Citation

Mavandadi V, Lewis SP. Suicidol. Online 2021; 12(1): 1-6.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, The author(s), Publisher Medical University of Vienna, Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) represents a reliable and unique predictor of future suicide attempts and is thus a critical mental health concern. Given the stigma associated with NSSI, many individuals who self-injure are drawn to communicating about NSSI through social media and other online platforms. With the emergence of online NSSI content, major social networks have made efforts to limit or ban access to content that promotes or encourages a broad range of self-harm behaviors, including self-injury and eating disorder behaviour. In these cases, pro-self-harm has been historically used as a blanket term to refer to pro-eating disorder and pro-self- injury content. The present commentary addresses the potentially problematic way we may limit access to self- harm content on social media by highlighting important nuances and distinctions regarding the nature of what is broadly defined as pro-self-harm content. Relevant implications for researchers, practitioners, and policy developers are discussed.

Keywords: non-suicidal self-injury, pro-self-harm, pro-eating disorder, Internet, online, social networking sites

Language: en