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Teen Self-Injury Is 'Not Uncommon'(February 6, 2008) -- A new study showing that about one in six teenagers harm themselves – most often by self-mutilation – ought to be “a wake-up call to doctors and others,” University of Victoria lead researcher Dr. Mary Nixon told the Vancouver Sun. The study was sponsored by the federal government’s Canadian Institutes of Health Research and conducted by the university’s Centre for Youth and Society. After interviewing 568 young people aged 14 to 21, researchers concluded that 17.6 per cent of them had caused themselves injury as a way to punish themselves or provide temporary relief to feelings of anxiety or depression. This behaviour was also found to be more than twice as prevalent among girls (21 per cent) than boys (8.7 per cent). “People who are not familiar with this field will likely be struck by the level of this behaviour,” Nixon, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, told the Globe and Mail. “We’re trying to raise awareness that it’s not uncommon in young people and not related to mental health problems.” The most prevalent form of self-harm that teens engage in is to cut themselves. But they are also known to scratch or burn their skin, hit their heads against a wall, overdose on drugs – usually prescription medication as opposed to illicit drugs – or drink excessive amounts of alcohol. Roughly one-third said they had injured themselves once, one-third said two or three times, and one-third said they had done it repeatedly. The mean age for the onset of this behaviour was 15.2 years. Nixon explained that children who injure themselves are most often appealing for help and are not suicidal. Rather, they are responding to an uncontrollable urge to turn their emotional pain into physical pain – what she calls “a maladaptive coping mechanism.” But the study also revealed that most teenagers seem to recognize that their behaviour is unhealthy and will seek help, mostly likely from their peers. Fifty-six per cent said they turned to their friends for help, while almost as many (54 per cent) turned to a psychiatrist or psychologist. They were less likely to confide in family members (48 per cent), other mental health professionals (32 per cent), family doctors (30 per cent) or call a help-line (18 per cent). “Teens, for many things, talk to other teens first,” Nixon told the Sun. “But self-harm is such an intense, emotionally charged issue that not all peers can deal with it.” Nixon added: “We desperately need to do more research to investigate these things more, and that is why we are proposing a neurobiological research project so we can understand what is going on [in the brains] of these kids.” The study, said to be the largest of its kind in this area, is published in the latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Source: Today's Family News Last updated 02/08 Related Information:
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