Think bullying just involves a tough kid demanding lunch money? Turns out millions of adult Americans deal with bullying every day – in the workplace.

According to the Bellingham-based Workplace Bullying Institute, 37 percent of adult Americans in the workforce – some 54 million people – face or have faced bullying in the workplace. Director Gary Namie says many people have reported that bullying in their workplace has worsened since the recession.

“People aren’t free to choose another job or move freely in the marketplace, so it’s hard to get out,” he said. Experts say the added stress of the recession can cause normally good people to react in hurtful ways.

Namie defines bullying as repeated, health-harming mistreatment by one or more people that takes the form of verbal abuse or conduct that is threatening, humiliating or intimidating. While a typical tough boss may set demanding but legitimate business goals for the good of the organization, a workplace bully strives to make someone miserable or drive them out of the company for his or her personal satisfaction. Those actions can result in severe physical and emotional consequences.

“We’re really talking about abusive conduct, not just inadvertent glances or simple gossip,” Namie said.

“The distinction comes from the impact the action has on the other person – one that produces stress-related health complications.” Health difficulties can range from loss of sleep and headaches to panic attacks, heart attacks, clinical depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder. “These become common because someone is threatening your career, your livelihood and your character day after day through persistent and consistent degradation,” said Judy Fisher-Brando, Ph.D., author of “Workplace

Bullying: Aggressive Behavior and Its Effect on Job Satisfaction and Productivity” (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010).

Bosses, peers or even subordinate employees can be bullies. Though motivations vary, they often stem from narcissism, jealousy and a need for control. Consequently, bullies tend to target non-confrontational, smart and popular co-workers to tear down the co-worker and even destroy his or her career with the company. Namie also notes that the aggressive nature of the workplace often rewards bullying behavior, which furthers the cycle and the difficulty for targets to fight back.

Namie coaches targets to first name the situation. “Naming the situation as bullying helps to externalize it and legitimize it in your eyes,” he said.

Next take a physical and mental health check to assess how the bullying has taken a toll so far, and seek out medical help from a physician and counselor if needed. Take time to relax and focus on positive things.

Then investigate the company’s violence policy for possible legal retaliation and think about making your case. Finally, consider exposing the bully.

Some countries, including Australia, have laws to prohibit workplace bullying. In the U.S., while harassment for sex and race is illegal, legislation does not cover bullying because it doesn’t target a specific group of individuals.

“I believe this is the emerging legal issue for our time, just like sexual harassment was 20 years ago,” said Teresa Daniel, author of “Stop Bullying at Work: Strategies and Tools for HR and Legal Professionals” (Society for Human Resource Management, 2009). Bullying increases turnover and absenteeism, results in more litigation, reduces productivity and has significant effects on employee morale, she says.

The WBI recently introduced the Healthy Workplace Bill in an effort to provide employers the legal incentive to react to workplace bullying. “The momentum is growing for legislation,” Namie said.

“Eventually it will pass. Who would support abusive conduct?”