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Shockingly, 2% to 6% of the general public had engaged in self-harm at least once in their lifetime. Where the peak of self harm actions are among students, ages 16 - 22, see falls in 13% to 35%. For most, the problem will resolve before adulthood but sadly, 10% of the remaining still continues to self harm throughout their adult lives.
Self injury or self harm, generally speaking, is a wider range of different things individuals do to themselves which is either in a deliberate or hidden way. It includes burning, cutting, banging the body against hard objects, pulling the hairs, scalding, biting, poisoning, and inserting or swallowing objects. However the harm is done, it still is damaging not only physically but also emotionally for both the person self harming and their loved ones. SELF HARM AWARENESS
We have all heard by now of the rise in self harm amongst young people. For some parents this news will have come as a complete shock on hearing that one of those young people is their son or daughter. Then starts the challenge of knowing which is the best approach to adopt in supporting your child, in supporting yourself and the rest of the family, and of course, dealing with the self harming activity itself. This is also coupled with the challenge of knowing where to turn for help and which professional to approach!
There is a myth that those who self harm are seeking attention; on the contrary, people who self harm are known to keep their actions private. Common reasons such as shame or fear prevent the individual from asking for help; this is why an important factor into supporting people who self harm is knowing how to support them. Approaching the issue may seem daunting, but by breaking it down into individual steps we can learn how to provide self harm help to assist an individual towards recovery.
You may have heard in the media recently that people who are suspected of abusing their partner could be removed from there homes by the police. This is part of the government’s proposals to manage the rising domestic violence situation in the UK. The government will be implementing its Domestic Violence and Abuse Go Orders proposals as a year-long pilot scheme in Greater Manchester, Wiltshire and West Mercia commencing summer 2011.
Self harm is when someone decides to take out their problems toward themselves in a deliberate way. Some people may only ever self harm once in their lifetime but some people do continue throughout their life until they seek help to deal with their issues. Many people find it to be a way that helps them deal with problems and it becomes the norm when dealing with stress.
There are many sectors in society which can help manage the prevention of self harm, these include; medical and health, media, education, support foundations and so on. This is why it is vital for the government to bring awareness to helping those who self harm through these sectors and more. By looking into the progress these sectors are making with self harm awareness we can determine where more attention is needed and what is working so far.
School refusal stems from emotional distress and anxiety which could be related to a range of issues either at home, school or both. A recent study reveals that 1 in 5 British children experience phobia or school refusal which has shown to be more prevalent in children's age groups aged 5 - 6 and 10 - 11 years. The research also revealed that many parents were not aware of the conditions and those who were aware of it, experienced a major lack of information.
In a recent publication by Robert Young, (Royal College of Psychiatrists) Young states: 'Self-harm among young people in the UK is possibly increasing but little is known about the reasons young people give for cessation and their link with gender or employment status'.
Part of self harm help is knowing that being close to individuals who self harm like cutting or burning themselves makes coping really tough and sometimes hard to comprehend. Take note that the reasons why people cut themselves vary from person to person and come in several forms. It is really good to know that included also in self harm awareness is the objective of informing people that self injury or self harm is not suicidal or attention seeking. Normally, self harming pupils do this because they have an immense amount of pain and suffering within them that they find difficult to express.
As parents living in a fast paced society, it is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, conce ourselves with all the chores that need to be done and give what little time we have left to our children. “Quality time” means different things to different people. Giving just ...
How Resilient Are Children Really? By Jennifer McLeod When a crisis or traumatic situation occurs we often hear people say something like “he/she will be fine. Children are very resilient. They will pull through it.” Yes children and young people will “pull through” it but at what cost? At what cost to themselves? At what cost to society? Let’s consider for a moment an adult experiencing a similar or the same traumatic experience, e.g. bereavement or marriage break up.
Most people will have heard by now about Elizabeth Fritzl who was drugged and kidnapped by her father Josef Fritzl at the age of 18 and repeatedly raped over the 24 years he held her captive in a garage cellar behind the family home. It is hard to imagine what Elizabeth must have been going ...
“Get Yourself out of the way so the REAL YOU can get going.” Jennifer McLeod © 2005 “You have within you an inner guidance that always knows what you need to do. Trusting this inner guidance will set you free and help you to move the obstacles that you once considered to be mountains.” Jennifer ...
Havening Technique™ was created by Dr Ronald Ruden and further developed in conjunction with his brother Dr Steven Ruden. It is a psycho-sensory model and uses sensory input of touch (Havening Touch®) to alter thought, mood and behaviour. Traumatic or very stressful events or experiences create a pathway in the brain which remains there indefinitely (becomes immutably encoded), until or unless people embark on a process to change, obstruct or disrupt that pathway to bring about new enriching experiences.
