The Definition Of Self-Harm

Self-harm patients are at a risk for suicide whether this is an intended outcome or a result of self-harm gone wrong. 25% of people who commit suicide will have been seen in a hospital setting for a self harm injury in the past 12 months (Emerson, 2010). As well, 72% of suicide victims under the age of 25 have had a history or self-harm behavior (as sited in Cook, Clency, Sanderson, 2004). These statists provide a strong argument for the importance of vigilance and ongoing monitoring when providing care for clients who display self-harm behavior. This paper will argue the importance for close monitoring when caring for self harm but not necessarily the prevention of self harm itself. Vigilance and monitoring are important However there is evidence that complete preventions is not necessarily the best approach to self-harm (Duffin, 2006).

Muehlenkamp and Gutierrez (2004 p.12) define self-harming behavior as” the deliberate destruction or alteration of body tissue without suicidal intent.” The distinct made from suicide and self-harming behavior is by definition whereas self-harming behavior is a life preserving action and suicide is an end to life action. The contributing factor may be the individual’s values and beliefs on life and death.

Self-Injury is a common theme when it comes to the undertakings teens involve themselves in. I wanted to write about a meaningful, informative topic, so not only I could get information from it, so you, the reader, would be able to find some appeal to the data I am presenting to you. To begin, the DSM-IV has classified self-injury as, “a new disorder in need of further study.” (Zetterqvist, DSM-IV) Meaning, Non-Suicidal self-injury has been classified as a disorder, yet it needs to be studied further for more clarification.

“According to a study published in the journal Pediatrics, an average of 1 in every 5 people has engaged in some form of non¬-suicidal self¬-injury, including but not limited to cutting, burning, hair pulling and punching” (Domanick). Apparently self-harm isn’t as uncommon we had originally been lead to be, if even 1 in every 5 people can self-harm, that just means society hasn’t been as observant as we like to believe. Anyone can self-harm, from distinguished politician, to a humble beggar on the streets,

The goal of this study coping strategies in adolescents who self-harm: A community sample study. Coping strategies in adolescents who self-harm: A community sample study was to assess the relationship between SH and coping strategies in a large sample of school-aged adolescents. 1,713 public school students 12-20 were given the questionnaire which was used in a case study to examine the way in which SH is associated with the use of specific coping strategies and general coping styles, and whether relations differed across genders, in a large community sample of adolescents. The results of the study found that both male and females that participated in self-harm had higher levels of depression as well as anxiety. Yet, the SH (self-harm group)

There are a number of causes for self-harm but the most common include abuse, a cry for attention, depression/anxiety, and peer influence. “Self-harm can be a way of coping with problems. It may help you express feelings you cannot put into words, distract you from your life, or release emotional pain” (HelpGuide.org). Of course there are many other sources the need for self-harm can be rooted. Teenagers nowadays have to deal with quite a bit of stress in their lives.

14 to 24 percent of adolescents in recent research tell us that they have self-injured sometime in their life. Most often it's cutting, but it also

Self-harm is a result of severe depression and other mental conditions. Many people do self-harm as a source of relief or to cope with a problem. Some teens say that they hurt themselves to stop the feeling of loneliness, anger, or hopelessness. Mother Teresa quotes, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved. Forms of self-injury are carving, scratching, branding, marking, picking and pulling hair and skin, burning, cutting, biting, head banging, bruising, hitting, tattooing, and excessive body piercing. Many teens do this in an act of desperation or anger to seek attention, to show their hopelessness and worthlessness, or because they have suicidal thoughts. Adolescents who have difficulty talking about their feelings may use this in a way to show how they feel. Teenagers may hide their self-injuries from the fear of embarrassment and being rejected and criticized by their peers. Parents can help stop this by talking to their child about respecting

Each year in the United States, thousands of adolescents contemplate suicide or perform non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Research has shown that adolescents who either attempted suicide or inflicted self-injury showed warning signs. These adolescents experience extreme feelings of stress, self-doubt, confusion, peer pressure, and other fears while growing up. Suicidal feelings and depression are treatable mental disorders, however, often times, warning signs are ignored. According to Margaret Andover and Blair W. Morris et al, in the United States, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults, and the 7th leading cause of death for children aged 5 to 9 years. Suicide with or without the intent to die is the behavior of an individual seeking to calm or end their pain and suffering.

I was appalled to find there are multiple forms of self-harm, and that specific self-mutilation is one of the few. Lip biting, scab picking, fingernail chewing, cutting, burning, eating disorders, the list goes on. Most are caused by anxiety driven tendencies: picking at dead skin, or fiddling with fingernails, everyone does though right? Even still, because there is stress, it is a form of self harm. Something so small, one would think it wouldn’t be such a big deal. However, self harm related suicides are rising in numbers with each passing month. With self-harm becoming a go-to “escape” for those who are pressed far down into a hole, depression is more than a temporary sadness. Three people I know have died due to self-harm related

     Imagine being sixteen years old and taking a razor to your arm because you feel so much pain inside that cutting is the only way to escape it. For a lot of people this idea seems strange and incomprehensible, but for many teenagers this is their reality. In a society with so much abuse, neglect and crime children are facing things that they never had to face in the past. Adolescents who are lacking more positive coping skills are turning to self-injurious behaviors to ease their pain and frustration.

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.

Self-harm in young people is a serious public health issue in the UK: a recent study by Morgan et al. (2017) outlined a significant increase, of 68%, of self-harm among girls aged 13-16 between 2011 and 2014 in the UK. Public Health England (2016) stated that each year around 150,000 children and young people are admitted to hospital due to self-harm and that the annual cost of self-harm admissions to hospital in England and Wales in 2014-2015 was £40 million. These figures highlight that there is an urgent need for more resources to be invested in the prevention and treatment of self-harm. Nurses working in the community and in hospitals have a big role in undertaking this issue, as they come into regular contact with children and young people who self-harm, however studies have shown that nurses in A&E departments and on paediatric wards feel ill-equipped to deal with this issue (Thomas, 2017).

Suicide is, by definition, the act of killing oneself in a deliberate, voluntary, and intentional manner (Strickland, 2001). Any actions that an individual carries out purposely that can have a life-threatening consequence are classed as suicidal behavior. Self-injury acts of cutting, burning, biting, or reopening unhealed wounds are not suicide attempts

Suicide is a death caused by self- directed injurious behavior with an intent to die as a