WHAT IS SELF-HARM?
Deliberate self-harm is when a person intentionally damages her or his own bodily tissue without intending to die. Self-harm doesn’t include things like smoking, drug use, bingeing, purging, or other behaviours that may be harmful. And the reason for this is that, for the most part, people don’t do these types of things to intentionally cause injury in the moment. Also, self-harm does not include suicide attempts, where people intentionally hurt themselves in order to cause death. As it turns out, self-harm and suicidal behaviour are different in important ways, and we’re focusing here on self-harm. Some examples of self-harm behaviours include cutting, burning, skin picking, biting, or banging one’s head.
This series is designed to provide information about self-harm and how people who self-harm can help themselves and find effective treatment.
HOW COMMON IS SELF-HARM?
Self-harm is surprisingly common. As many as 4% of young girls in the United States have engaged in self-harm (Briere & Gil, 1998; Klonsky, Oltmanns, & Turkheimer, 2003). That’s around 12 million people in the US alone. Some studies have found that approximately 20% of high school students have self-harmed (Gratz, Conrad, & Roemer, 2002; Paivio & McCulloch, 2004; Zoroglu et al., 2003), and as many as 15-17% of college students say they’ve harmed themselves frequently (Gratz, 2001, 2006; Gratz, Conrad, & Roemer, 2002; Paivio & McCullough, 2004; Zoroglu et al., 2003). Also, although some people view self-harm as a “female” problem, it’s actually just as common amoung males as it is with females.
Most people who harm themselves begin around the age of 13 or 14, although some people start before this age. We rarely see people over 55 or so who harm themselves (although some surely do), and even people over 40 don’t tend to self-harm as much as younger adults. After it first occurs, some people try it a few times, over the course of a year or two, and then grow out of it or decide it isn’t for them. Others experiment with self-harm, just as some people experiment with drugs during adolescence and young adulthood. And for these people, self-harm might be something they can recover from on their own or with the support from a therapist or loved ones. Other people, however, come to rely on self-harm in order to cope. For them it can continue for many years, even decades. Other people who self-harm probably fall between these two groups. These are people who might self-harm occasionally over many years, only when things get very difficult.
WHERE DO YOU START IF YOU STRUGGLE WITH SELF-HARM AND WANT HELP?
Although some people can recover from self-harm on their own, many find it easier to stop this behaviour if they have the support of a mental health professional. As we discussed above, the more you come to rely on self-harm, the harder it can be to stop on your own. Not only can a mental health professional support you in trying to stop self-harm, this person can also teach you alternative ways of coping with your emotions and life stressors, so that you don’t feel as if you have to give up one coping strategy (self-harm) with nothing to replace it.
We recommend that you seek a professional with training and experience in the treatment of self-harm. Many different types of mental health professionals can treat someone who self-harms, including clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, people with master’s degrees in psychology, and people with Ph.D.s or master’s degrees in counselling psychology. Any of these professionals may be able to help you or someone you love recover from self-harm. More important than the professional’s degree is his or her level of experience with and knowledge about self-harm. In particular, you should make sure that this professional 1) knows that self-harm is different from suicidal behaviours; 2) has knowledge, training, and experience with alternative coping strategies; 3) is nonjudgmental toward people who self-harm; 4) knows how to treat self-harm; and 5) is willing to work with you to stop this behaviour.
If travel to the Vancouver, B.C., area is a possibility, the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Centre of Vancouver is a treatment centre with clinicians who have experience and training in treating people who self-harm. If you would like to make an appointment, please contact Dr. John Wagner at 778.838.6875.
Another way to start getting help is to get accurate information about self-harm. Although there are some Internet sites that provide accurate, up to date information, other sites provide misinformation or even encourage self-harm. Self-help books, such as the one below, can be a useful place to start.
For instance, much of the information in this blog was taken from the following recent self-help book:
Gratz, K. L., & Chapman, A. L. 2009. Freedom from Self-Harm: Overcoming Self-Injury with Skills from DBT and Other Treatments. California: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
Available on amazon.ca, Freedom from Self-Harm provides up to date, accurate information on self-harm, the causes of self-harm, effective treatment options, ways to get motivated to stop self-harming, how to prevent relapse, and useful coping strategies from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and other treatments.
In this blog, we have discussed the definition of self-harm, found that self-harm is a problem for many people. We also reviewed a few resources for people who are struggling with self-harm.
So why do people harm themselves? What causes self-harm? Who engages in self-harm? What can people do to help themselves? What treatments are out there? How can you cope with emotions and desires to self-harm? In this series, those are the questions we will be answering. Stay tuned for bimonthly blogs addressing these and other questions about self-harm, and what you can do about it.
Tags: how to get help for self-harm, self-harm