When you mention the term self harm today the public normally associates it with young people, particularly school children or teenagers. Whilst self harm is prevalent amongst young people, it also might appear that it is prolific in the education system! It is important therefore, to paint an accurate picture of self harm in schools. We have the general perception, now let’s explore the issue.
D’you know the original blog that I posted about Elizabeth Fritzl’s situation has been my most popular blog ever with over a 1000 (thousand) viewers clicking on it within one week of posting the blog on a particular social network site. And yet, even though it has been my most popular blog, I ...
PART 1: This article is a series of articles on invalidation, including the experiences of a child or parent that has been invalidated and how parents, professionals and practitioners can validate children to make a difference to their outcomes. The invalidated child can seem like an enigma and is easily misunderstood. They come from all backgrounds, walks of life, race, culture and class in society. An invalidated child can look like a child that is: -Misbehaving -Difficult -Seeking attention -Sabotaging their own success -Withdrawn -Attempting suicide -Self harmingr
I applaud Andrew Johnston, 13 year old contestant on ‘Britain’s Got Talent 2008 Show’, for having the courage to admit to 12 million people across the nation that he was being bullied because of the love of his passion……..singing opera. I want to let Andrew Johnston know that it is absolutely ...
A practical article connected into the broader SelfGrowth topic graph.
Andrew Johnston beat the bullies! By Jennifer McLeod, June 2008 I applaud Andrew Johnston, 13 year old contestant on ‘Britain’s Got Talent 2008 Show’, for having the courage to admit to 12 million people across the nation that he was being bullied because of the love of his ...
In 2009 Rob Allen published an article on the Guardian website called Prison is no place for children. That statement still rings true today. He continues to say that "The prison inspectorate's disturbing report of the culture of violence and fear in Cookham Wood Young Offender Institution (YOI) prompts serious questions about whether prisons should continue to accommodate children under 18."
As the heading says, people of all classes are capable of doing self harm. It doesn't matter what age, background or race you've come from, it still can happen. Even people, who appear to be successful in their lives, could do self harm. Let's take Victoria Pendleton for example. Victoria Pendleton, a British cyclist, is considered as one of the most successful woman and Olympian by having won three gold Olympic medals and nine world titles. Pretty impressive! But she admitted on having done self harm before when she was younger.
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how adults can and do invalidate children’s feelings, thoughts and emotions. Whilst our focus and emphasis is on the parent/child relationship, validation is an important component in other relationships and environments. In this article in Part 2, we are looking more closely at how to validate a child (or oneself or adults, family and friends).
I will approach this article from different perspectives as below: a) Helping people who do not want to be helped rnb) Helping people from the professionals own misdirected objectives rnc) Abandoning help for people too soon a) There are many young people who need our help for a variety of reasons to assist them in moving forwards with their lives, which includes young people who self harm. They may approach you for help but on the face of it, it appears that they really don't want our help, which poses a dichotomy for helping professionals. What do you do in that situation?
This is the underlying and constant question that children and young people have running through their minds whether on a conscious or unconscious basis. We all have a need to be loved and children and young people are no exception to the rule. Most often than not, however, children and ...
Are you a manager or business owner in denial? • Are you one of those managers or business owner who denies that your personal life is creating havoc for you? • Do you deny the impact that your personal life’s challenges is having on your work and business environment? ...
Are you a manager or business owner in denial? • Are you one of those managers or business owner who denies that your personal life is creating havoc for you? • Do you deny the impact that your personal life’s challenges is having on your work and business environment? ...
The family setting is an interesting arena that is rife with a gamut of emotions, trials and tribulations Sometimes relationships can get strained and individual family members can be singled out to bear the brunt of the family strain. Scapegoating is something that happens in any setting, group, gender, age, or race however, for the purpose of this article, I will be focusing on the nature of scapegoating in the family setting and family system.
Mental health challenges in children and young people are on the increase and are posing huge problems for them, adults and the society as a whole. Families and schools alike, are now feeling the impact of this surge of mental health crisis. Something needs to give and changes must be made in order to safeguard children and young people’s future and as the next generation. And the change must start with us, adults!
Christmas is generally a time for joy, giving, receiving and thinking of others. For some people however, Christmas brings about fear, trepidation and anxiety. As schools are about to break up for the festive season, some pupils in particular may be filled with dread and the thought of having to take time out with their families; namely pupils who self harm. Some schools may already begin to see signs of structural attachment to the school or attachment to members of staff in the form of increased self harming as the end of term approaches and are looking for self harm help.
People come into your life for a reason and being in a relationship provides us with undoubtedly the hardest challenges we face as adults as we are seldom taught to truly love ourselves as children, yet we are expected to know how to love other people as adults in very deep, meaningful, life ...