Young Girls Think Self Harming Is Normal

by Joanna Sugden
Cutting is one of the commonest forms of self-harm in young girls.

Young girls consider self-harm to be normal teenage behaviour, according to research by mental health and volunteer organisations. A study of the attitudes of 10 to 14-year-old girls found that two fifths know someone who has harmed herself and many believe it to be an accepted way of dealing with teenage angst.

Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, the group behind the research, said the trend was worrying. “Self-harm is so common when dealing with stress that it’s seen as normal,” he said. “It’s a sign that we’re failing to give young women the lives that we should be giving them.”

Self-harming can be triggered by emotionally distressing events such as bullying or family breakdown. The most common forms are cutting, burning, scratching, hair pulling and swallowing objects or toxic substances.

A national inquiry on the subject published in 2006 found that one in 15 young people harmed themselves and latest estimates indicate that three teenagers deliberately injure themselves every hour.

The results of the survey suggest that widespread anxiety among a generation of young girls is brought on by exams, celebrity culture and the pressure to grow up too quickly.

One third answering the online questionnaire said that a friend had suffered from an eating disorder and nearly two in five knew someone who had panic attacks. Three quarters admitted feeling anxiety about testing and schoolwork.

When asked during face-to-face interviews about self-harm, many girls felt strongly that it was a typical teenage coping strategy. They said that it was not necessarily a sign of mental health problems as long as the person was not self-harming regularly.

One girl who took part in the research said: “I think cutting your arm the first time you do it is OK - it might just be stress.” Not until someone had cut themselves deliberately three times would it be considered a mental health issue, she added.

Dr Tanya Byron, a child psychologist, said that more and more young people were harming themselves. It was a behaviour of choice for young people. “Among young peer groups a number of them will take up self-harm together as part of the emo culture,” she said.

The teenage sub-culture emo, short for emotional hardcore, is associated with self-harm and originates from the alternative music scene.

Another girl in the study spoke of a friend who cut her own wrist. “She was doing it to fit in with the emos,” she said.

Dealing with extreme swings of emotions was difficult for most girls, according to the study, with half saying that they found anger hard to manage and one in six often having angry feelings. Twenty-eight per cent said that they worried regularly and felt that no one understood them.

The survey of more than 350 girls aged 10-14 and in-depth focus groups was carried out for Girl Guiding UK, Britain’s largest voluntary youth organisation, which has about 580,000 members. Lesley Knighton, the chief commissioner of GGUK’s Midlands region, said: “What concerns us is that girls are facing tremendous pressure today. Self-harm could be a result of this pressure. The girls feel that they are being required to grow up too quickly.”

Giorgia Smith-Marr, 15, a guide from West London, said that she knew at least three people her age who self-harmed. She said: “It’s how people cope, because there are so many problems. It’s not surprising that they act in self-destructive ways.”

The most common self-harm behaviors:

Cutting - involves making cuts or scratches on your body with any sharp object, including knives, needles, razor blades or even fingernails. The arms, legs and front of the torso are most commonly cut because they are easily reached and easily hidden under clothing

Branding – burning self with a hot object, Friction burn – rubbing a pencil eraser on your skin

Picking at skin or re-opening wounds (dermatillomania) - is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one’s own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused which relieves stress or is gratifying

Hair-pulling (trichotillomania) – is an impulse control disorder which at times seems to resemble a habit, an addiction, or an obsessive-compulsive disorder. The person has an irresistible urge to pull out hair from any part of their body. Hair pulling from the scalp often leaves patchy bald spots on their head which they hide by wearing hats, scarves and wigs. Abnormal levels of serotonin or dopamine may play a role in this disorder. The combined treatment of using an anti-depressant such as Anafranil and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been effective in treating this disorder. CBT teaches you to become more aware of when you’re pulling, helps you identify your pulling habits, and teaches you about what emotions and triggers are involved in hair pulling. When you gain awareness of pulling, you can learn to substitute healthier behaviors instead.

Hitting (with hammer or other object), Bone breaking, Punching, Head-banging (more often seen with autism or severe mental retardation)

Multiple piercing or tattooing - may also be a type of self-injury, especially if pain or stress relief is a factor

Drinking harmful chemicals

Self-harm is usually not suicidal behavior but rather a way to reduce tensions. Inflicting physical harm on oneself is a poorly learned coping mechanism which is used to communicate feelings and self-soothe. Self-injury is strongly linked to a poor sense of self-worth, and over time, that depressed feeling can spiral into a suicidal attempt. Sometimes self-harm may accidentally go farther than intended, and a life-threatening injury may result which is why intervention and profession help is required sooner rather than later.

No matter how you look at it, self-harm scares people. It is very hard coming to terms with the fact that someone you care about is physically harming themselves. From the depths of your own fear and helplessness you may feel frustrated if you are unable to get the person to stop hurting themselves which can further drive the person away.

Self-harm is a behavior that over time becomes compulsive and addictive. Like any other addiction, even though other people think the person should stop, most addicts have a hard time just saying no to their behavior – even when they realize it is unhealthy.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

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