Cutting Is NOT The Cause Of Self-Harm

The guideline chosen for this discussion is the: Self-harm in over 8s: long-term management. This guideline discusses the long-term psychological treatment and management of single and recurrent episodes of self-harm. This guideline is a follow-up to a clinical guideline entitled Self-harm: the short-term physical and psychological management and secondary prevention of self-harm in primary and secondary care. This guideline was concerned with the treatment of self-harm within the first 48 hours of the incident. Both guidelines were developed with the help of multidisciplinary health professionals, individuals who self-harm and their families to help clinicians provide and plan the highest quality of care to people over the age of 8 years old whom self-harm (National Institute for Health and Care

Self-harm, or parasuicide, is a deliberate injury inflicted upon oneself. Unfortunately, it is an issue primarily found in the younger population. Since it is difficult to clinically follow-up these cohorts due to their chaotic nature and constant geographic mobility (Sinclair, Hawton & Gray, p. 247), the long-term consequences of an episode of self-harm are not well-known. In this paper, I will summarize the findings of researchers Sinclair, Hawton and Gray who found that the patients admitted in the hospital due to self-harm, after six years, have significantly higher mortality, higher morbidity and lower quality of life compared to the general population (p. 250). Moreover, I will elaborate my own one-year therapy plan that will be focused on tackling the main issues that contribute to the comorbidity of self-harm: depression and alcohol abuse. Lastly, I will look at another possible treatment involving community reinforcement.

Varying from painting to poetry to music that express what emotions are being felt. Or if cutting is a way to release tension or vent anger then numerous precautious could be taken to consideration. Alternates could diverge from exercising vigorously, squeezing a stress ball, punching a cushion or mattress without hurting one’s self, or make some loud noises. For example banging on pots and pans, or playing an instrument very loudly. Now if the feeling of cutting is just not something the addict is willing to give up there are also some types of ways to have a synthetic sensation. Using a red felt tip pen to mark where someone might usually cut can act as a crutch. Now this mark should not be a guideline on where to harm next. Another alternative is rubbing an ice cube across the skin to reenact the impression of feeling numb. Also putting a rubber band on the wrist, arm or legs an snapping it could recreate the feeling of the emotional distress. If the addict or someone who cares has taken the steps to try and stop themselves and has been unsuccessful then a professional might be taken into

Why do people self-harm? A survey carried out by the National Health Service (NHS), 2002 has shown young adults aged between 15-16 years “ estimated that more than 10%of girls and more than 3% of boys self-harm in previous years”. The National

Self-harm/ self-injury, which is defined as the practice of injuring yourself, i.e. cutting, in order to relieve emotional distress, is an alarming issue that has become an epidemic. According to Healthy Place “Each year, 1 in 5 females and 1 in 7 males engage in self-injury.” And within that group, “90 percent of the people who engage in self-harm, began during their teen or pre-adolescent years.” (Gluck, 2015) Self harm can include many different behaviors, such as : cutting the skin with razors and or other sharp objects, burning the skin, scratching the skin, intentionally bruising the body by hitting or hitting oneself against the wall , intentionally pulling hair out

First, we can go as far back as the 19th century, where women in Europe were puncturing themselves with sewing needles. This is when European doctors came up with a name for the women who practiced this form of self-torture, they were called needle girls. Second, today self harm often is experienced by anyone of any age, background or race and there is no typical profile of a person who self harms. Third, there isn’t a lot of good data that a person can use, most studies and articles show that female adolescents are more likely to self harm than male adolescents. This is mainly due to the stigma that society has on mental health issues and how males are viewed to be masculine and strong (Kelada, 2016). Males are less likely to seek help therefore dealing with their issues often in the form of violence or self

“Self-harm, [is] defined here as deliberate and voluntary physical self-injury that is not life-threatening and is without any conscious suicidal intent” (Laye-Gindhu & Schonert-Reichl, 2005, p. 447). “According to population studies, between 5% and 10 % of adolescents report past-year self-harm” (Mehlum, et al. 2016, p. 1082). Some of the more well-known forms of self-harm are “cutting, hitting, biting,” (Laye-Gindhu & Schonert-Reichl, 2005, p. 453) and other non-suicidal actions – scarifications are among more publicly-recognized type. Adolescents hurt themselves in these ways because it gives them a way to physically deal with the emotions they experience; this makes sense, since inflicting injuries to yourself that are severe

