Citation

Wadman R, Clarke D, Sayal K, Vostanis P, Armstrong M, Harroe C, Majumder P, Townsend E. J. Health Psychol. 2017; 22(13): 1631-1641.

Affiliation

The University of Nottingham, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1359105316631405

PMID

26951365

Abstract

Six young adults (aged 19-21 years) with repeat self-harm for over 5 years were interviewed about their self-harm, why they continued and what factors might help them to stop. Interpretative phenomenological analysis identified six themes: keeping self-harm private and hidden; self-harm as self-punishment; self-harm provides relief and comfort; habituation and escalation of self-harm; emotional gains and practical costs of cutting, and not believing they will stop completely. Young adults presented self-harm as an ingrained and purposeful behaviour which they could not stop, despite the costs and risks in early adulthood. Support strategies focused on coping skills, not just eradicating self-harm, are required.

© The Author(s) 2016.

Language: en