Healing the Scars of Society’s Bullying Paradigm
The harm done to the brain by bullying and abuse are invisible but, when ignored, they become infectious, cyclical and systemic.
Let’s face it. While we may espouse zero tolerance for bullying, society is rife with it and children experience it in epidemic proportions. Inadvertent as well as purposeful abusive behaviors have become normalized in our society.
In her new book, The Bullied Brain: Heal Your Scars and Restore Your Health (Prometheus Books, April 1, 2022), Jennifer Fraser, best-selling author and award-winning educator, reveals how bullying and abuse have seeped into every corner of society — from children’s playgrounds to the upper echelons of leadership. While exposing how we’ve been brainwashed by what she terms “the bullying paradigm,” she offers remedies coming directly from advancements in brain science that open the door to a new “neuroparadigm.”
Drawing from her family’s personal experience as well as stories ripped from the headlines, Fraser expertly weaves anecdote together with pioneering information on both the mental and physical trauma caused by bullying and the brain’s remarkable ability to recover and heal.
Neuroscientists have found visual evidence in brain scans of the impact of bullying and abuse. It manifests in hypervigilance that takes up much brain power, diverting it away from learning, creativity, and problem-solving. Fraser walks readers through ways we can use the brain’s inherent neuroplasticity to undo the damage.
Key Messages: In The Bullied Brain, Fraser shares not only how to survive bullying, but how to push back against the entrenched role it plays in society. She addresses:
- How bullying and abuse correlate with failure to perform, mental illness, substance abuse, aggressive behavior and chronic disease
- How bullied individual’s brains show anatomical differences that prevent them from responding in healthy ways to confrontation or persuasion
- How to debunk the myth generated by the bullying paradigm that harsh, ruthless conduct builds toughness and resilience
- How to harness the brain’s neuroplasticity to replace destructive neural networks with ones capable of critical thinking, trust and empathy
- How to join a revolution away from abusive behavior and toward empathy and compassion for ourselves and others
The Bullied Brain makes clear that all forms of bullying and abuse harm minds, brains, and bodies. It takes the discussion out from behind closed doors and provides readers a blueprint for not only navigating and surviving the bullying world, but also for dismantling the bullying paradigm and replacing it with one grounded in knowledge of our brains
About the Author
JENNIFER FRASER, best-selling author and award-winning educator, has a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Toronto. Her online courses and workshops provide dynamic lessons in the impact neuroscience has on personal development and culture change.
Her previous book, Teaching Bullies: Zero Tolerance on the Court or in the Classroom (Motion Press, Aug. 8, 2015), explores what happens when the bully is a teacher or coach. Her new book, The Bullied Brain: Heal Your Scars and Restore Your Health (Prometheus Books, April 1, 2022), delves into how bullying affects the brain and how the brain can heal.
Learn more at bulliedbrain.com.
Social Media
Website – bulliedbrain.com
LinkedIn – Jen-fraser-phd-1466a417
Facebook – BulliedBrain
Twitter – @TeachingBullies
Instagram – @JenniferFraserPhD