychiatry Department, Psychosocial Trauma Programme, through general psychiatry outpatient clinics and forensic medicine institute consultations, with the purpose of preparing forensic reports between January 2008-September 2012. Trauma Evaluation Form (TIF), Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS), Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) were administered. RESULTS: Mobbing was identified in 130 out of 300 patients who claimed to have been subjected to trauma at workplace (43.3%). Mobbing cases were aged between 18 and 61, 100 (76.9%) of them were women. 56 (43%) of the cases were married, 54 (41.5%) of them were single and others were divorced, widowed or separated. 110 (84.6%) of the patients were university graduates while 13 of them were high school graduates and 5 of them were elementary school graduates. 76 of the cases were government officers and 65 of them were teachers. 93 (71.5%) patients were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) according to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition-Revised (DSM-IV-TR) criteria, 9 patients (6.9%) had adjustment disorder and 102 of the patients (78.5%) were diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. Mean Total IES of 122 patients was 58.4±16.7. Three persons (2.3%) had not received any diagnoses and 83 individuals (63.8%) had received multiple diagnoses. CONCLUSION: The fact that mobbing was identified in approximately half of cases who applied to get a forensic report points out the extensiveness of the problem. High percentage of PTSD was established in victims of mobbing. It is important to include psychologic trauma in definiton of trauma in manuals of psychiatric disorders. Preparation of a report is useful in helping these individuals to protect their legal rights as well as documenting these wrongdoings, improving the sense of justice, enabling these individuals to be examined by psychiatry experts and having them access to treatment.