Self-Injury In Adolescents
Maryanne Dyke
Self-injury in the Adolescent Years
Ms. Crawford
HSB 4M1
May 21st 2013
With an increase in stress and anxiety in adolescents, some are choosing to cope with the emotional discomfort by a means of self harm called cutting. Cutting is a self injurious behavior where an individual uses an object that is sharp that is used to cause physical pain and is usually used to compensate for the emotional tension that one is experiencing. In previous times, it was thought that it was an attempt at taking one’s life, but professionals are now stating that it is not necessarily true but it is a coping mechanism that some may choose in order to stay alive. Parents and other adults that the individual trusts have to …show more content…
become aware of the warning signs which include but are not limited to participate in physical education classes, swimming classes. Seeking help from a professional may help to uncover the foundational causes of this behavior. Some individuals may choose self-harm when they are at their emotional limit because of a perceived personal failure, lack of communication to one’s caregivers, etc.
adolescents need to know if they report someone engaging in self harming behavior they need to tell an adult as soon as possible so that the individual engaging in the harmful behavior can be helped and receive proper treatment. Training for parents, teachers, guidance counselors and other professionals may help reduce the amount of students who are choosing self-injury as a way to deal with their problems.
Self-injury is a complex and a commonly misunderstood phenomenon in the adolescent population (Plante, 2007). Self harm is a dangerous and pervasive problem during the adolescent years (Nock, Teper & Hollander, 2007). In more recent times, the problem of self-injury has become more common, it is now beginning at younger ages than ever before (Schneider, 2007). “self injury is a deliberate, non-suicidal behavior that inflicts harm on one’s body with the goal of relieving emotional distress”(WebMD, 2009). Self injury encompasses a lot of terms. Some include self injury, self harm and self mutilation. One who injures themselves have various means of doing so. Some include: cutting, burning, picking one’s scabs, punching self or objects, infecting oneself, inserting objects into body openings, bruising or breaking bones, some forms of …show more content…
hair pulling as well as other forms of bodily harm (Schneider, 2007). The terms may be used interchangeably throughout this paper because self-injury is described in many ways by different people. The focus of the paper will be self injury, self harm and cutting. Many people do not understand why an individual may self injure. Some people have reported that they hurt themselves because they were in a fight with either their friends or family members, they lost a loved one or their parents split up (Rebman, 2006). “ an expert stated that self injurers tend to feel very empty inside, over or understimulated, not understood by others and fearful of intimate relationships and adult responsibilities. Self injury is a way to cope with or relieve painful emotions” (Schneider, 2007). When one injures themselves, they feel in control and it is their pwn way of not involving or hurting others. Since the family has a challenging time understanding why a person may cut themselves they tend to be critical and unsupportive (Poland, 2008). Parents usually believe that it is just a phase and that they will grow out of it (Levenkron, 1998). There are many stressful situations that can create an environment that is difficult for individuals to cope with including a traumatic family loss, neglect and or abuse or neglect, unstable family roles, rape or unclear social values. These kinds of situations make it challenging for the individual to know where they stand in relation to others which may create overwhelming stress and emotions (Conterio & Lader, 1998). Parents have a direct impact as well. The cutter may feel that they are in a situation where they are not allowed to communicate their true feelings because no one would care about what they are trying to say. “When an individual has repeated unacknowledged feelings they may self harm because in their mind it is their only escape” (Holmes, 2000). School may also be a place of major stress for an individual because of pressures from peers, teachers or even themselves. It is crucial for the teachers and parents to be aware and be prepared to deal with many problems in the student’s lives. It has been found that school employees are not trained on how to deal with a student who exhibits self injurious behaviour (Poland, 2000). There are many things that teachers and administrators can do to help students who are abusive to themselves. Researching the issue, training and educating staff members and creating an intervention plan for individuals who self injure may help those who engage in this behaviour (Poland, 2008). Most school personnel will be required by law to notify the parents when they notice that their child is engaging in self harming behaviour. From there, there can be a treatment plan developed in order to help the child.
