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New study to examine self-harming prevention

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Funding boost

Researchers at the University of Leeds have been awarded £4.5 million to lead a new scientific study which will attempt to uncover the reasons behind self-harming in young people, according to Children and Young People Now.

According to an estimate from the university, between ten and 15 per cent of young people in the UK have self-harmed at some point in their lives.

The grant from the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Development (NIHR HTA) will allow the research team to recruit and examine over 800 young people with a history of self-harm across a seven-year period.

The BBC reports that all participants in the study will be UK residents in the 11 to 17 age category and will have been hospitalised at least once due to their injuries. It adds that people with mental health problems to which the condition could be attributed, such as severe depression, will not be asked to take part in the study.

Dean of medicine at the University of Leeds Professor David Cottrell commented that the study will examine several existing methods of treatment for self-harming. He said: "Currently services use a range of different treatment approaches but we don't have enough evidence to know which is the most effective.

"We know there is a link between self-harm and difficulties in family relationships and communication. However, there just isn't enough evidence of the effectiveness of the therapies used to help these young people, though smaller studies have indicated that family therapy could be an effective technique in reducing further episodes of self-harm in adolescents."

He added: "We are delighted that the NIHR HTA programme has agreed to fund what is one of the largest studies of child and adolescent mental health ever to be conducted in the UK."

Focus on families

Current treatments used for patients with histories of self-harming include various forms of counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy and problem-solving therapies, however the new study, entitled Self-Harm Intervention, Family Therapy (SHIFT), will focus on family therapy, according to messengernewspapers.co.uk.

Research for SHIFT will be conducted in conjunction with sixteen different mental health organisations across Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and London. These institutions, which include Trafford Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, will provide assistance by recruiting participants and administering family therapy sessions.

Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust Doctor Dinah Jayson told the news source: "We just don't know enough about how best to help people overcome their reasons for self-harming.

"This large-scale study will enable us to explore whether family therapy can help young people and their families to identify why they self-harm and how to reduce episodes of self-harm in the future."

Self-harm statistics

The NHS recently released figures showing that number of young people aged between ten and eighteen being admitted due to incidences of self-harm has risen by 34 per cent in the last five years, from 11,891 in 2002-3 to 15,955 in 2006-7.

ChildLine's Sue Minto told the BBC: "The rise in numbers of children and young people who […] are self-harming is deeply worrying.

"Young people […] who are self-harming are often trying to cope with other problems. Triggers can be exam stress, bullying and feeling isolated and alone with no one to talk to. Self-harm can be an attempt to relieve distress."

Three times as many girls as boys were admitted in 2006-7, with 12,346 admissions of girls, compared with 3,440 boys, the BBC reports.

In total, over 70,000 young people were recorded as having been admitted for incidences of self-harming between 2002 and 2007.

Commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb told the BBC: "These shocking figures are just the tip of the iceberg as most young people suffering from these illnesses will never make it to hospital.

"The government has allowed child and adolescent mental health services to suffer drastic cuts over recent years. This means that many children are languishing on long waiting lists or not getting treatment that meets their specific needs."

Further studies

In April 2008 a survey of 800 young people aged between 11 and 19, commissioned by the NHS, revealed that more than half of participants were aware of someone who had self-harmed. Approximately one-third of the girls surveyed for the study admitted to having harmed themselves.

Of those who admitted having deliberately harmed themselves, 43 per cent gave feeling depressed as a reason, while 17 per cent attributed it to anger, ten per cent to stress and a further ten per cent to relationship troubles, according to the BBC.

At the time, consultant psychiatrist at Cheadle Royal Hospital Doctor David Kingsley told the news source: "We need to ask ourselves what it is about modern living that is causing such stress for our youngsters."

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy held a special interest one day conference on the subject of self-harming on December 16^th, 2008. The conference, held in London, was specifically aimed at therapists working with young people who self harm.

Conference attendee Mark Montovio, founder member of the Counselling and Psychotherapy Forum (Gibraltar), told gibfocus.gi: "I think that one of the most important things I took away from the session was the idea that therapists or helpers have to be the holders of hope when working with people who self harm.

"Recovery is a complex process and self harming behaviours can stop as the young person grows older and therapists, and those around them, can give the young person time while teaching them strategies to cope, minimise or delay self harm.

"[By] coming to understand their feelings and beginning to process them in a secure and non-judgemental space, clients can begin to discover less self-destructive ways of caring for themselves."

Reasons for self-harm

According to the BBC's health section, self-harm can be used as a means of relieving the tension that can accompany extreme stress, shame or guilt, while the short-term relief can bring a feeling of control to that person. It notes that self-harming often affects those who feel desperate about problems and therefore can feel detached from the rest of the world.

Emotional support services such as Samaritans can provide a space in which people who have self-harmed can discuss their feelings in a confidential, non-judgemental environment. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are experiencing feelings which have led, or may lead, to deliberate self-harm, Samaritans are available to provide emotional support on 08457 90 90 90 (GB) or 1850 60 90 90 (ROI).