Often this relentless treatment leads to a stress breakdown, which leaves the target unable to work for months or years after they escape the situation. The typical symptoms are alarmingly similar to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Unlike the common idea of a bullied person being weak, an oddball or a loner, the chosen target of an adult bully will generally be a capable, dedicated staff member, well liked by other people in the workplace. The bully responds to their capability as a threat, and sets out to cut them down. This is understandable in that the typical adult bully, like his childhood counterpart, is generally an insecure person with weak or absent social skills and little empathy.
Bullying appears to be a compulsive behaviour, driven by anxiety.
If one target becomes unavailable, the bully must move on to another to maintain his comfort levels. The exception is in those cases where someone sees another person being abused and steps in to protect them, or to bring the bully to account. Then the focus shifts to the new person with a fast-track agenda of elimination. The target suffers, of course, and if that were all it would still be sufficient cause to deal with bullies in the workplace. But others pay too.