This section will include an overview of the topic of self injury, while deeply investigating the subcategory of cutting. The intention is to help provide information for school counselors that would help them understand cutting as students may hurt themselves, offer an insight to why an individual may engage in harmful behaviour, in addition to how family factors may influence an individual to cut themselves. Lastly it will contain suggestions for how school nurses, teachers, counselors, as well as school administration can help identify cutters and help those who self injure find a safer coping mechanism. Many people in society find it challenging to understand what is involved in self injury. It is important to note that school counselors become more aware of the problem so that they can better understand what cutting really is. Self injury is intentionally hurting the body in a way that is so severe that it causes tissue damage (Holmes, 2000). It is important to realize that individuals who engage in self injury are engaging in self destructive behaviour, but may not be intentionally trying to commit suicide (Schneider, 2007). Self injurious individuals are a challenge to identify because they look like everyone else (Poland, 2008). Many individuals who cut themselves tend to go through a self harm cycle which includes the following: a stressing happening in one’s life that triggers sadness. Secondly, the individual will usually disassociate. The event which may trigger extreme anxiety and panic, next they might take their anger and frustration out on other people, usually people that they are close to. As a result they begin to have a strong hatred for themselves. After the self injury occurs the individual may cry. The crying may often lead to a temporary connected, calm and relieved feeling. In the end of the cycle, the individual will feel ashamed that they did not cope in a healthier way (Williams, 2008). Each situation is unique and as a result will have a different reason why they may choose to self injure such as disappointing grades at school, having minimal friends or being cut from a sports team. Emotion and stress can be caused by certain situations, which may make someone want to hurt themselves. “ some individuals because of their biology may have a challenge in managing and regulating their feelings, be slow to recover from emotional distress, prone to symptoms of hyper arousal and susceptible to anxious and or dysphoric mood states” (Rogers Memorial Hospital, 2009). Lastly, it has been proven that physical, psychoanalytic and psychological factors may also provide an insight into why people may choose to hurt themselves. When a person engages in such a behaviour, physically it releases endorphins, it regulates emotions psychologically and in reference to the psychoanalytical school of thought it is a way for individuals to punish themselves (Poland, 2008). “self injury is enacted because of the need to eliminate emotional pain, communicate to others, seek redemption, gain control and forge an identity that integrates new depths of thought and feeling (Plante, 2007). Many individuals report that they hurt themselves because it was a coping mechanism to deal with feelings of hopelessness that they were experiencing and to ensure that they will not kill themselves (Rebman, 2006).
Family factors
Research indicates that the relationship between the parent and their child is a major influence in fostering self harming behaviour. There are many different family scenarios that may contribute to the reason behind self harming behaviour. Some examples include but are not limited to financial stress, employment / unemployment, disability, emotional disorders, alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce and death of a loved one. When there is a lack of communication, the child may feel sad and guilty because in their mind they feel that they did something wrong (Levenkron, 1998). The invalidation factor also causes major problems. In an invalidating environment, when a child tries to communicate feelings or talk about their experiences, his or her parents do not validate those feelings. The parental response does not accept those feelings and or experiences as truthful. As a result the parent reacts erradically, inappropriately or extremely trivializing and / or dismissing the child’s feelings or experiences (Holmes, 2000). It is crucial for the parents to be consistent in providing verbal reassurance that they are safe and secure in their home. In addition, the parents should provide positive role modeling on self worth and conflict resolution.
How Schools can help
School administrators can make sure that teachers are taking the appropriate actions that instruct them how to approach students who they believe are self harming. If the cut or bandage is due to self injury then the teacher needs to refer the student to the school nurse or the counselor and follow a district policy for reporting harm to a child. In addition the administrator should state these standards to the counselor and is considered a mandatory reporter. As a school counselor dealing with an individual who self injures, it is very important to make sure that they do not require immediate medical attention. The individual who self harms may need to go to the nurse to get checked out. It is also really important to know that you are not overly concerned because that may cause an individual to engage in the behaviour more often (Rogers Memorial Hospital, 2009). The school counselor needs to review the appropriate reporting guidelines because the counselor is required to follow the standards set out by the district in which they live.
Conclusions
This chapter will summarize the information found on the topic of self injury.
