self-harm treatment
RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FOR TEENS WHO SELF-INJURE
Recognizing your teen may be self-harming can be overwhelming and shocking. It’s difficult to comprehend why someone you love would choose to inflict harm upon themselves. Learning about teenage self-injury and self-injurious behaviors can help you understand why your child is harming themselves.
What is Self-Harm?
The term self-harm is any intentional or deliberate act that causes harm or injury to one’s body without suicidal intent. This is also referred to as non-suicidal self-injury, or NSSI.
Teen self-harm is considered a compulsive behavior and has the potential to afflict anyone regardless of gender, race, religion, or socioeconomic status. Out of the 2 million individuals who self-harm each year, 90% of them began this behavior in their teenage years. There are many different self-harm methods people use, including cutting with a sharp object, burning, pulling hair, scratching, and picking skin.
Risk Factors of Self-Harm
While there are no specific identified causes of self-harm in teens, there do remain risk factors. These risks increase the likelihood of your child engaging in these self-injurious behaviors, including:
History of depression
The detection rate of depression among NSSI patients is as high as 81.3%. Following depression, other common psychiatric diagnoses that co-occur with NSSI are anxiety-related disorders and PTSD.
Being female
Teen self-harm statistics show that more than 60% of teens who engage in self-harm are female.
Why your teen may be self-Harming
Self-harm is a common coping mechanism for teens used to deal with emotional distress. It could also stem from symptoms of underlying mental illnesses in teenagers (e.g., anxiety, depression, etc.). Other reasons teens inflict self-injurious behavior include:
- Being the victim of bullying
- Increased stress levels
- Stress at home
- Loneliness or lack of social support
- Feeling emotionally disconnected from parents or caregivers
- Desire to “fit in” with a group of friends or peers who encourage self-injurious behaviors
- Feeling emotionally “dead” inside
- Feeling “invisible” to parents, caregivers, or peers
For many teens, self-harm behaviors result in a calming effect. When emotions become overwhelming, the act of self-harm is used to help regulate and de-escalate those emotions. Essentially, self-harm can be used as a maladaptive attempt at instant release from emotional pain, and can provide the child with a sense of control when other areas of life seem chaotic and hopeless.
Regardless of your teen’s self-harm causes, there is a general underlying outcome: self-harm triggers a teen’s “endorphin effect.” Cutting, burning, punching, or other self-harm behaviors quickly release endorphins into the bloodstream, thus providing a numbing and/or pleasurable sensation. This means your teen may be trying to numb difficult thoughts or unpleasant feelings, and have found that the behavior of self-injury provides some relief.
Warning signs of self-harm
If you think your teen is engaging in self-injurious behaviors, there are some warning signs of teenage self-harm to look out for:
- Frequent, unexplained injuries, such as cuts or burns
- Recurrent complaints of unintentional or accidental injury (e.g., “the cat scratched my arm again”)
- Wearing concealing clothing consistently, even if the weather is warm (e.g., long sleeves and pants in the summer months)
- Increased isolation or avoiding social settings, especially social situations that involve wearing less clothing (e.g., a pool party)
- Poor functioning in daily activities, including work or school
- Difficulty managing emotions. For example, dealing with symptoms of depression or anxiety
Recognizing self-harm in adolescents is significant. Although, it is important to understand that individuals who self-harm are often secretive. People struggling frequently go to significant lengths to conceal any physical signs of self-harm. They may choose to self-harm in areas of the body that are not readily visible, such as the inner thigh or stomach areas.
how to help a teen who self-harms
If your teenager is struggling with self-harm, it’s important to seek the support of a mental health professional. However, there are actions you can take to help support your child through this difficult time.
Do encourage him or her to speak up about his or her self-harm.
Do take the self-harm seriously. It is NOT about attention seeking.
Do be someone who is a compassionate, nonjudgmental listener.
Do encourage professional treatment.
Do try to understand; don’t scold.
Self-harming behavior is extremely harmful physically, mentally, and emotionally. Education is vital in the push towards awareness, improved treatment options, and eradication of emotional distress in adolescents.
self Harm treatment center
Self-harm can be devastating and extremely destructive to your teen’s well-being. Thankfully, treatment for teen self-harm is possible, and there are various approaches to adolescent self-harm treatment, including:
Psychological Intervention
Psychological intervention can take place in a number of settings. This includes inpatient treatment centers or intensive outpatient programs (IOPs). Group therapy and individual outpatient therapy are also common options. There are many psychological treatments available in any of these settings, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), or general talk therapy. These interventions are useful in determining the underlying mental illnesses of the teen and encouraging healthy coping skills for teens to manage their symptoms.
Medication
Psychiatric medication is another method of treatment for self-injurious behaviors. For many, prescribed medication can help manage the underlying mental illness (e.g., depression, anxiety disorders, behavior disorders, bipolar disorder, etc.) driving a teen’s self-harm.
