Who Is Likely To Engage In Self-injurious Behavior?

Both males and females engage in self-injurious behavior. Self-harm often begins in early adolescence, peaks between the ages of 18 and 24, and decreases as the person enters the 30s and 40s. There are, however, cases of self-harm occurring in much younger children and continuing into middle age.

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable as they face many difficult and inherently stressful developmental challenges. The body undergoes profound change during adolescence. It is a time of physiological and psychological turbulence and uncertainty. Faced with abrupt and embarrassing changes, teens can feel a loss of control of their bodies. For many adolescents, experiencing a sense of alienation from their own bodies becomes a powerful catalyst for and predictor of self-injurious behavior. In addition, teenagers struggle with the need for peer acceptance, shifting peer allegiances, a greater desire for autonomy and control and complicated decisions and conflicts that demand resolution.

Within this overwhelming context, adolescents are at even greater risk when their parents are physically or emotionally unavailable to them. In some families, there may be unhealthy communication, parental alcoholism, untreated mental illness, financial stress, domestic violence and parental neglect or pro-longed absences. Teens are unable to negotiate these challenges, process their feelings and articulate their needs without the guidance, support and feedback of a nurturing caretaker. They simply do not have the required coping skills to manage on their own, and they discover that self-injurious behavior is one way to deal with life.

Teenagers who have undiagnosed and untreated depression and anxiety are more likely to engage in self-harming behaviors as a way to self-soothe and self-medicate. Teens who struggle with low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness are equally at risk. Adolescents with dissociative disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse problems and eating disorders are at increased risk to cut or burn. One of the greatest risk factors is a history of physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Trauma survivors learn to internalize their rage and dissociate or "check out" to escape pain. In addition, they have had their perpetrators model a blatant disregard for the safety and well being of their bodies. This combination of experiences almost inevitably sets the stage for some form of self-destructive behavior.

Taken from *PRP Online

*Performance Resource Press