Who are the kids who self harm?
Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is common in Australian youth, especially in young women, according to research published in the current issue of The Medical Journal of Australia.
A Queensland study by Professor Diego De Leo, Director of the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention at Griffith University, and Travis Heller, researcher, examined the behaviour of 3,757 Year 10 and 11 students from 14 high schools (10 government and 4 independent) on the Gold Coast during September 2002.
Just over 6 per cent of students met the criteria for DSH in the previous 12 months.
Researchers examined DSH behaviour, including descriptions of the last act, psychological symptoms, recent stressors, coping styles, help-seeking behaviour, lifestyle choices, and self-prescribing of medications.
"We aimed to report on the extent to which self-harm is hidden within the community by identifying the proportion of self-reported self-harm episodes that are not presented at hospitals or mental health services," Professor De Leo said.
For the 233 students who met the criteria for DSH, the main methods included self-cutting (59.2 per cent), overdosing with medications (29.6 per cent), self-battery (2.2 per cent) and hanging (1.7 per cent). For 24 respondents (10.3 per cent) DSH resulted in hospital presentation.
Factors associated with DSH included similar behaviours in friends or family, sexual orientation worries, smoking, boyfriend/girlfriend problems, low self esteem, coping by self-blame, and self-prescribing of medication.
"Most self harmers did not seek help before or after their most recent action. Those who did primarily consulted friends (61.4 per cent) or their mother (18.5 per cent). Few GPs (2.6 per cent) or health workers (7.3 per cent) were made aware of these actions," Professor De Leo said.
"More than a third of respondents (36.1 per cent) engaged in self-harm less than an hour after first thinking of doing so, and an additional 30 respondents (12.9 per cent) thought about harming themselves for between 1 and 24 hours before taking action. Conversely, 48 (20.6 per cent) thought about harming themselves for more than 1 month before acting.
"Preventive programs should encourage young people to consult health professionals in stressful situations.
"Further studies should pay attention to better identifying motivation or intention behind such behaviour," Professor De Leo said.
The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.