The chapter will also include recommendations relating to further research and suggestions for ways to inform individuals about self injury. Lastly, this chapter will include information for school counselors in order to help students who are engaging in self harming behaviour. The self injurer will intentionally harm themselves in places that cannot be seen easily by other people (Poland, 2008). Self injury is not well accepted by many people, especially when it is a family member or a loved one. Families, especially parents, have a challenging time understanding why someone they love is self harming. Parents often feel frustrated and angry when they find out that their child is self harming. Also, the history of the family and the situation that the child is living in can impact whether or not the individual may choose to hurt themselves. A few things that parents can do is be patient, communicate, avoid role-reversal, be a positive role model and lastly, seek help. School staff members need to work together as a team to effectively create a plan to identify individuals who self injure. Informing families may be difficult when their child is hurting themselves. There is no parent that wants to hear that their child is purposely inflicting pain on themselves. Since a variety of sources say that an individual may say different things on why someone may engage in such behaviours it is a challenge
for parents to pinpoint the reason why their child is inflicting pain upon themselves. Family therapy may be necessary to determine the causes and treatment on a case by case basis.
Implications
One recommendation for future research would be to include more information on how families are affected emotionally when someone they love is self-injuring. Some family dynamics can contribute to self-injury but more research may indicate why the individual engaging in the behaviours is going through a tough time. Exploring the family as a whole is important because everyone’s needs and expectations need to be considered when there is a member cutting in order to resolve the issue. Another recommendation is to provide more training on identifying individuals who engage in self-injurious behavior. With the proper training on how to deal with many issues that people in their adolescent and young adult years may be facing, counselors can become a part of the solution instead of being a part of the problem. There should be more research conducted on what teachers can do and what they think will be effective and helpful to know when dealing with students that self-injure, which may help reduce the number of individuals self-injuring through early identification. The last recommendation that i have is to help teachers work with the other children in the classroom when they are aware that one of the other students is self-harming. It is important to consider how other classmates are going to react, and how the situation should be managed in order to protect the privacy of the person who is engaging in the self-injuring behaviours. In addition there should be a plan created between the teacher and the counselor where they can teach a lesson in order to inform the students on this topic. Also providing an empathetic environment and means to have students report knowledge of a friend who is cutting and needs help may be beneficial too. Giving the students the knowledge may also help reduce the concerns and questions that the students may have and minimize the “copycat” effect. Keeping people informed with up to date information and statistics is the best possible way to keep self-injuring understood and hopefully under control.
Self-injury in the Adolescent Years
Ms. Crawford
HSB 4M1
May 21st 2013
With an increase in stress and anxiety in adolescents, some are choosing to cope with the emotional discomfort by a means of self harm called cutting. Cutting is a self injurious behavior where an individual uses an object that is sharp that is used to cause physical pain and is usually used to compensate for the emotional tension that one is experiencing. In previous times, it was thought that it was an attempt at taking one’s life, but professionals are now stating that it is not necessarily true but it is a coping mechanism that some may choose in order to stay alive. Parents and other adults that the individual trusts have to …show more content…
become aware of the warning signs which include but are not limited to participate in physical education classes, swimming classes. Seeking help from a professional may help to uncover the foundational causes of this behavior. Some individuals may choose self-harm when they are at their emotional limit because of a perceived personal failure, lack of communication to one’s caregivers, etc.
adolescents need to know if they report someone engaging in self harming behavior they need to tell an adult as soon as possible so that the individual engaging in the harmful behavior can be helped and receive proper treatment. Training for parents, teachers, guidance counselors and other professionals may help reduce the amount of students who are choosing self-injury as a way to deal with their problems.
