Self-Injury: Why Young People Do It and Where to Go for Help
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-03-07/self-injury-why-young-people-do-it-and-where-go-help
A surprising number of Americans seek relief from emotional pain through self-injury or mutilation. They cut, burn or strike themselves, often hiding their wounds beneath their clothing. These actions are not suicide attempts, but rather efforts to cope with psychological trauma and stress, and sometimes physical or sexual abuse. Up to a quarter of teenagers and young adults have intentionally hurt themselves at least once. And mental health experts are worried the Internet is causing the phenomenon to spread. We'll talk with psychologists who study and treat the condition and a young woman who has recovered.
Guests
Stephen Lewis
assistant professor of clinical psychology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Lisa Diamond-Raab
a Washington, D.C., psychotherapist who has treated more than 700 young people for self-injury.
Rebecca X
a young woman who engaged in self-injurious behavior as a teenager and now works as a nurse; she requested that we use only part of her real name.
Comments
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I became very concerned at the end of the show when a caller led the therapist to reveal that she referred about 50% of her clients for psychiatric medication. While medications may provide short term relief, studies have shown that long-term outcomes have shown a higher rate of disability for those treated with medication. Anatomy of an Epidemic (Robert Whitaker) is one of many books examining this tragedy (for those who would like to educate themselves on risks of taking the medication route).
I work as a peer support specialist, and use my own lived experience of mental health and substance use challenges to support others who are struggling. My experience leads me to believe that everything we do is a wellness tool at the time we do it. Self-harm can be a life-saving wellness tool until tools with less harmful consequences can be found. No one should be belittled, ridiculed, or made to feel like they are a sick or disabled person who can't take care of themselves when they have revealed their habit. Instead, they should be honoured for the strength and courage it takes to ask for support, and for their trust in you as supporter as well. Go from there, asking what they think they need to support them, always reminding them that they are the experts on their own lives and needs, and respecting their choices as they take the lead in their recovery. After all, self-harm can have a lot to do with lack of control over one's life and environment. Knowing that they can take control of their recovery can be a step towards developing wellness tools with less injurious consequences, and taking control over their own wellness.
It is good Diane that you have opened for discussion the self mutilation or destruction topic. One question is no one appears to address the connection of sexual abuse or trauma to these self destructing acts. At least twenty five percent of little girls carry secretly the roots of this unspeakable tragedy into teen and adult years. Frequently the abuser leaves with the victim a life threatening fear if the abuse is addressed publicly.
I have personal experience with self abuse, self killing that at age 5 I was forced to turn inward with no visible consequences.
I was unaware of this cyclical life destroying life style path that I walked for most of my years. Only now into my early 80's am I able to surface, overcome and release these inner focused self abusive actions.
In the near future my intent is to communicate through written and spoken words about my self belief-discovery-learning efforts to come aware and alive as a mature woman. I believe unspoken, self denied sexual abuse could be the hidden unspoken cause of self mutilation. Presently my blog is not updated but the original story is at www.findingtimothy.org.
Does anyone believe there is a connection between self injury and promiscous behavior? When there is also drug and alcohol abuse? I believe that when you suffer from poor self-esteem and do not have a close support system, such as no deep relationships with at least one good friend you always suffer without good strong emotional bond with someone who truly cares about you. Is there a connection? Is there any help out there for this type of problem?
I believe you are on to something here! What is this self-killing that you turned inward at age 5. I don't understand? Most of my life has been spent doing what I was told & turning my thoughts and feelings inward! It has been extremely tough!
I would imagine that different people have different reasons for hurting themselves. I can’t speak for anyone’s reasons but my, but since mine are different than any discussed on this show I’ll post them here. My attitude is different, too. I don’t see anything negative about the practice, and in fact see positive benefits.
I’m male, nearly 60 years old and lead a quiet and peaceable well balanced life. I’m considered intelligent, creative, and well educated and have been very successful in my profession. I started hurting myself at an age earlier than I can remember, and still do from time to time. I never did it in such a way that would leave evidence. Any evidence would be blamed on an accident, as I was considered very “accident prone.” Once I was in the emergency room three times in the same day—one sports accident, and two bicycle accidents. I also never did anything that would cause permanent harm.
The reason was simple. I wanted to increase my threshold of pain. This was also one of many things I would do to develop better mental discipline and self control. I will grant that I grew up in a high stress environment. I always saw this as a positive thing and not negative.
I still do things to test my threshold of pain once in a while. I do it rarely since I’ve developed many other means of developing and maintaining mental discipline and self control.
I just wanted to Comment.. That the release of the emotions that provides the cutting .. Is available through acupuncture ! And I am not talking the act of needling .. I am referring to the rebalancing of the system .
The great finding with high rates of success treating addictions in group settings.. you can find on research
published at NIH ..
Great results! Natural ! No drugs! No side effects!
I also agree on finding a right therapist for support!
I heard that insurances also cover acupunctur tx!
The only thing you have to be committed to following through..
But you will feel great in no time!
Typical requirement is 2,3 x per week for 30-40 min ideally in a group setting!
The cost is about $25-$30 per tx.. If you have no Inshurance !I wonder why that was not offered on the show as an alternative tx?
But all anxieties diminish and central nervouse system comes down!
My experience with self-injurious behavior was as an RN at a residential facility for multiply-handicapped children. There were several residents who displayed self-injury.
One in particular was striking and I've thought about her often since leaving my employment there. She was an adolescent with severe autism and was quite low-functioning. She would, at intervals, hit her head against the wall until staff intervened or would hit her head against the floor where the carpet was very abrasive, skinning her entire forehead into bloody hamburger. The pain must have been exquisite, but she would continue until discovered and stopped. The plan was to keep her under constant supervision and active with play. As you can guess, there were gaps in her supervision when staff had to go to the bathroom, took another client to their room to change their diapers, or, since this girl was ambulatory and able to zip away quickly, it might be a few minutes before she was missed from the group.
Since this young lady was non-verbal and barely acknowledged her surroundings, preferring to self-stimulate with the patterns her rapidly moving fingers made, no psychiatric therapy was available to her beyond medication. I seriously doubt that she had any self-esteem issues, anger-management issues, or was stressed in the usual cognitive way we think of stress (high expectations, heavy work load, bills, etc). I don't know if this little lady was ever sexually abused in her past, but even if she had been, I doubt that she would have been aware of it. This self-injurious urge must have been far more basic, buried well beneath her cognitive level (such as it was). Perhaps it's that way with with some of those whom Ms Rehm talked with, also. Perhaps there's no one event or emotion disturbance that this awful behavior can be pinned on.