Does having anxiety issues make you an easy target for bullies?

[samtheman]

As the title suggests, I have found having anxiety issues has made me soft or a walk over so to speak and I think others must pick up on it, especially at work I get bullied and walked over all the time. In CBT I learned assertive behaviour, but when the other party is being aggressive assertive behaviour does not work and could easily result in getting a punch. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Tessar]

Like you I've been bullied as well (at home, at work, when i'm socialising). It is a horrible feeling, particularly as I agree that people do target you when you are down. I often felt like the Bullies just knew when I was at my worst and targetted me even more.
What I will say is that post CBT I have learned to be strong. Of course there are still times when I feel vulnerable, I think that is only natural. There are also times I wish I would still be more assertive. But on the whole, I have stopped people bullying me now.
I left a job where I was bullied & took another. That turned out to be the worst job I'd ever had but I didnt stand for any bullying. Another job on and finally I am in a workplace where I am treated well. I went there with the attitute I would not be treated like that again. I had to draw a line.
I know it is terribly hard to stand up to bullies, they are very unkind people. In fact they are very sad indeed. But one thing for sure is YOU ARE BETTER THAN THEM. Really you are.
I am hoping that you can continue to use the skills learned in CBT; try to practice the assertiveness whenever you can. Maybe after a situation that you wished you'd been able to handle differently, allow yourself a cool off period. Go through what happened and think about what you coudl have said or done differently. Actually practice saying out loud the things you wished you'd said. Obviously you dont want to escalate it in an unhealthy manner - stick to words - words said assertively but without anger. It might help...but please keep trying because these people arent worth suffering pain for, they really arent.