"In the last forty-five years, suicide rates have increased by sixty percent." Suicide is endings ones life due to an emotional emptiness. Most people who commit suicide do it to escape pain,(physical ~or~ mental/emotional), it's almost the exact same when it comes to self-harm as well. Self-harm is how people relieve their pain. Most people who self-harm , say it gives

“You are beautiful and are worth more than harming yourself.” (Demi Lovato) Many people self harm and even those close to them don’t notice. Self harm is dangerous and if left unnoticed can quickly lead into suicide. Self harm has been around for centuries and is still a major problem in teens today. Luckily there are organizations that are willing to help.

There are many reasons that people self-harm, Klonsky (2006) highlighted seven reasons people may do this; to stop negative moods, to alleviate the feeling of depersonalization, to stop themselves from committing suicide, to punish themselves, to give themselves the feeling of excitement, to give themselves more autonomy or a feeling of self and also he says that it may be to seek help from or manipulate others. This last point is one that may affect the way people are treated and cause stigma and discrimination if it is assumed this is why people have engaged in

Self-harm is not exclusive to any age. Studies show that approximately 4% of adults engage in self-harm behaviors and as many as 38% of college students (Brown, & Kimball 2013). These behaviors typically begin in adolescents during or just prior to the years of high school. Some reliable studies of high school populations have found there to be a self-harm prevalence rate between 13-24% across the US and Canada (Brown, & Kimball 2013). Unfortunately, self-harm is continuing to grow. Similar studies have estimated that self-harm has grown by 150% in the past two decades (Brown, & Kimball 2013). For this reason it is important to help the public better understand the phenomenon of self-harm.

After self-harm has been afflicted there are certain ways others can keep an eye out to see if someone you know is hurting themselves. According to Mental Health America, warning sighs to look for include frequent scraps, burns or cuts around the body. These areas of focus are wrists, arms, legs or arms. The Young Youth Self-Report states between the ages of eleven through eighteen, 67.2% report on the upper arms (Laukkanen 2013). Out of this group the total number was 296 students on who answered where their self-injuries were performed. This study provided the cuts that are found on forearms are at lower risk for suicide and are feeding to this addiction for emotional pain. The cuts that were found on other parts of the body suggested these children were in need of mental help, which could form to suicide thoughts (Laukkanen 2013).

Self-mutilation is characterized by autoagressive behaviors without intent to die, and is not uncommonly encountered in clinical practice, with an estimated prevalence of 4.3% in general psychiatric patients. The highest incidences of self-mutilation have been reported in prisoners, institutionalized teenagers with antisocial traits, and among those diagnosed with autism, schizophrenia, intellectual disabilities, and traumatic brain injuries [1].

Self-harm may be used to manage pain from an earlier life experience over which the person had no control such as physical or emotional abuse. While not every client will use self-harming behaviors to deal with emotional pain, I feel that the knowledge of these behaviors will be important in the field of helper that I am aspiring to work in.

Warning signs for self-mutilation can be wearing covering clothing when it is warm out, and not letting people touch where they might be cutting themselves. It was once believed that people who self injure were just doing it for attention but recent studies have proven otherwise. A quote from the research from the CASE study in Europe stated that “The findings of this study show that adolescents who deliberately self-harm often report both cry of pain and cry for help motives. The majority of youngsters wanted to get relief from a terrible state of mind and/ or wanted to die with their act of self-harm. Although the study shows that there is also a cry for help, this type of motive seems to be less prominent than the cry of pain, which is inconsistent with the popular notion that adolescents deliberate self-harm is ‘only’ a cry for help (Scoliers, 2009). With this knowledge we need to make sure we help the children who are not only doing it to die or punish themselves but for the ones who are doing it for attention which is less than a quarter of the time.