Self-injury is a complex and a commonly misunderstood phenomenon in the adolescent population (Plante, 2007). Self harm is a dangerous and pervasive problem during the adolescent years (Nock, Teper & Hollander, 2007). In more recent times, the problem of self-injury has become more common, it is now beginning at younger ages than ever before (Schneider, 2007). “self injury is a deliberate, non-suicidal behavior that inflicts harm on one’s body with the goal of relieving emotional distress”(WebMD, 2009). Self injury encompasses a lot of terms. Some include self injury, self harm and self mutilation. One who injures themselves have various means of doing so. Some include: cutting, burning, picking one’s scabs, punching self or objects, infecting oneself, inserting objects into body openings, bruising or breaking bones, some forms of …show more content…
hair pulling as well as other forms of bodily harm (Schneider, 2007). The terms may be used interchangeably throughout this paper because self-injury is described in many ways by different people. The focus of the paper will be self injury, self harm and cutting. Many people do not understand why an individual may self injure. Some people have reported that they hurt themselves because they were in a fight with either their friends or family members, they lost a loved one or their parents split up (Rebman, 2006). “ an expert stated that self injurers tend to feel very empty inside, over or understimulated, not understood by others and fearful of intimate relationships and adult responsibilities. Self injury is a way to cope with or relieve painful emotions” (Schneider, 2007). When one injures themselves, they feel in control and it is their pwn way of not involving or hurting others. Since the family has a challenging time understanding why a person may cut themselves they tend to be critical and unsupportive (Poland, 2008). Parents usually believe that it is just a phase and that they will grow out of it (Levenkron, 1998). There are many stressful situations that can create an environment that is difficult for individuals to cope with including a traumatic family loss, neglect and or abuse or neglect, unstable family roles, rape or unclear social values. These kinds of situations make it challenging for the individual to know where they stand in relation to others which may create overwhelming stress and emotions (Conterio & Lader, 1998). Parents have a direct impact as well. The cutter may feel that they are in a situation where they are not allowed to communicate their true feelings because no one would care about what they are trying to say. “When an individual has repeated unacknowledged feelings they may self harm because in their mind it is their only escape” (Holmes, 2000). School may also be a place of major stress for an individual because of pressures from peers, teachers or even themselves. It is crucial for the teachers and parents to be aware and be prepared to deal with many problems in the student’s lives. It has been found that school employees are not trained on how to deal with a student who exhibits self injurious behaviour (Poland, 2000). There are many things that teachers and administrators can do to help students who are abusive to themselves. Researching the issue, training and educating staff members and creating an intervention plan for individuals who self injure may help those who engage in this behaviour (Poland, 2008). Most school personnel will be required by law to notify the parents when they notice that their child is engaging in self harming behaviour. From there, there can be a treatment plan developed in order to help the child.
This section will include an overview of the topic of self injury, while deeply investigating the subcategory of cutting. The intention is to help provide information for school counselors that would help them understand cutting as students may hurt themselves, offer an insight to why an individual may engage in harmful behaviour, in addition to how family factors may influence an individual to cut themselves. Lastly it will contain suggestions for how school nurses, teachers, counselors, as well as school administration can help identify cutters and help those who self injure find a safer coping mechanism. Many people in society find it challenging to understand what is involved in self injury. It is important to note that school counselors become more aware of the problem so that they can better understand what cutting really is. Self injury is intentionally hurting the body in a way that is so severe that it causes tissue damage (Holmes, 2000). It is important to realize that individuals who engage in self injury are engaging in self destructive behaviour, but may not be intentionally trying to commit suicide (Schneider, 2007). Self injurious individuals are a challenge to identify because they look like everyone else (Poland, 2008). Many individuals who cut themselves tend to go through a self harm cycle which includes the following: a stressing happening in one’s life that triggers sadness. Secondly, the individual will usually disassociate. The event which may trigger extreme anxiety and panic, next they might take their anger and frustration out on other people, usually people that they are close to. As a result they begin to have a strong hatred for themselves. After the self injury occurs the individual may cry. The crying may often lead to a temporary connected, calm and relieved feeling. In the end of the cycle, the individual will feel ashamed that they did not cope in a healthier way (Williams, 2008). Each situation is unique and as a result will have a different reason why they may choose to self injure such as disappointing grades at school, having minimal friends or being cut from a sports team. Emotion and stress can be caused by certain situations, which may make someone want to hurt themselves. “ some individuals because of their biology may have a challenge in managing and regulating their feelings, be slow to recover from emotional distress, prone to symptoms of hyper arousal and susceptible to anxious and or dysphoric mood states” (Rogers Memorial Hospital, 2009). Lastly, it has been proven that physical, psychoanalytic and psychological factors may also provide an insight into why people may choose to hurt themselves. When a person engages in such a behaviour, physically it releases endorphins, it regulates emotions psychologically and in reference to the psychoanalytical school of thought it is a way for individuals to punish themselves (Poland, 2008). “self injury is enacted because of the need to eliminate emotional pain, communicate to others, seek redemption, gain control and forge an identity that integrates new depths of thought and feeling (Plante, 2007). Many individuals report that they hurt themselves because it was a coping mechanism to deal with feelings of hopelessness that they were experiencing and to ensure that they will not kill themselves (Rebman, 2006).
