Thursday, January 23, 2020
Understanding Teens Who Self Injure Essay -- Psychology Depression You
Understanding Teens Who Self Injure      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.      In recent years the issue of self-injurious behaviors or SIB (White Kress, 2003) has increased in popularity. The general public is starting to take a special interest in the issue as more and more people are doing it. The issue of self-mutilation can be found in movies, television and popular literature today. With increasing media attention people want to understand what these behaviors include, who does it and why. Although researchers agree that more research is needed on the topic, much is already known about these behaviors. About 1% of the general population and 4% of the mental health population suffer from a form of SIB (Shoemaker, 2004). Often times people who suffer from SIB have preexisting mental health disorders such as major depression, Dysthymia, dissociate identity disorder, OCD, substance abuse disorders, adjustment disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders, and eating disorders (Brittlebank et al. as quoted in White Kress, 2003).      Although there is many different definitions of what SIB is, most researchers would agree that ?SIB is defined as a volitional act to harm one?s body without any intention to die as a result of the behavior? (White Kress, 2003). There are also a lot of different terms out there for these behaviors, they include self-inflicted violence, self-injury, self-harm, parasuicide, cutting, self-abuse, and self-mutilation (Martinson, 2001). Without any intention to die as a result is a very important piece of information when understanding SIB. While many people who self injure do have suicidal ideation, most are not in fact suicidal. ?Menninger described self-mutilation as the focusing of suicidal impulse on part of the body instead of the whole body to avoid actual suicide? (Zila & Kiselica, 2001). Someone who is suicidal wants to end his or her life, howev... ...er from SIB could have suicidal ideation, which at times Lisa does, but I would not consider her suicidal.      Overall, my information was very informative and well written. It gave me a clearer look into the world of SIB and a better understanding of Lisa and what she is dealing with. I definitely think more research needs to be done in the field. I would like to find more information on boys with SIB because that seems to be becoming more frequent and also more treatment suggestions. Works Cited Martinson, Deb. (2001). Self Injury. Focus Adolescent Services.      http://www.focusas.com/SelfInjury.html Personal Interview with Lisa at Kids Peace Children?s Psychiatric Hospital Shoemaker, Carma Haley. (2004). A Cut Above: The Practice of Self-Mutilation.      Teenagers today. http://teenagerstoday.com/resources/articles/mutilate.htm White Kress, Victoria. (2003). Self Injurious Behaviors: Assessment and Diagnosis. J     Journal of Counseling & Development, 81(4), 490-497. Zila, Laurie MacAniff & Kiselica Mark. (2001). Understanding and Counseling Self-     Mutilation in Female Adolescents and Young Adults. Journal of Counseling &      Development, 79 (1) 46-53.
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