Copyright © 2005 All rights reserved. [Churches Child Protection Advisory Service]
To see someone hurting themselves by cutting, scratching or burning, by abusing substances or being anorexic/bulimic is distressing. What would make someone do that? What kind of person self-harms? How can we help? In order to try and make sense of those questions, I attended a conference on the subject arranged by APSA (The Association for Professionals in Service for Adolescents).
It became clear that self-harm nearly always starts in adolescence and some young people are more vulnerable than others. Approximately 20,000 children and young people are treated in Accident and Emergency Departments in the UK each year for self-harm - mostly cutting, burning and self-poisoning. The incidence in young men seems to be increasing although they are less likely to seek help than females.
Whilst working in an adolescent unit for lads, I would come across boys who cut themselves with razor blades or knives whilst others regularly mis-used alcohol or sniffed glue and other solvents. These lads were all from families where there had been divorce, violence or abuse (or a combination of these factors). It is recognised that young people in care, young prisoners, Asian young women and homosexual young people are particularly vulnerable to self-harm (according to Juliet Lyon, Director of The Trust for the Study of Adolescence).
Often these young people find it difficult to communicate about their feelings, they are isolated and the fact that they self-harm makes them feel even more "different", "weird".
There are often associated mental health issues such as anxiety disorders and severe depression. Self-esteem is usually at a very low ebb.
The young people who have talked to me about their reasons for selfharm have said things like, "I get a kind of buzz from it. It's like a 'high' when you're on drugs." "It feels
better at the time, I can let out my anger, my pain." "When I see the blood I know I am really alive." "I do it to punish myself/my abuser." "This is the only time when I feel in
control of my body."
The downside of this self-harm is the guilt; the secrecy; the shame; the pain; the scarring - which they may have to live with forever.
Sometimes the young person will cut themselves on parts of the body that relate to abuse suffered - on the breast or in the genital area. They may be trying to distance themselves from their own gender because of abuse. The self-harm may be extreme because they hate their body so much. Often the cutting will be on the tops of the arms or legs where it can't be seen, although they may cut/scratch their hands and lower arms too.
Suicide Indicators
Calls to ChildLine have led the organisation to put forward the following as likely indicators for
high suicide risk among young people.
Some people who self-harm will go on to attempt suicide, although some of them say that they harm themselves in order to stay alive. Juliet Lyon says "people who have
self-harmed are 100 times more likely to commit suicide than those in the general population." *
Having looked briefly at why some young people self-harm, you will want to know how to help them. I think the most important thing you can do is to accept them as people who are hurting inside. They don't want you to run away from them - they have probably known all kinds of rejection in the past which has led to them behaving in this way. They need people who will love them and listen to them, be strong for them, encouraging them to speak out about what is happening to them and what they want to happen.
Some of these young people will need very special professional help to try and address the issue. For some young people, self-harm, including the eating disorders, can become an addiction that they are locked into. Don't be afraid to seek outside help where you have real concerns for their physical safety but remember that you can be someone who stands with them in their pain, who will pray with them, who will show the love of God in a practical way. Be patient - changing a way of living takes time!
*From Rapport (APSA news and magazine), Vol 6, Issue 3, pub December 1999
Further reading:
Helping Victims of Sexual Abuse - Heitritter & Vought (Bethany House
Publishers) Minneapolis, 1989
Eating Disorders - Guidance for Teachers - Lewis, Johnson & Lewis
(Family Reading Centre) Kent.
Building self-esteem - Sue Atkinson (Lion) Oxford 2001
All these books are available from CCPAS
Children and adolescents who try to harm or kill themselves.
Report Issued by National Statistics
These figures represent all types of self-harm and do not indicate the numbers of children and young people who have suicide as their intent.
According to parents, about one in 50 of 11-15 year-olds had ever tried to harm, hurt or kill themselves (the highest rate among 13-15 year-old girls). Among 5-10 year-olds, just over one in 100 had ever tried to harm, hurt or kill themselves.
Other key findings from the survey are:
Self-harm among 5-10 year olds was greater for children in:
Self-harm among 11-15 year-olds was greater for children in:
The prevalence of self-harm among 5-15 year-olds increased with:
Crown copyright 2001.
National Statistics, 1 Drummond Gate, London, SW1V 2QQ
Telephone Public Enquiries 020 7533 5888
Written by Pauline Pearson
