Citation

Williams AJ, Nielsen E, Coulson NS. J. Health Psychol. 2018; ePub(ePub): 1359105318788403.

Affiliation

University of Nottingham, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1359105318788403

PMID

30024273

Abstract

Self-harm is a critical public health issue, with strikingly low rates of attendance to clinical services. By offering support, anonymity, and open discussions, online communities hold useful insights into the factors which influence help-seeking behavior. We explore the perceptions of clinical services in three self-harm online communities to understand which services are being used and why. Message threads from each community were extracted randomly until saturation, providing 513 messages across 60 threads. A thematic analysis was performed resulting in four key themes: access to appropriate services during an episode of self-harm, service preference, fears surrounding disclosure, and support.

Language: en

Keywords

clinical services; internet; online communities; self-harm; thematic analysis