4.2 Self-harm
Self-harm, like suicide, is not a mental health problem in itself, but is more of a symptom of a learner’s emotional distress. Self-harm is not suicide; it is a way for some people to manage and cope with their emotions and becomes a means to deal with, and sometimes communicate, their internal emotional ‘pain’. Suicide situations occur when someone wants to escape from their emotions and emotional ‘pain’. However, it is important that people who are using self-harm behaviour to cope get the help they need. Perceptions that self-harm is attention seeking can deter help-seeking and increase risk. Self-harm can take many forms including cutting, burning, hitting, hair pulling and also self-destructive behaviours such as abusing alcohol or putting oneself into dangerous situations (Mind, 2020).
Activity 6 Conversations about self-harm
Watch the Mind (2020) video What is self-harm? [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] , which provides insight into peoples’ lived experience and note down potential supportive statements and responses you might use when discussing self-harm with a learner.
Discussion
If you believe a learner is self-harming, then it is important to be calm and non-judgemental when talking to them. Often, people who self-harm can feel ashamed about what they do and might struggle to communicate with you about how they are feeling. Patience is important and you might need to emphasise you are willing and able to discuss self-harming behaviours at a time when they feel ready.
When initiating a conversation with a learner about potential self-harm useful phrases might be similar to those set out in the following figure.
Within your role as an educator, it will be useful to consider the feelings of learners who self-harm, or who may have self-harmed in the past, within the context of their peers and the learning environment. For example, a learner might prefer to wear certain clothing, or have wound dressings on, in order to hide scars.
As self-harm is a behaviour linked to the person’s emotions, understanding the causes of these negative feelings is key to helping resolve the self-harming behaviours. There are some resources available that you might want to share with a learner who opens up about self-harm:
- Expert Self Care: distrACT app: The award-winning distrACT app is free to download and provides trusted information and links to support for people who self-harm and may feel suicidal (Expert Self Care, 2022).
- Harmless: The centre of excellence for self-harm and suicide prevention (Harmless, 2022).