Family factors
Research indicates that the relationship between the parent and their child is a major influence in fostering self harming behaviour. There are many different family scenarios that may contribute to the reason behind self harming behaviour. Some examples include but are not limited to financial stress, employment / unemployment, disability, emotional disorders, alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce and death of a loved one. When there is a lack of communication, the child may feel sad and guilty because in their mind they feel that they did something wrong (Levenkron, 1998). The invalidation factor also causes major problems. In an invalidating environment, when a child tries to communicate feelings or talk about their experiences, his or her parents do not validate those feelings. The parental response does not accept those feelings and or experiences as truthful. As a result the parent reacts erradically, inappropriately or extremely trivializing and / or dismissing the child’s feelings or experiences (Holmes, 2000). It is crucial for the parents to be consistent in providing verbal reassurance that they are safe and secure in their home. In addition, the parents should provide positive role modeling on self worth and conflict resolution.
How Schools can help
School administrators can make sure that teachers are taking the appropriate actions that instruct them how to approach students who they believe are self harming. If the cut or bandage is due to self injury then the teacher needs to refer the student to the school nurse or the counselor and follow a district policy for reporting harm to a child. In addition the administrator should state these standards to the counselor and is considered a mandatory reporter. As a school counselor dealing with an individual who self injures, it is very important to make sure that they do not require immediate medical attention. The individual who self harms may need to go to the nurse to get checked out. It is also really important to know that you are not overly concerned because that may cause an individual to engage in the behaviour more often (Rogers Memorial Hospital, 2009). The school counselor needs to review the appropriate reporting guidelines because the counselor is required to follow the standards set out by the district in which they live.
Conclusions
This chapter will summarize the information found on the topic of self injury.
The chapter will also include recommendations relating to further research and suggestions for ways to inform individuals about self injury. Lastly, this chapter will include information for school counselors in order to help students who are engaging in self harming behaviour. The self injurer will intentionally harm themselves in places that cannot be seen easily by other people (Poland, 2008). Self injury is not well accepted by many people, especially when it is a family member or a loved one. Families, especially parents, have a challenging time understanding why someone they love is self harming. Parents often feel frustrated and angry when they find out that their child is self harming. Also, the history of the family and the situation that the child is living in can impact whether or not the individual may choose to hurt themselves. A few things that parents can do is be patient, communicate, avoid role-reversal, be a positive role model and lastly, seek help. School staff members need to work together as a team to effectively create a plan to identify individuals who self injure. Informing families may be difficult when their child is hurting themselves. There is no parent that wants to hear that their child is purposely inflicting pain on themselves. Since a variety of sources say that an individual may say different things on why someone may engage in such behaviours it is a challenge
for parents to pinpoint the reason why their child is inflicting pain upon themselves. Family therapy may be necessary to determine the causes and treatment on a case by case basis.
Implications
One recommendation for future research would be to include more information on how families are affected emotionally when someone they love is self-injuring. Some family dynamics can contribute to self-injury but more research may indicate why the individual engaging in the behaviours is going through a tough time. Exploring the family as a whole is important because everyone’s needs and expectations need to be considered when there is a member cutting in order to resolve the issue. Another recommendation is to provide more training on identifying individuals who engage in self-injurious behavior. With the proper training on how to deal with many issues that people in their adolescent and young adult years may be facing, counselors can become a part of the solution instead of being a part of the problem. There should be more research conducted on what teachers can do and what they think will be effective and helpful to know when dealing with students that self-injure, which may help reduce the number of individuals self-injuring through early identification. The last recommendation that i have is to help teachers work with the other children in the classroom when they are aware that one of the other students is self-harming. It is important to consider how other classmates are going to react, and how the situation should be managed in order to protect the privacy of the person who is engaging in the self-injuring behaviours. In addition there should be a plan created between the teacher and the counselor where they can teach a lesson in order to inform the students on this topic. Also providing an empathetic environment and means to have students report knowledge of a friend who is cutting and needs help may be beneficial too. Giving the students the knowledge may also help reduce the concerns and questions that the students may have and minimize the “copycat” effect. Keeping people informed with up to date information and statistics is the best possible way to keep self-injuring understood and hopefully under control.