As soon as I saw the door, it was like this weight just went onto me.

Inside, it was eating me up.

I was smiling all the time, but it hurt.

It's taken somewhere in the region of six years to be able to really regain my confidence and get myself back to my former self.

You lose part of your own identity when you go through this.

How would you define bullying?

Hmm.

So, bullying to one person may mean something completely different to the next person.

It is quite subjective and it can be hard to define, or even to recognise when it's happening.

What may seem trivial, such as just excluding someone from the coffee run every morning, over time, that creates a really oppressive working environment.

And then you get the more extreme cases where there's verbal, maybe even physical behaviour.

Sometimes people are permanently disabled with their mental health and they can never work again

Sadly, we have lots of clients who suffer with suicidal thoughts.

Sometimes people will speak up and say that something is bullying when actually they're really just being managed - there's a performance issue.

Assuming it's a reasonable request from your manager, then that is not workplace bullying.

But for the most part, if somebody feels as though they're being bullied, that's the important thing.

I've worked at a restaurant where people used to sing the EDL song.

"If you're not white, get out."

Straight away, you know, they find out you're a Muslim: "You're a suicide bomber, you're a terrorist."

"What's he got on his back?"

I'm proud to be who I am, you know, proud to be a Muslim.

I'm proud, you know, that I pray.

I just want to get accepted like everyone else.

You know, not be judged due to colour, due to height or anything, just go to work and just have a peaceful day at work.

I witnessed people in positions of power just yelling at co-workers in front of other people, demeaning them, making sexual comments.

When the environment is like that at the top level, it really does trickle down to every facet of the workplace.

Like, I actually found myself becoming a bit toxic as well.

I had a bit of a mental breakdown.

I think bullying can be so detrimental and can be so sinister because it can be just even those little comments that are meant to chip away at your self-esteem and your self-worth,

and I think that's where it starts to get really dangerous.

I was bullied at work myself, and it went on for about two years before I actually felt able to do anything about it.

And ultimately, I had to walk away because my health suffered so enormously as a result.

The pressure, the strain, the extra mental health issues that I suffered really escalated during that formal process.

It's trying to speak to somebody in confidence, preferably somebody senior.

Make sure that those conversations happen early on about which behaviours are acceptable and which are not.

There's usually a formal grievance policy that you can follow to escalate your concerns and have them investigated,

but sometimes that might not be the right option for the employee, in terms of their health.

You've got to put your health first, and only you know what's best for your health.

Don't be afraid to walk away if that is the best thing for you.

Keep a diary, keep a log of events, because if you do need to seek some legal advice, then that's really helpful.

Bullying doesn't have a legal definition, which means it's very difficult to bring a case unless you do have a psychiatric injury, whereas harassment cases can be brought under the Equality Act.

A legal definition would really help with those employers who are not prepared to take the action internally, and it would give a little bit more protection for people who want to be able to bring a case.

Because it is so subjective, I think the courts have struggled to want to define it really strictly.

There's a grey area where there's lots of people being subjected to bullying that they have nowhere to go, and the law doesn't support them.

I think the definition has to be focused less on what bullying and the conduct is, or is not, and more, what is the impact on that person?

We need to look at early intervention, making sure that managers are trained, they're able to deal with the people issues and not just the technical parts of their roles.

But also, employers need to look at their working practices.

The pressure, the deadlines, the working hours, the hybrid working, the "always on".

When people are under pressure, their behaviours will change.

The more that we have conversations about workplace bullying, the greater the awareness is going to be.

And then people will feel able to recognise it earlier, to define it, to speak up against it.

Not just for themselves, but for others as well.